ConcertPulse
Lea Desandre / Thomas Dunford / Song Recital
Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)
Jean-Baptiste Lully once mocked the sound of the lute as a »mosquito hum«. Fortunately, not all composers saw it like this and appreciated its bright and silvery sound very much. When Thomas Dunford strums the lute, it becomes a heavenly partner for Lea Desandre’s agile mezzo soprano. And does so through all eras: her programme »Idylle« (Paradise) bridges the baroque and chanson. Her programme includes composers such as Marc-Antoine Charpentier; the familiar Eurovision fanfare stems from his »Te Deum«. Above all, however, a lot that is unfamiliar and worth discovering rings out from the baroque via impressionism to the chanson of the 20th century, for instance by the two charismatic chansonnières Barbara and Françoise Hardy. Dunford also lets his lute sound solo from time to time, however – the perfect way to experience this exquisite instrument in all its facets.