Revue de presse
Archives 2023
Le Messie, la magie, la fête
"...Tendresse que l’on retrouve dans la subtilité et le style de Sandrine Piau dont on connaît les qualités de fraîcheur vocale et d’intelligence. Lorsque la soprano et le contre-ténor s’associent dans le duo « He shall feed His flock » le paradis est proche…"
Classic Toulouse, Serge Chauzy, 22 décembre 2023
Le magistral Messie de Laurence Equilbey
"...On ne présente plus Sandrine Piau dont la voix est idéale dans Haendel. Elle l’a beaucoup chanté sur scène et ses enregistrements d’airs sont parmi les plus aboutis que je connaisse par une soprano. Ce soir la voix est magnifique et la musicienne est très délicate. Ces airs sont magiques..."
Classiquenews, Hubert Stoecklin, 24 décembre 2023
Sandrine Piau recoit le Gramophone Award 2023 pour son album Rivales avec Véronique Gens
"...The album’s greatness lies not only in its sheer brilliance, but in the fact that it leaves you longing to hear and explore so much more..."
"...Véronique Gens and Sandrine Piau tell us that this wonderful album is simply ‘a prank, an imaginary conflict between two divas’, though it is in fact a great deal more than that. Its starting point is the seemingly cordial rivalry between Madame Dugazon and Madame Saint-Huberty, stars of the Opéra-Comique and Paris Opéra respectively in the last years of the ancien régime. Dugazon’s voice was light and bright, Saint-Huberty’s somewhat darker, a contrast replicated today by Piau and Gens. ‘Rivales’ consequently gives us arias from operas that each soprano sang, along with duets they could have performed together but probably didn’t..."
Gramophone, Tim Ashley, Octobre 2023
Sandrine Piau aux BBC Proms 2023
Pygmalion/Pichon review – fascinating and moving take on Mozart’s Requiem
... "Playing and choral singing had terrific immediacy – Pygmalion are an outstanding ensemble – and the solo quartet in the Requiem were comparably fine. Sandrine Piau replaced the indisposed Erin Morley, her silvery soprano beautifully contrasted with Beth Taylor’s wonderfully rich mezzo..."
The Guardian, Tim Ashley, 8 septembre 2023
INNOCENCE / KAIJA SAARIAHO - COVENT GARDEN - AVRIL/MAI 2023
The Finnish composer’s most ambitious opera disturbs and enthrals the first night audience at Covent Garden.
"... A wedding is in full swing. The bride is all smiles. The groom looks distracted. His parents watch proceedings with a sense of concern. Almost simultaneously we see students in a school – scared, hiding, and bloodied...So begins Finnish composer’s Kaija Saariaho’s latest opera, Innocence..."
"...Musically and dramatically the performance was of an exceptionally high standard. Director Simon Stone draws wonderfully vivid performances from every member of the large cast, and within Chloe Lamford’s revolving box set depicts events with a cinematic sweep complete with an unerring eye to detail"
"...It seems invidious to mention individual singers, given the overall homogeneity of the cast, in what was a true ensemble evening, but as the Bridegroom’s Parents, Sandrine Piau and Christopher Purves were vocally resplendent. She caught all the character’s neuroses, while he portrayed the character’s inner torment with a rare sense of authenticity and faultless diction...".
Keith McDonnell, musicOMH, 21/04/2023
https://www.musicomh.com/classical/reviews-classical/innocence-the-royal-opera-saariaho/amp
Photo: Tristram Kenton
Album Voyage Intime avec David Kadouch
Voyage intime avec Sandrine Piau et David Kadouch
"...Dans un programme savamment concocté, Sandrine Piau et David Kadouch nous emmènent au cœur de leur voyage intime. Une invitation qui ne laissera personne au bord du chemin, et qui suscitera mille émotions..."
"...L’interprétation, on s’y attendait un peu, est proche de l’idéal, les mille couleurs et la dynamique du chant de Sandrine Piau trouvant leur parfait équivalent dans la piano subtil et détaillé de David Kadouch. Les deux musiciens savent également donner dans le dramatique et le théâtral quand il le faut, comme le montrent la fin haletante de « Erlkönig » ou le climat glacial dont est empreint « Der Tod and das Mädchen »..."
Pierre Degott, ResMusica, 24/03/2023
https://www.resmusica.com/2023/03/24/voyage-intime-avec-sandrine-piau-et-david-kadouch-alpha/
Recording of the week - PrestoMusic
"...Taking in music by Wolf, Schubert, Clara Schumann, Lili Boulanger, Duparc and Debussy, Voyage intime is guaranteed to stave off any winter Wanderlust for a fraction of the price of a real-life minibreak, with the French soprano at the top of her game and her new recital-partner proving the most illuminating of travel-companions..."
