Douce France Anne Sofie Von Otter & Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble

• 1 Chansons grises: No. 5. L'heure exquise 02:32
• 2 Le plus beau present 01:59
• 3 Clair de lune 01:23
• 4 Si vous n'avez rien a me dire 03:20
• 5 Vogue, vogue la galere 01:51
• 6 Quand je fus pris au pavillon 01:06
• 7 Puisque j'ai mis ma levre 03:48
• 8 Cimetiere de campagne 02:23
• 9 Le secret, Op. 23, No. 3 02:35
• 10 2 Epigrammes de Clement Marot: No. 2. D'Anne jouent de l'espinette 01:41
• 11 Ballade de la reine morte d'aimer 04:07
• 12 Trois chansons de Bilitis - No. 1. La flute de Pan 02:45
• 13 Trois chansons de Bilitis - No. 2. La chevelure 03:25
• 14 Trois chansons de Bilitis - No. 3. Le tombeau des naiades 02:57
• 15 Four poems for voice, viola and piano, Op. 5 - No. 1. La cloche felee 08:21
• 16 Four poems for voice, viola and piano, Op. 5 - No. 4. Serenade 04:30
• 17 Danse macabre (arr. B. Forsberg for voice, viola and piano) 02:06
• 18 Gottingen 03:02
• 19 Padam, Padam 03:07
• 20 A Saint-Germain-des-Pres 03:34
• 21 Septembre (Quel joli temps) 03:20
• 22 A Paris 03:11
• 23 Le Facteur 04:08
• 24 Chanson des jumelles 03:02
• 25 Je vivrai sans toi 03:07
• 26 Les feuilles mortes (Autumn Leaves) 04:24
• 27 Douce France 03:21
• 28 Boum! 02:03
• 29 Le Pont Mirabeau 02:53
• 30 La Carte du tendre 03:03
• 31 Chansons grises: No. 1. Chanson d'automne 02:13
• 32 La Vie en rose 04:13
• 33 Que reste-t-il de nos amours 02:51
• 34 Parlez-moi d'amour 02:39
• Total Runtime 01:45:00

Info for Douce France

A loving tribute to French Song, by one of the greatest voices. With exceptional sensibility and understanding of the French language, the renowned Swedish singer pays a loving homage to French melody and song. Known for her artistic journeys which transcend the borders of musical genre, Anne Sofie von Otter’s collaborations include those with Elvis Costello and Brad Mehldau, with whom she recorded her ‘Love Songs’ album on Naïve.

Anne Sofie von Otter here presents a unique panorama of French song spanning two centuries, from the melodies of Fauré and Debussy to the classic songs of Piaf, Trenet, Barbara, Ferré, Montand and Moustaki. United by a shared beauty of language and emotively simple melody, each work is a timeless treasure encapsulating French tradition and spirit. All captured with the legendary class of the great Anne Sofie von Otter.

“A pair of discs to warm any Francophile's heart...Disc one is devoted to an alluring collection of melodies...However, this goes beyond a usual traversal of the genre...[for the second disc] Von Otter has the flexibility to allow darker and breathier hues into her voice” (BBC Music Magazine)

Her voice may not be in the first flush of youth, but her sung French is so good, and her sense of idiom so secure, that there's a great deal to enjoy here - especially as the songs have been chosen with such obvious care...No doubts-here - assuming the repertoire appeals, this is a joy.” (International Record Review)

“All listeners, whichever direction they are coming from, should expect a voyage of discovery...Only a singer with von Otter's near-native grasp of the French language and style could bring this off...Against the odds, this two-CD set is a double pleasure.” (Gramophone)

Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Bengt Forsberg, piano
Antoine Tamestit, viola
Bjorn Gafvert, harmonium
Per Ekdahl, percussion
Carl Bagge, piano
Mats Bergstrom, guitar
Olle Linder, bass
Bengan Janson, accordion
Margareta Bengtson, voice and harp
Par Grebacken, woodwind
Karl Olandersson, trumpet
Magnus Wiklund, trombone
Ulf Forsberg, violin
Anders Jakobsson, violin
Malin Broman, viola
Kati Raitinen, cello

Recorded in February 2013 in Berwaldhallen, Sveriges Radio AB Stockholm
Recorded in May 2013 at Atlantis Studio, Stockholm

Anne Sofie von Otter
Internationally acclaimed Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter has long been considered one of the finest singers of her generation. A lengthy and exclusive relationship with Deutsche Grammophon produced a wealth of recordings and numerous awards including an International Record Critics’ Award (recording artist of the year), a Grammy Award (best classical vocal performance) for Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn, and a Diapason d’Or for a recording of Swedish songs with her long-time accompanist, Bengt Forsberg. She collaborated with pop legend Elvis Costello on the disc, For the Stars and in October 2010 released her first recording with the Naïve label, Love Songs, a collaboration with renowned jazz pianist Brad Mehldau. This was followed by her 2012 disc, Sogno Barocco – a collection of Italian baroque arias, scenes and duets with Leonardo García-Alarcón and Cappella Mediterranea – which was nominated for a Grammy Award. Her fourth recording for Naïve, Douce France, is a double CD of mélodies and chansons (released in October 2013).

Anne Sofie von Otter earned an international reputation as an outstanding Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) with performances at the Royal Opera House, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra national de Paris, and the Wiener Staatsoper. She also performed the role as part of a series of engagements with James Levine and The Metropolitan Opera, and in Japan under Carlos Kleiber (available on DVD). Other seminal opera recordings include Le nozze di Figaro under Levine, Idomeneo, La clemenza di Tito and Orfeo ed Euridice under John Eliot Gardiner, Handel’s Ariodante and Hercules under Marc Minkowski and Ariadne auf Naxos under Giuseppe Sinopoli.

Recent opera highlights have included Clytemnestre (Iphigenie en Aulide) in Pierre Audi’s production for De Nederlandse Opera conducted by Marc Minkowski (available on DVD), Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande) under Philippe Jordan for Opéra national de Paris (available on DVD), Countess Geschwitz (Lulu) at The Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Fabio Luisi and her role debut in Charpentier’s Médeé for Oper Frankfurt. She appeared in Giulio Cesare at the 2012 Salzburg Festival with an all-star cast including Cecilia Bartoli and Andreas Scholl. In the 2013/14 season she appears in Christoph Marthaler’s production of Les contes d’Hoffmann at Madrid’s Teatro Real, in Götterdämmerung at Deutsche Oper Berlin under Sir Simon Rattle and in The Rake’s Progress at Theater an der Wien under Michael Boder. The diversity of this ever-evolving repertoire has played a key role in sustaining her international reputation as an operatic force.

A busy concert schedule takes Anne Sofie von Otter to all corners of the globe. Recent highlights include appearances with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under David Robertson, the New York Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert, the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Daniele Gatti, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under Sakari Oramo. She performed Wesendonck Lieder with Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse under Marc Minkowski and with the hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt under Paavo Järvi as part of the Wagner bicentenary. In 2011 she appeared with Jonas Kaufmann and the Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Claudio Abbado for a televised performance of Das Lied von der Erde on the one hundredth anniversary of Mahler’s death.

This album contains no booklet.