Je m'abandonne à vous : Airs sur des poésies de la comtesse de la Suze

At the age of 21, Henriette de Coligny (1623-1673) married for love, something that was not common at the time. After the death of her beloved husband, her mother forced her to marry Comte de La Suze in 1647. She did not resign herself to this. After a long procedure she managed to get a divorce in 1661. In her elegies and chansons (poems intended for music) she was no less strong-willed. She dared… to choose love as a subject, although this was something women were warned about in their upbringing. No wonder she did not always get the recognition she deserved as a woman. Nowadays her literary reputation is as solid as a rock. The musical recognition was always there, thanks to the beautiful songs of Michel Lambert, Sébastien Le Camus, Bertrand de Bacilly and Honoré d'Ambruis. Marc Mauillon (baritone) and his colleagues have compiled a fine anthology of this 17th century music. (HJ)more