# Sadrune Piau Anyone?? Her Alcina is Unbelievable



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I'm researching one of my favorite arias for a speech:Ah, mio cor from Alcina. By the way, there are tons of versions on Youtube of this great aria. I stumbled across her riveting performance and was blown away. She brings the intensity of Callas to the Baroque. She has an ideal voice for this type of music. Check her out and tell me what you think. As an added bonus, the costumes and sets were great for once.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I'm researching one of my favorite arias for a speech:Ah, mio cor from Alcina. By the way, there are tons of versions on Youtube of this great aria. I stumbled across her riveting performance and was blown away. She brings the intensity of Callas to the Baroque. She has an ideal voice for this type of music. Check her out and tell me what you think. As an added bonus, the costumes and sets were great for once.


I have this recital










and I really like it. I've never heard her live, but I'm told by those that have that the voice is very small. Mind you, in the clip you posted, she sounds darker and richer, so maybe she's gained in volume too.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

GregMitchell said:


> I have this recital
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the feedback. A lot of this repertoire I imagine is done in smaller theaters in Europe so one can have a small voice like Bartolli and get by with it.. She also looks much older in the video than on your disc cover.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Thanks for the feedback. A lot of this repertoire I imagine is done in smaller theaters in Europe so one can have a small voice like Bartolli and get by with it.. She also looks much older in the video than on your disc cover.


My disc was recorded in 2004. The video looks fairly recent.


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

Sandrine Piau is a favorite singer of mine. She is one of a small group of 'go-to' sopranos that I'll listen to in the French repertory, which is a repertory that I am very picky about, considering the many sopranos I've encountered that have a tendency to screech their way through the mélodies of Debussy, Ravel, Chausson, Roussel, & others, in too operatic a fashion. Plus, it's hard to find native born, French speaking sopranos that excel in this repertory, and handle the nuances & subtleties of the language as insightfully as Piau does. She sings Mozart well too (both the opera arias, and as a soloist in Mozart's sacred vocal works), in addition to Handel & her extensive work in the Baroque repertory.

https://www.amazon.com/Sandrine-Pia...&qid=1542216172&sr=1-9&keywords=sandrine+piau
https://www.amazon.com/Après-rêve-S..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=6TAZ0BQ6YTNS1TDV32FF
https://www.amazon.com/Chimere-Sand..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=6TAZ0BQ6YTNS1TDV32FF
https://www.amazon.com/Sandrine-Pia...2216513&sr=1-1&keywords=sandrine+piau+debussy
https://www.amazon.com/Between-heav..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=6TAZ0BQ6YTNS1TDV32FF
https://www.amazon.com/Sandrine-Pia...&qid=1542216474&sr=1-3&keywords=sandrine+piau

Here are three favorite Piau 'sleeper' discs in the French repertory that Piau fans tend to not know about:

1. On this disc of Ernst Chausson chamber music, Piau sings his beautiful Chanson perpétuelle, Op. 37: https://www.amazon.com/Quatuor-Cord...r=1-1-catcorr&keywords=sandrine+piau+chausson






2. Here Piau sings Albert Roussel's magical 2 Poémes de Ronsard pour flute et voix, Op. 26 (available on these two albums):

https://www.amazon.com/Debussy-Poul...-fkmr0&keywords=sandrine+piau+rostand+roussel
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QZYTJC/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp










3. Finally, on the following Alpha CD Piau sings flute theme related music by French composers--Debussy, Caplet, Roussel, Godard, Pierné, & Saint-Saëns (excellently played by flautist Gilles de Talhouët): https://www.amazon.com/Une-flûte-in...542217071&sr=1-1&keywords=une+flute+invisible. Her singing of Debussy's Trois Chansons de Bilitis, accompanied by Arthur Schoonderwoerd on a historic Erard piano is remarkable, as is the rarely heard Saint-Saens duet "Viens !, sung with tenor Hervé Lamy. I find Schoonderwoerd's performance of Debussy's solo piano work, Six épigraphes antiques, on a Erard piano, fascinating too. Even if you tend to shy away from period instruments, Schoonderwoerd's piano has an unexpected richness of sound that is quite captivating in the vocal & piano music of Debussy, and helps to explain why the composer liked Erards:


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