When the French mélodie was at its height during the Third Republic (1870-1940), notably through the work of Duparc, Chausson and Fauré, it was nevertheless a genre that composers approached with various different objectives: to please the general public and thereby obtain commercial success; to demonstrate their skills with a view to impressing the opera house directors; to woo the upper classes in order to attract patronage; or else to create a perfect work of art, a jewel providing a perfect setting for a precious stone: the poem. Around Massenet, a whole generation of composers tried to combine those different aims into a single artistic achievement.
Programme: Mélodies by MASSENET, CHAUSSON, PIERNÉ, FÉVRIER and HILLEMACHER
