This recording of songs or “Melodies” for soprano with piano quintet accompaniment by the Liege composer Joseph Johngen is a first. Although he wrote mostly...

This recording of songs or “Melodies” for soprano with piano quintet accompaniment by the Liege composer Joseph Johngen is a first. Although he wrote mostly instrumental music, he regarded vocal music equally highly, and in fact left some thirty songs, most of them published during his lifetime although mainly in versions with piano accompaniment. Indeed in some cases he made up to three versions, with accompaniment by piano, string quartet, piano quintet or even full orchestra, some of them unpublished to this day. This recording presents twelve songs, all of them being accompanied by piano quintet. Soprano Claire Lefilliatre is passionate about singing and the interpretation of French and Italian music of the seventeenth century. She received her vocal training from Alain Buet and Raphael Sikorski, studied historical performance practice with Eugene Green and Benjamin Lazar, and is trained in Alexander technique as applied to stage movement. Since 1999, Claire has been a principal performer in the group Le Poeme Harmonique, directed by Vincent Dumestre. Her involvement in their productions have been highly praised by the press.