Debussy: C'est l'extase - La mer Vannina Santoni, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France & Mikko Franck

• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Ariettes oubliées, CD 63:
• 1Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, CD 63: No. 1, C'est l'extase langoureuse (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Robin Holloway)02:37
• 2Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, CD 63: No. 2, Il pleure dans mon cœur (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Robin Holloway)02:57
• 3Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, CD 63: No. 3, L'ombre des arbres (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Robin Holloway)02:11
• 4Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, CD 63: No. 5, Aquarelles: I. Green (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Robin Holloway)02:16
• 3 Mélodies de Verlaine, CD 85:
• 5Debussy: 3 Mélodies de Verlaine, CD 85: No. 2, Le son du cœur s'afflige vers les bois (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Robin Holloway)02:44
• 6Debussy: 3 Mélodies de Verlaine, CD 85: No. 3, L’échelonnement des haies (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Robin Holloway)01:44
• Ariettes oubliées, CD 63:
• 7Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, CD 63: No. 5, Aquarelles: II. Spleen (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Robin Holloway)02:47
• 8Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, CD 63: No. 4, Paysages belges. Chevaux de bois (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Robin Holloway)02:53
• Mandoline, CD 43 (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Robin Holloway):
• 9Debussy: Mandoline, CD 43 (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Robin Holloway)01:41
• 3 Mélodies de Verlaine, CD 85:
• 10Debussy: 3 Mélodies de Verlaine, CD 85: No. 1, La mer est plus belle (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Robin Holloway)03:25
• Robin Holloway (b. 1943): C'est l'extase - Ten Settings of Paul Verlaine, Op. 118: Épilogue:
• 11Holloway: C'est l'extase - Ten Settings of Paul Verlaine, Op. 118: Épilogue02:32
• Claude Debussy: La mer, L. 109:
• 12Debussy: La mer, L. 109: I. De l’aube à midi sur la mer08:50
• 13Debussy: La mer, L. 109: II. Jeux de vagues06:50
• 14Debussy: La mer, L. 109: III. Dialogue du vent et de la mer08:36
• Total Runtime52:03

Info for Debussy: C'est l'extase - La mer

Debussy’s song cycle Ariettes oubliées of 1888 set six poems from Paul Verlaine’s collection Romances sans paroles, beginning with C’est l’extase and Il pleure dans mon cœur – penetratingly poetic images of love’s ecstasy and rainlike tears of despair. The six Ariettes are the departure point for the arrangement realized in 2012 by British composer Robin Holloway in response to a request from the San Francisco Symphony. Holloway has altered their order while adding a further four Debussy songs, binding the whole work together with brief orchestral links and a feverish epilogue, ‘con moto agitato’. This world first recording is given by French soprano Vannina Santoni, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under the baton of Mikko Franck. The Finnish conductor, a great admirer of Debussy, here also presents the master’s bewitching masterpiece La mer , first heard in Paris in 1905.

Vannina Santoni, soprano (tracks 1-10)
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Mikko Franck, conductor

Vannina Santoni
began her career performing the role of Donna Anna (Don Giovanni, Mozart) in Italy, then at the Opéra Royal de Versailles. After studying at the CNSMD in Paris, she was quickly noticed for "inhabiting her roles with the fervour of an actress" and for her "pure lyricism".

"In 2018, she triumphed in La Traviata in Paris, playing the title role at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

Vannina Santoni has already performed over twenty roles:

The Countess Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart) at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Opéra National du Rhin, Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte, Mozart) at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Grand Théâtre de Tours, Donna Anna and Zerlina (Don Giovanni, Mozart) at Oper Köln, Opéra Royal de Versailles and Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Pamina (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart) at Opéra de Paris, Juliette (Roméo et Juliette, Gounod) at La Scala de Milan and Hong Kong Cultural Center, Violetta Valery (La Traviata, Verdi) at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Antonia (Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Offenbach) at the Opéra de Lausanne, Manon by Massenet and Nanetta (Falstaff, Verdi) at the Opéra de Monte Carlo, Micaëla (Carmen, Bizet) at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Leïla (Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Bizet) at the Opéra National de Lorraine, Adina (L'Elisir d'amore, Donizetti) at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Suor Angelica et Lauretta (Trittico, Puccini) at the Grand Théâtre de Tours, Gretel (Hansel et Gretel, Humperdinck) at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Frasquita (Carmen, Bizet) at the Opéra de Paris, Adele (Die Fledermaus, J. Strauss) at the Grand Théâtre de Tours; she created the role of Patricia Baer in Les Pigeons d'Argile, a world premiere by Philippe Hurel, at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse (DVD). She sang Osira in Zanaida by Jean-Chrétien Bach at the Cité de la Musique in Paris, and again at the Konzerthaus in Vienna and the Teatru Manoel in Malta (CD). Vannina Santoni has also sung roles in rediscovered operas, such as Princess Saamcheddin (Mârouf, savetier du Caire by Rabaud) at the Opéra National de Bordeaux and the Opéra Comique, Agnès (La Nonne Sanglante by Gounod) at the Opéra Comique and soon Grisélidis by Massenet.

In recent seasons, she has sung Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande, Debussy) at the Opéra de Lille and under the baton of François-Xavier Roth, Dona Musica in the premiere of Le Soulier de Satin by Marc-André Dalbavie at the Opéra de Paris, and gave her first performance of Strauss's 4 Last Songs with the Mahlerian Camerata conducted by Benjamin Garzia at the Opéra de Vichy.

She made two substitutions at short notice, in the roles of Manon with the Orchestre National de Lyon under the baton of Daniele Rustioni and Mélisande at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with François-Xavier Roth in a production directed by Eric Ruf. She sang the role of Fiordiligi in Laurent Pelly's new production, with Le Concert d'Astrée conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm, again at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

The soprano began the 2022-2023 season with her debut as Mimi (Puccini's La Bohème) at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, then returned to the role of Mélisande in Lille and Caen. She will debut as Iphigénie in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride, as well as Massenet's Grisélidis at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, with a recording planned with the Orchestre National de Montpellier and the Palazzetto Bru Zane.

She will close the season with Verdi's Requiem at the Rocamadour Festival.

In her future projects, she will return to the Opéra de Paris, the Opernhaus de Zürich, and the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse... She will reprise the role of Fiordiligi in particular and take on new roles.

Booklet for Debussy: C'est l'extase - La mer