ELLA ADAÏEWSKY (Elizabeth von Schultz) (1846-1926): 24 Preludes for Voice and Piano, Berceuse Estonienne (versions for Voice and Piano and for Violin and Piano), for Piano: Gavotte, Sarabande, Air rococo avec doubles.
Catalogue Number: 07N060
Label: Dynamic
Reference: CDS 633
Format: CD
Price: $18.98
Description: Collectors of woman composers will find this 1903-07 song cycle unusual for its title 24 Preludes. It sets poetry by Adaïewsky's nephew Benno Geiger but you'd better have good German since there are no texts and a quick Google search found nothing on-line either. Managing to have, at various times, elements of the aristocratic salon, a decadent fin de siècle atmosphere, late German Romanticism, Impressionism and melodic Sprechgesang, this is as unusual a goulash as you're likely to come upon for a while. The piano pieces and the Estonian lullaby (also in German) date from around 1890 and are more firmly in the late Romantic style. No texts. Claudia Grimaz (soprano), Andrea Rucli (piano), Lucio Degani (violin).