Program 5: Paris, City of Light
Song: Mirror of the World Radio Series
Program 5: Paris, City of Light
This program roams the streets of Paris during the fast-changing period of 1840 to 1848, when the French capital was a cradle for literary, artistic, and musical innovation—and a centrifuge for social, philosophical, and political revolution. Artists we meet include Chopin, Liszt, Meyerbeer, and Offenbach, plus Heine, Hugo, and the fable writer La Fontaine.
Listen to the full program:
Host & Artistic Director:
Thomas Hampson
Co-Produced by the Hampsong Foundation and The WFMT Radio Network
Production Team:
Executive Producers: Thomas Hampson & Steve Robinson (The WFMT Radio Network)
Audio Producer: Carolyn Paulin (The WFMT Radio Network)
Coordinating Producer: Miriam Lewin
Project Manager: Christie Finn
Writer for Paris, City of Light: Benjamin Binder, Duquesne University
Song listings with composer / poet, performers, CD label, and CD number are listed below.
La Voie Triomphale
Clip from Grande Symphonie Funèbre et Triomphale (1840)
Composer: Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
The Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces
Ole Kristian Ruud, conductor
Two-I: 86
Berlioz, Wagner, Liszt: Romantic Songs
“Les deux grenadiers” (“The Two Grenadiers”), Op. 60 (1839-40)
Composer: Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Text: Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)
French trans. by François-Adolphe
Loève-Veimars
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Geoffrey Parsons, piano
EMI Classics: 55047
Russian Images, Vol. 2
“Poputnaya pesnya” (“Traveling Song”), No. 6 from A Farewell to St. Petersburg (1840)
Composer: Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857)
Text: Nestor Kukolnik (1809-1868)
Vassily Savenko, bass baritone
Alexander Blok, piano
Hyperion: 67205
Nuits d’été: Les Plus Belles Mélodies Françaises
“Le spectre de la rose” (“The Spectre of the Rose”), No. 2 from Les nuits d’été, Op. 7 (1840)
Composer: Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
Text: Théophile Gautier (1811-1872)
José van Dam, bass baritone
Jean-Philippe Collard, piano
EMI Classics: 964859
Berlioz, Wagner, Liszt: Romantic Songs
“Vergiftet sind meine Lieder” (“Poisoned are my songs”) (1844)
Composer: Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Text: Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)
Loève-Veimars
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Geoffrey Parsons, piano
EMI Classics: 55047
Schumann: Heine Lieder
“Dein Angesicht” (“Your Face”), Op. 127 No. 2 (originally intended for Dichterliebe, Op. 48) (1840)
Composer: Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Text: Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Wolfgang Sawallisch, piano
EMI Classics: CDC55598
Fables de La Fontaine
“Le corbeau et le renard” (“The Crow and the Fox”) from 6 fables de Lafontaine (1842)
Composer: Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)
Text: Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695)
François Le Roux, baritone
Jeff Cohen, piano
EMI Classics/EMI France
Berlioz, Wagner, Liszt: Romantic Songs
“Oh! quand je dors” (“Oh when I sleep”) (1842)
Composer: Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Text: Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Geoffrey Parsons, piano
EMI Classics: 55047
Anne Sofie von Otter – Beethoven, Meyerbeer, Spohr
“Sicilienne” (1845)
Composer: Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)
Text: François Joseph Méry (1797-1866)
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo soprano
Melvyn Tan, fortepiano
Archiv 469074: 469074
Chopin, Complete Edition: Vol. 9, Songs
“Melodya” (“Melody”) (1847)
Composer: Fryderyk (Frédéric) Chopin (1810-1849)
Text: Zygmunt Krasińskiy (1812-1859)
Elżbieta Szmytka, soprano
Malcolm Martineau, piano
Deutsche Grammophon: 463072
Wondrous Free: Song of America II (2009)
“Hard Times Come Again No More” (1854)
Composer: Stephen Foster (1826-1864)
Text: Stephen Foster
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Craig Rutenberg, piano
Thomas Hampson Media (THM): 5432
Chants Patriotiques Et Militaires
“Chant des girondins” (“Song of the Girondins…”) (1848)
Composer: Alphonse Varney (1811-1879)
Text: Alexande Dumas, Auguste Maquet, Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle (refrain only)
Choeurs de l’Armée Française
Musique de la Garde Républicaine de Paris
Auvidis: A 6254
Diana Damrau: Liszt Lieder
“Über allen Gipfeln”/”Wanderers Nachtlied” (“The Wanderer’s Night Song”) (1848)
Composer: Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
Diana Damrau, soprano
Helmut Deutsch, piano
Virgin Classics: 0709282
