Mari
Eriksmoen

With her elegant range of expression and strong stage presence, Mari Eriksmoen has conquered opera and concert stages around the world and become one of our most sought-after sopranos. During this concert, she will be presenting the rich and nuanced range of the French song palette. 

The French sister of the German Lied tradition – a poem set to music – is called mélodie. The mélodie, or art song, underwent rapid development in the 19th and 20th centuries and Mari Eriksmoen shares that journey with us during the concert, with a programme that includes Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc and Satie. She will be accompanied on the piano by Scottish Malcolm Martineau, considered one of today’s most greatest accompanists.  

An educator and his successors

Gabriel Fauré was one of the first to compose song cycles based on the French artistic ideals. He ranks among French music’s most influential figures from the mid-1800s and Eriksmoen performs an array of his emotionally charged works. 

Fauré meant a great deal to his successors Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. From the 1900s, Debussy adhered to a strongly impressionist tonal language, while Ravel stepped away from both Impressionism and the German Lied tradition. Instead, he wrote songs based on traditional folk tunes from the Greek island of Chios. The concert will be opening with these songs. 

An array of inspiration

Francis Poulenc quickly established himself as one of the overnight successes on the French neoclassical stage. He was ambivalent about Ravel’s tonal language, nor was he influenced by the composer Erik Satie. 

During this concert, Eriksmoen will be singing Poulenc’s Fiançailles pour rire, a song cycle based on the poem written by his close friend Louise de Vilmorin. The cycle is feminine in its expression: modest, elegant and reflective, with a bittersweet undertone. 

• Introduction in the Education Centre at 6:30 pm