Gabriel Fauré:
Cinq Melodies de Venise
La Chanson D'Eve

Claude Debussy:
Trois Chanssons De Bilitis
Fetes Galantes 2eme Receuil
Trois Poems de Stephane Mallarme

“Fetes galantes” is the third release of the duo Bettina Smith and Einar Rottingen on the LAWO Classics label. The focus this time is on the two leading exponents of the French “mélodie”, Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy. Fauré is regarded as the master of the genre, while Debussy elevated it to new heights with his groundbreaking harmonies and treatment of sound. On this album, Smith and Rottingen include relatively familiar along with seldom performed cycles of the two composers and feature some of their latest and perhaps finest works. The title “Fetes galantes” alludes to the lavish garden parties of Louis XIV at Versailles, as well as to Paul Verlaine’s collection of poems, from which a number of texts on this recording are taken. Here we follow, in contrast to the extravagance of the Sun King, the development of perhaps the two greatest French composers of all time and their search for the essence of the music. The aim of the performers has also been to engage the material on the music’s terms and as borne by the text.