Carré de dames

Description

By deciding to blend their repertoires, these two figures of French song offer themselves a delightful interlude in the form of a playful creation. This artistic challenge sheds new light on each one’s work, and one then savors, between these two artists, a fine kinship that goes far beyond simple lineage to lead us toward a certain form of universality in writing and song. Their words echo one another without ever being confused, and their strengths combine to emerge all the greater. The lyrics are of course at the heart of what they do, but it is also the musical boldness of this setting for two pianos that gives this unique project its full stature. For there is indeed nobility here when Nathalie Miravette and Dorothée Daniel, both decorated with conservatory gold medals and steeped in the teaching of prestigious accompaniment classes, turn their attention to the melodic richness of these beautiful repertoires. Their work reminds us of those bridges built by those who believed that song and classical music did not live in two separate worlds but should rejoice in one another, and one then thinks of Fauré, Poulenc, or François Rauber, whom they readily cite as references and with great deference. So there is rigor in this record, but also so much life and joy in these four ladies, who have known one another for several years and do not hide their pleasure at being together again, that one is left stunned by their contagious energy. Mischievous spirits and passionate women, they draw for us a square with shifting geometry, where beauty mingles with humor and where rebellion draws its strength from tenderness.