DARIUS MILHAUD (1892-1974): Alissa, Op. 9, Poèmes juifs, Op. 34, L'Amour chante, Op. 409.

Description: This unusual combination was originally released on an unknown label in 1992. Alissa (1913, rev. 1931) is a 36-minute setting of chunks of an André Gide novel which, even though there are two characters in it, comes off as a long operatic monologue not without interest. L'Amour chante is a very late work from 1964 - nine settings of mostly 16th century poems on love set in an elliptical, extremely subtle and nuanced way which demands close attention. French-English texts (no texts of op. 34). Carole Farley (soprano), John Constable (piano).