Album Notes

“Mezzo-Soprano Alexandra Montano and pianist Martin Neron have chosen some of the most luscious and dreamy French songs for this lovely recital. Montano’s voice has just the right heady color and soft-edged clarity for the repertoire…her obvious musical intelligence makes the songs come alive…exquisite indeed…”

--Judith Malafronte, OPERA NEWS ONLINE



In Alexandra’s own words:
After Performing Handel’s Ombra Mai fu with “Ascension music” in New York, I was told Martin loved my voice and this sparked his interest in playing French Music together. Two years later, I am leafing through my address book and Martin’s name jumps off the page. I call him to see if he would like to read through some songs…we played for three numinous hours! The idea of a recording came naturally and L’heure Exquise is the result.
I have always found the end of the day to be magical and wanted to sing about the unveiling of darkness: Soir and Clair de lune were clear choices. Then we travel through exotic nights with Ravel and Duparc and are charmed by the bucolic ones of Poulenc. Night is followed by day, so we leave you with Aurore, the last twinkling of stars.