"...Don’t expect an unbroken series of idyllic picture-postcards, though – whilst Piau and Kadouch are perhaps at their most hypnotic in the hymn-like meditations by Wolf and Schubert which crop up in the early part of the programme, the itinerary also includes lay-overs in some pretty dark psychological territory..."
Katherine Cooper, prestomusic, 10/02/2023
Gramophone Editor's Choice March 2023
"...'Voyage intime’ marks the start of a new recording partnership between Sandrine Piau and David Kadouch, already much admired together in concert, it would seem. It’s a remarkable disc in many ways, though the title doesn’t quite give an adequate reflection of its contents..."
"...It’s wonderfully done, though. Piau’s way of singing off the line while deploying subtle gradations of colour and dynamics to illuminate the text finds its counterpart in Kadouch’s poetic yet detailed playing, and they often achieve a remarkable unity of aim and expression, admirably restrained throughout, yet on occasion also startling..."
Tim Ashley, Gramophone, 20/02/2023
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/reviews/review?slug=voyage-intime
Gramophone interview: ‘It’s boring if you only have singers who are just singing beautifully’
"...There are many beautiful things in art and music. If I believe in something, it’s the possibility that, with the spirituality of art, people can be something beyond themselves..."
David Patrick Stearns, Gramophone, 06/04/2023
Sortie de l'album Voyage Intime avec David Kadouch
"... Sandrine Piau l’interprète d’une voix dont, une fois encore, on admire la fraîcheur, la clarté du timbre et la souplesse admirablement préservées, ainsi que le vibrato jamais marqué. David Kadouch, dont on connaît le goût pour la musique de chambre, se plaît à différencier toucher et couleurs selon les styles et les atmosphères, attentif au chant et réceptif aux textes..."
(Opéra Magazine)
"... Malgré la (presque) génération qui les sépare, les deux protagonistes trouvent d’emblée le ton d’une véritable complicité tout en gardant intacte la part d’expressivité de chacun et sa contribution à l’élaboration collective..."
(Forum Opéra)
"...La sensibilité de ces deux artistes, que l’on sait délicate, se rencontre à merveille dans des œuvres qui requièrent cette unité d’âme..."
(Diapason)
"...L’approche de Sandrine Piau est bouleversante de simplicité et de maîtrise : aucun effet gratuit, rien que la calme appropriation de poèmes mythiques, restitués dans une sorte de détachement onirique qui ne les rend que plus puissants..."
(La Libre Belgique)
"...This is a glorious collaboration, and a wonderful record. If it doesn’t pick up some awards, it will probably only be because Sandrine Piau’s releases, particularly of baroque repertoire, tend to win so many of them anyway ... Perhaps the most jaw-droppingly effective section in pacing, flow and sheer attention of both singer and pianist to the detail of every nuance from beginning to end, are three Baudelaire settings by Debussy from the late 1880’s...."
(The Arts Desk)
"... we’re easily pulled into most of the songs by the vibrato-light clarity of Piau’s voice, and the delicate piano playing of David Kadouch ... It’s Liszt as well who finishes this skilful if not crucial album with “Comment, disaient-ils”, a glint of French sunshine that offers love as life’s best solution..."
(The Times)
"...It's a really immersive experience and they do make you reflect, they do make you think and look back on your life. I love the slight edge of vulnerability to her voice and at the same time there is a little bit of restraint, a little bit of coolness which perfectly suits this repertoire. I think they've done a fabulous job, so very high on my list this week..."
(BBC Radio 3)
"...A philosophical, emotional and geographic journey told through a superb selection of songs; Sandrine Piau is a profoundly poetic guide, David Kadouch her perfect travelling companion..."
(Gramophone)
"...The three Debussy pieces from his Cinq poèmes de Charles Baudelaire are among the highlights of the recital, exquisite in tone, line, nuance and vocal colour. These songs feature on numerous fine mélodie recitals, but few I know surpass these versions..."
(MusicWeb International)
ALCINA - OPÉRA DE MONTE CARLO - JANVIER 2023
Florence Lethurgez, Ôlyrix, 23/01/2023
https://www.olyrix.com/articles/production/6466/alcina-haendel-opera-monte-carlo-monaco-cecilia-bartoli-22-janvier-2023-article-critique-compte-rendu-loy-leiacker-renzenbrink-purkrabek-wilhelm-capuano-jaroussky-piau-abrahamyan-mironov-kalman-sehnert-les-musiciens-du-prince-monaco
