Alison Smart Fisher; Katharine Durrant - New French Song II CD

Two decades after their pioneering 2004 album New French Song, soprano Alison Smart Fisher and pianist Katharine Durran return with a bold and timely sequel. New French Song II presents ten newly commissioned settings of French texts by women and non-binary composers, expanding the art song repertoire with fresh perspectives and luminous creativity. The original New French Song brought together 20 British composers, each setting a French poem—predominantly Romantic and written by men. This second collection rebalances the picture, offering a rich, contemporary counterpoint. The texts, all by women and non-binary poets, span eight centuries of Francophone literature, from Europe to the Caribbean, and reflect a wide-ranging poetic tradition—from the sensual cadences of Symbolism to the fractured textures of post-Modernism. The themes are universal: love’s first stirrings, its losses and partings, the solace of solitude, and the healing power of nature. Chosen with care to resonate with younger readers as well as seasoned listeners, these texts speak with clarity and nuance, free from gendered conventions, yet charged with emotional depth. The composers—among them Deirdre Gribbin, Shirley J. Thompson, Lesley-Jane Rogers, and Gráinne Mulvey—respond with a dazzling range of musical idioms. From lyrical stillness to rhythmic intensity, their settings are at once rooted in the tradition of French mélodie and alert to the sonic world of today. The resulting collection is kaleidoscopic in colour and tone, yet unified by a shared commitment to text, voice, and the art of expressive song.