 Premier volet d’une exploration artistique bienvenue consacrée à la mélodie italienne après Puccini, cet enregistrement restitue, de façon salutaire, des jalons marquant la première moitié du 20e s. Au-delà de son aspect documentaire, il propose aussi de fortes jolies compositions, que ce soit pour la voix ou l’accompagnement de piano, alors que les compositeurs ici réunis ont tous à cœur d’ajouter à un art national déjà très riche depuis l’époque du madrigal ou par le biais de la transmission populaire. Comme le suggère le titre du cd, une importante présence animale, dans les textes, conforte la cohérence du propos, y ajoutant évidemment fantaisie ou humour. Mais de délicates images, tout empreintes de mélancolie, viennent également atténuer la couleur de ces partitions, à partir de poèmes de Pétrarque, Laurent de Médicis, Dante … Même si l’auditeur peut parfois être un brin désorienté par la prononciation de l’interprète, ou par l’absence de certaines nuances, on reconnaitra à Stacey Mastrian un appréciable talent de diseuse, voire de comédienne, qui lui font habiter avec un enthousiasme communicatif ce programme original. (Alain Monnier) Was there an Italian art song tradition? What happened after Puccini? These questions started me on a journey of exploration eighteen years ago. The answer is that there is a wealth of worthwhile but relatively unknown music written by Italian composers from the past century. These twentiethcentury composers were the generation born in the 1880s (Generazione dell'ottanta) and their pupils. Despite the fact that they were extremely influential figures in Italian music, a variety of socio-political and economic issues, including the overwhelming popularity of opera, nationalistic hurdles, two world wars, conservatism, and financial problems of publishers, have contributed to the relative obscurity of much of their output. Their compositions for voice and piano have been particularly neglected. These are works that deserve to be heard. The songs for voice and piano that were written by twentieth-century Italian composers were called liriche, which means “lyrics” (singular lirica or lirica da camera). The name itself emphasizes the central importance of the text in these pieces. As with art songs from other countries, such as German Lieder or French mélodies, liriche are a sophisticated form in which the voice and piano work together to present the poem. The piano parts are elaborate, and the music is rhythmically and harmonically complex, often incorporating an increased use of dissonances, nonfunctional harmonies, shifting and mixed meters, and polyrhythms—the aim of all of these elements being to fully express the text.
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