La Romance d’Ariel (ALBUM)

Paris-New York
Transatlantic Album Recording

We are DuoMuse, an art song duo based in Antwerp, consisting of Eloise Mabille, soprano, and Lydia Michel, piano. After a year of rehearsing, test recording and brainstorming during the lockdown, we are excited to announce that we will be recording and producing (with your help!) our first digital album of French and American art songs. We got our inspiration from our shared love for the repertoire of Debussy, Ravel, Barber, Bernstein and Poulenc. After much time and effort we have finally chosen and confirmed a recording studio: Blue Keys Studio in Ghent (owned by the well-known Belgian jazz pianist and composer Jef Neve); as well as the digital distribution label, Orpheus Classical. They approved our project and awarded 75% sponsorship.

Who are the members of DuoMuse?

The Belgian soprano Éloïse Mabille studied in France and took part in several competitions. From that year on, she distinguished herself by her qualities as an actress. The world of operetta opens up to her, allowing her to excel in the roles of young premiere. She then specialized in the interpretation of the baroque music repertoire with Frank Agsteribbe and Korneel Bermolet and is regularly invited as a soloist by Le Jardin des Voix, Octopus choir and Canto Coronato. In addition, she regularly performs in recitals in prestigious venues such as Amuz in Antwerp or the Bijloke in Ghent. She dazzles with her honest interpretation in the staging of Fanny Gilbert-Collet, Dido & Aeneas and 2019 at the Ghent Festival.

Lydia Michel was born in Buffalo, New York, USA, and recently obtained two postgraduate diplomas at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp (Belgium) under the direction of Prof. Sergei Edelmann: “Concert Soloist Piano” (2020), and “Chamber Music” (2021). She received her master's degree in music from the School of Music at the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis under the professorship of Prof. Lydia Artymiw, and previously obtained She received her Bachelor of Music Summa Cum Laude from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth under the direction of Dr. Tamas Ungar.Lydia Michel performed as a soloist with the Pärnu City Orchestra in Estonia and gave concerts in Belgium, Italy, Austria, Sweden and the all over the US She also attended masterclasses by artists such as Lilya Zilberstein, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Veda Kaplinksy, Jan Jiracek von Arnim, Daniel Blumenthal, Arthur Greene and Markus Schirmer. As a prize winner of various competitions and prestigious fairs, Lydia Michel regularly collaborates with instrumentalists and singers and has an active private piano studio in Antwerp.

https://www.facebook.com/DuoMuse

What is the repertoire of the album "La Romance d'Ariel"?

After much deliberation, we have finally put together a repertoire for this album that reflects not only our shared artistic identity and mutual taste, but also our combined cultural roots: France and America.

Five chansons from 13 Mélodies Dédiées A Marie Vasnier by Claude Debussy:

1. Coquetterie posthume (Quand je mourrai), Mélodie pour voix & piano, L. 392.
2. Romance (Silence ineffable) Melody for voice & piano, L. 43
3. Music
4. La Romance d'Ariel (Au long de ces montagnes douces), Mélodie for voice & piano, L. 54
5. Regret (Devant le ciel), Mélodie pour voix & piano, L. 55

Cinq mélodies Populaires grecques by Maurice Ravel

Knoxville: Summer of 1915 by Samuel Barber

I Hate Music!: A Cycle of Five Kid Songs by Leonard Bernstein

Banalités, FP 107 by Francis Poulenc

Total time: about 58.5 min.

Why do we need your help?

This DuoMuse album could not be completed without your generous support and financial help! Through the Orpheus Classical label, we have had the valuable opportunity to publish our finished album on many major digital platforms: Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Play, Deezer, Tidal, 7Digital, Yandex, etc. While fortunately we already have a private sponsor package from Orpheus of 75% (4650€!) , the remaining amount that we have to finance ourselves is 1550€. The costs for the recordings and sound technique of our latest album at Blue Keys Studio are 2360€ (including VAT). The cost for tuning the Fazioli and Bechstein pianos in the studio is 200 €, plus our travel costs of 50 €. Finally, the costs associated with the crowdfunding platform amount to €480. This brings us to a total of 4640€.

Many artists and musicians rethought their strategy to bring their music to the public during Covid-19. Likewise, this year gave us a unique opportunity to develop this project full of inspiration, enthusiasm and creative energy. Your help in realizing this project and its success would be invaluable to us. In particular, it would allow us to bring new life to these classic and rarely recorded pieces. This is our next step as a young professional duo, and hopefully the start of a long road of collaboration and performance ahead! Thanks for your support and all the best, Eloise & Lydia

https://www.instagram.com/the_duo_muse/