Nadia Boulanger - The American Decca Recordings

Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger, a universal musician. Newly revised and published in its entirety for the first time, with fascinating introductions by Nigel Simeone as a limited edition. Composer, teacher, organist, pianist, harpsichordist, choral director, conductor, musicologist: there seemed to be no end to Nadia Boulanger's talents, though she was fond of insisting that her gifts paled in comparison to those of her sister Lili, who tragically died for her. Nadia was of astounding creative power. In her early twenties, having studied with Fauré and undergone the famously rigorous training at the Paris Conservatoire, she was already performing Bach cantatas in concert. Boulanger's postwar recordings for American Decca, also made in Paris, are little known, having been released on Brunswick LPs with limited availability outside the U.S. and on Decca Gold only in the United States. Returning to Paris after her wartime exile on the American East Coast, she brought together older colleagues such as the tenor Hugues Cuénod with younger vocal talents such as Nadine Sautereau and Irma Kolassi, who had already built an international career but were still dedicated to Boulanger and her delicate tyranny to ensure precise, selfless and stylish performances of a repertoire that was still largely the exclusive preserve of scholars, not musicians.

Price: $67.98