Country : Canada (Quebec) Label : Fidelio Genres and styles : Classical Singing / Modern Classical Year : 2020

Mélodies passagères

· by Alexandre Villemaire

The result of a long-awaited collaboration between coloratura soprano Marianne Lambert and pianist Julien LeBlanc, the young lyrical artist’s debut album Mélodies passagères brings together vocal works by Samuel Barber, Maurice Delage, Enrique Granados, Georges Bizet, Jules Massenet, Léo Delibes, Émile Paladilhe, and Calixa Lavallée. Mainly organized around three cycles of melodies dealing with themes of evanescence and exoticism, the opus evolves in a narrative framework evoking travel and escape, taking as a starting point Barber’s eponymous cycle which gives the album its name. Preceded by the sweet Psyche of Paladilhe, Barber’s sensitively rendered, imaginative melodies invite us to dream with their enigmatic and ethereal sounds, and open in an evocative way this journey towards a mysterious elsewhere.

It’s truly in the portion of the album dedicated to the representation of oriental and Iberian exoticism that the finesse of LeBlanc’s lyrical playing and Lambert’s interpretive talent are displayed. Delage’s Quatre poèmes hindous are of a bewitching and mysterious colour, where vocal and pianistic lines intertwine to create tense and colourful sounds. More conventional in aesthetic terms for the genre, Bizet’s Les adieux de l’hôtesse arabe retains this same tension with the sweep of a haunting piano motif and seductive vocal arabesques. The only Spanish-language cycle on the album, Canciones amatorias by Granados, the composer’s masterpiece of melody is among his finest moments. The festive and dazzling vocal flights are wonderfully combined with Lambert’s shimmering timbre. The three Spaniards, Léo Delibes, Jules Massenet ,and Calixa Lavallée, with their irresistibly melismatic character, conclude this musical journey.

Latest 360 Content

Festival de Lanaudière | Leonardo Garcia Alarcon/Monteverdi’s Coronation of Popea: being marketwise

Festival de Lanaudière | Leonardo Garcia Alarcon/Monteverdi’s Coronation of Popea: being marketwise

FIJM | Nate Smith and his Supremely Talented Quartet

FIJM | Nate Smith and his Supremely Talented Quartet

FIJM | Nai Palm? Creature of Exception! Hawa B? Future Star!

FIJM | Nai Palm? Creature of Exception! Hawa B? Future Star!

FIJM 2025 | Funky funky, Trombone Shorty

FIJM 2025 | Funky funky, Trombone Shorty

FIJM | Nubya Garcia Becomes a Star in MTL

FIJM | Nubya Garcia Becomes a Star in MTL

FIJM 2025 | Symphonic Avishai Cohen: Bewitching magic

FIJM 2025 | Symphonic Avishai Cohen: Bewitching magic

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Phantom Island

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Phantom Island

Common Holly – Anything glass

Common Holly – Anything glass

FIJM I Hanorah Sets the TD Stage Ablaze with Soulful R&B

FIJM I Hanorah Sets the TD Stage Ablaze with Soulful R&B

FIJM | Jeff Goldblum: Storyteller, Comedian and Pianist, 3 in 1

FIJM | Jeff Goldblum: Storyteller, Comedian and Pianist, 3 in 1

FIJM I Still Taking Us There, Mavis Staples Electrifies Montreal JazzFest

FIJM I Still Taking Us There, Mavis Staples Electrifies Montreal JazzFest

FIJM | Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – Ventre Unique

FIJM | Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – Ventre Unique

Fantastic Negrito – Son of A Broken Man

Fantastic Negrito – Son of A Broken Man

Cumbia, Chaos, and Resistance: Empanadas Illegales Bring the Heat to Montreal Jazz Fest

Cumbia, Chaos, and Resistance: Empanadas Illegales Bring the Heat to Montreal Jazz Fest

Turnstile – Never Enough

Turnstile – Never Enough

FIJM | Meggie Lennon and The Desire Days Story

FIJM | Meggie Lennon and The Desire Days Story

FIJM | Dianne Reeves and Romero Lubambo: An Intimate Duo of Virtuosos

FIJM | Dianne Reeves and Romero Lubambo: An Intimate Duo of Virtuosos

FIJM | Brandon Woody’s Upendo: Baltimore Represents !

FIJM | Brandon Woody’s Upendo: Baltimore Represents !

FIJM | Stella Cole: From Tik Tok to The Biggest Jazz Stages

FIJM | Stella Cole: From Tik Tok to The Biggest Jazz Stages

ALICE on Her X

ALICE on Her X

FIJM  | Samara Joy: Pushing Classic Vocal Jazz Repertoire to its Limits

FIJM | Samara Joy: Pushing Classic Vocal Jazz Repertoire to its Limits

FIJM | Nas symphonic and Nas not symphonic

FIJM | Nas symphonic and Nas not symphonic

Suoni | The Jellicle KIKI Ball #2 – Feline Grace is Served

Suoni | The Jellicle KIKI Ball #2 – Feline Grace is Served

Suoni | The Dark, Wicked, Warm and Absurd on the Same Dish

Suoni | The Dark, Wicked, Warm and Absurd on the Same Dish

Subscribe to our newsletter