TRACKLISTING

CD1

Rossini
Serate Musicali
1 La promessa - Canzonetta
2 Il rimprovero - Canzonetta
3 La partenza - Canzonetta
4 L'orgia - Arietta
5 L'invito - Bolero
6 La pastorella delle Alpi - Tirolese
7 La gita in gondola - Barcarola
8 La danza - Tarantella napoletana
Leoncavallo
9 Serenata francese
Donizetti
10 Il sospiro
Respighi
11 I tempi assai lontani
Bellini
12 Dolente immagine di Fille mia
Rossini
13 Adieux à la vie!
Bellini
14 Malinconia, ninfa gentile
Verdi
15 Il poveretto
Bellini
16 Vaga luna, che inargenti
Pietro Cimara
17 Stornello Marinara
Ponchielli
18 Il trovatore

CD2

Mascagni
1 La tua stella
Rossini
2 Chanson de Zora
3 Arietta all'antica
Campana
4 L'ultima speme
Donizetti
5 A Mezzanotte
6 J'attends toujours
Gounod
7 Au Printemps
Godard
8 Chanson de Florian
Massenet
9 Pensée d'automne
Dalayrac
10 Quand la bien - aimé riviendra
(from the opera Nina)
Lalo
11 L'Esclave
Thomas
12 Le Soir
Saint-Saëns
13 Aimons-nous
Fauré
14 Le papillon et la fleur
Bizet
15 Pastorale
Massenet
16 Oh! Si les fleurs avaient des yeux
Meyerbeer
17 Guide au bord ta nacelle
Félicion David
18 Les Hirondelles
Chaminade
19 Berceuse
Massenet
20 Puisqu'elle a pris ma vie
Delibes
21 La Filles de Cadix
Reynaldo Hahn
22 Aimons-nous
Adam
23 Mariquita

RECORDING INFORMATION

Released as part of Decca's
JOAN SUTHERLAND 80th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
(November 7th 2006)

FIRST EVER RELEASE ON CD (originally released on 3 LPs)

Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge invite us to a very special soirée musicale

An evening of song recorded in the music room of Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge's home in Switzerland in 1978

The title of the album is taken from the opening set of songs by Rossini - Serate Musicali

Many songs that are still popular today were written for the French salons or the Italian salotto of the 19th Century. On these two CDs we share an intimate evening 'at home' with Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge as they perform a wide selection of songs written for these glittering occaisions.

Many of the songs are by composers with whom Joan Sutherland has a close connection on the opera stage such as Verdi and the three key composers of the bel canto style - Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini, as well and the leading French opera composers of the 19th Century - Massenet, Bizet and Gounod. The album also includes many rarities by relatively unknown composers.

'Songs that were rarely intended to be heard in the impersonal surroundings of the concert hall are now retrurned, with the aid of the gramophone recording, to their rightful place - the drawing-room.'
From the original LP booklet