George is a new CD from soprano Sonya Yoncheva and friends made up of music George Sand would have listened to and some readings fro her works.  There’s a particular emphasis on Pauline Viardot; close friend of Sand and sister of Maria Malibran.

The music includes Chopin piano pieces played by Olga Zado, who also accompanies the songs.  His Casta diva, based on the Bellini aria, is particularly interesting.  There are songs by Leoncavallo, Delibes, Offenbach, Tosti and Liszt as well as piano music and songs by Viardot.  On two of the songs Yoncheva is accompanied by mezzo Marina Viotti and Zado is joined by violinist Adam Taubitz for a Viardot Romance.

The singing is all very high class.  Yoncheva is very at home in this music and she blends well with Viotti.  The instrumental playing is very good too.  On top of that Yoncheva is a very expressive reader.  It’s a varied, interesting and enjoyable disk.

The album was recorded in March 2024 at the Salle de Musique in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, and is very clear and detailed, at least on the 192kHz/24bit digital version I listened to.  It will be released on January 24th as a physical CD and digitally but I don’t have details.  There’s a useful booklet with an essay on Sand, Yoncheva’s thinking behind the album and texts.

Catalogue information: Naïve Records V8616