CLAIRIÈRES:
SONGS BY LILI & NADIA BOULANGER
with Myra Huang, piano
Avie Records
2021 GRAMMY AWARD NOMINEE:
BEST CLASSICAL SOLO VOCAL ALBUM
ABOUT THE ALBUM
The selections on this album are songs that both Nadia and Lili Boulanger were composing during these years leading up to and immediately after their respective successes at the Prix de Rome. While both sisters’ compositional careers were cut short for different reasons, these songs give a glimpse into both composers’ trajectories and aesthetics. Nadia and Lili also created orchestral versions of many of these songs, showing that these women were honing their compositional techniques for larger forces: a clear sign they were determined to compose for all genres, just like their male counterparts. These songs clearly demonstrate both the development and mastery of their techniques during these early years, as they endeavored to carry on the traditions of French classical music that had been redefined in the early years of the belle époque.
In his book, Mademoiselle: Conversations with Nadia Boulanger, Bruno Monsaingeon quotes Nadia describing her younger sister as ‘the first important woman composer,’ and musing ‘I wonder why there is a certain reluctance to acknowledge her place in history.’ In much of the press surrounding both women’s successes with the Prix de Rome, much of the focus was on their gender, as opposed to the music that they wrote. There was focus on their attractive appearance, and in the case of Lili, wonderment at how such a seemingly frail young woman could achieve such an accomplishment. As in all movements, the tokenism of identity can obliterate the actual work of the artist, and it seems that such was the case for both Nadia and Lili. In blazing trails for women, the excellence of their work was lost in the smoke left in their wake. The compositional mastery and expressive beauty of their music are lost to anecdote: rather than have her music enter the canon of the standard repertoire (where it belongs), Lili is remembered as the first woman who did a thing. Nadia, not having had the support that her sister had in the years following her second-place finish, eventually suffered a crisis of faith and gave up composing completely, only to be remembered via the famous male composers who were her pupils.
This recording is meant to be a testament to the beautiful work of these two extraordinary women who changed the course of music history. Of course, that they broke ground for women in a time of social upheaval is inextricable from both their story and their music. But I hope this recording will help shift the focus away from their gender and anecdotal significance, and instead towards the deeply-layered beauty and artistic excellence of their music.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
THE NEW YORK TIMES
THE 25 BEST CLASSICAL MUSIC TRACKS OF 2020
“After Lili Boulanger, the gifted French composer, died in 1918 at just 24, her devoted older sister Nadia suffered doubts about her own composing and turned to teaching. On this lovely recording, the tenor Nicholas Phan performs elegant songs by both sisters, ending with Nadia’s misty, rapturous ‘Soir d’hiver,’ a 1915 setting of her poem about a young mother abandoned by her lover.”
THE BOSTON GLOBE
TOP 10 CLASSICAL MUSIC ALBUMS OF 2020
“Nadia Boulanger has been known more as a pedagogue than as a composer, and the work of her sister Lili, who died during the pandemic of a century ago, has been almost entirely neglected. In these crystalline performances, Phan and Huang make an almost startingly eloquent case for the enduring worth of their music.”
THE GUARDIAN
“Tenor Nicholas Phan and pianist Myra Hang do perfect justice to vocal works by the Boulanger sisters, illustrating their contrasting stylistic leanings…What the [sisters] share, though, is meticulous concern for every musical and verbal detail, and Phan’s wonderfully poised and precise singing matches it perfectly. As his recording of La Bonne Chanson has already shown, he is an outstanding interpreter of French song, and Huang is an equally attentive partner. It’s hard to imagine these Boulanger songs could have more convincing advocacy.” (read more)
GRAMOPHONE
“Phan’s more mainstream tenor voice (he occasionally resembles Peter Pears) uses the upper range to reveal great dramatic tension in the music, with an intensity that can be downright operatic. Pianist Myra Huang matches him all the way, with especially fine effect in ‘Parfois, je suis triste’ where an out-of-left-field keyboard flourish conveys the protagonist’s quickly shifting memories.
Phan has deeply internalised this music – with highly detailed, personal, specific and often quite volatile responses to Lili Boulanger’s particular fusion of music and poetry in Clairières dans le ciel – though not through the lens of Debussy. Boulanger taken on her own terms…Phan delivers a more emotionally comprehensive (and deeply welcome) vision of this worthy music.” (read more)
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
“★★★★…Phan possesses notable changes of color, with some magical high singing…with Huang’s warm pianism, there is much to cherish, especially in this searching performance of Clairiéres. Phan’s disc is an ideal introduction to this repertoire”
BBC RADIO 3 RECORD REVIEW
“Excellent liner note by Phan himself which guides us through this music really helpfully…a beautiful performance…it suits Nicholas Phan’s voice very well…he sounds, particularly in the soft singing, very, very fine throughout, as does his pianist, Myra Huang. ”
DIAPASON
“Here, Phan beautifully caresses the surface of Francis Jammes’ verses, supported by smooth, liquid pianism that never overpowers…in the Fauré-like Cantique by Nadia Boulanger, Phan finds the halo of light and patina-like contours of an old stained-glass window…”
GB OPERA
“From a musical point of view, the album is notable for the high quality of the performance and for an interpretative attention to detail shown both by Nicholas Phan and Myra Huang, and a deep internalization of the compositions. This interpretation is made possible by an excellent technique that allows Nicholas Phan to dole out his beautiful homogeneous voice with a clear timbre and well projected high notes, through splendid phrasing, fortes that are always expressive and without excess, and very beautiful soft singing. For her part Myra Huang, on the piano, creates a fascinating tapestry of sound that ends up integrating with the voice. It is ultimately a truly refined album completed by an interesting booklet, in which, in addition to the lyrics, it is possible to read a liner note by the tenor, who also proves to be a fine musicologist.” (read more)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to:
Anonymous, Bettina Baruch Foundation, Leslie Ann Jones, Robin & Steve Kunkel, Lisa Ann Seischab, Noah Sochet
Many thanks also to the army of generous supporters who contributed to the production of this album, including:
John W. Adams, Anonymous (14), Paul Appleby, Lisa Arnsdorf, Fotine Assimos, Barr Foundation, Matthew Beck, Matthew Borkowski, Kevin Bylsma, Roxanne Cargill & Peter Weston, Adam Crane, Jocelyn Dueck, Andrew Gillespie, John Jackson, Joseph Jarvis, Will Leben, Charlotte Lee, Jane Lee, Youn Lee, Lynn Luckow, Da Luo, Nancy Meacham, Susanne Mentzer, Susan Miron, Melanne Mueller, Chris Park, Glenn Petry, Isabelle & Oliver Phan, Jeffrey Phillips, James & Marcy Plunkett, Trevor Pollack, Miguel A. Rodriguez, Mark Simpson, Kindra Scharich, Jean Schneider, Daniel Shoskes, Louise Smith, Gina Soter, Roland Spahr, Frank Villella, Christopher Weimer, Adam Whiting, Douglas Williams, Steven Winn
Clairières was part of Nicholas Phan's solo recording projects, which is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.
Contributions for the charitable purposes of Nicholas Phan's solo recording projects must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
