The Complete Spanish Songs of Pauline Viardot
On the occasion of the bicentenary of Pauline Viardot’s birth in 2021, pianist Francisco Soriano set himself the task of making known one of the most interesting parts of Viardot's work: her Spanish-inspired songs in various languages, many of them unpublished. He was helped by his fellow artists on this recording, soprano Natalia Labourdette and mezzo-soprano Helena Ressurreição, as well as researchers Nicholas Žekulin and Andrés Moreno Mengíbar and musicologist Miguel López Fernández. This album represents the fruit of those labours. Featuring world-premiere recordings, L'Andalousie au coeur shines a spotlight on these Viardot songs, including four of her arrangements of music by her friend, Chopin, in a programme that has also been performed by these artists in recitals at the Opéra Comique in Paris, the Fundación Juan March in Madrid and the Festival de Música Española de Cádiz.
