Of Love and War Beatriz Blanco & Federico Bosco

• Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949):
• 1 Strauss: 4 Lieder, Op. 27: Morgen!, No. 4 03:52
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, L. 135:
• 2 Debussy: Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, L. 135: I. Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto 04:44
• 3 Debussy: Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, L. 135: II. Sérénade: Modérément animé 03:39
• 4 Debussy: Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, L. 135: III. Final: Animé, léger et nerveux 03:42
• Anton Webern (1883 - 1945): 2 Pieces for Cello and Piano:
• 5 Webern: 2 Pieces for Cello and Piano: I. Langsam 02:51
• 6 Webern: 2 Pieces for Cello and Piano: II. Langsam 02:11
• Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963): 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 8:
• 7 Hindemith: 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 8: I. Capriccio 03:10
• 8 Hindemith: 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 8: II. Phantasiestück 10:01
• 9 Hindemith: 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 8: III. Scherzo 11:19
• Anton Webern: 3 Little Pieces, Op. 11:
• 10 Webern: 3 Little Pieces, Op. 11: I. Mäßige Achtel 01:06
• 11 Webern: 3 Little Pieces, Op. 11: II. Sehr Bewegt 00:22
• 12 Webern: 3 Little Pieces, Op. 11: III. Äußerst Ruhig 01:21
• Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924):
• 13 Fauré: 3 Songs, Op. 23, No. 1: I. Les berceaux 02:36
• Anton Webern:
• 14 Webern: Cello Sonata 02:16
• Nadia Boulanger (1887 - 1979): 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano:
• 15 Boulanger: 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano: I. Modéré 03:13
• 16 Boulanger: 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano: II. Sans vitesse et à l'aise 01:44
• 17 Boulanger: 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano: III. Vite et nerveusement rythmé 02:57
• Claude Debussy:
• 18 Debussy: Beau soir, L. 6 02:46
• Total Runtime 01:03:50

Info for Of Love and War

Of Love and War, partly inspired by Eduardo Galeano’s novel Days and Nights of Love and War, draws parallels between the isolation and pent-up passions of wartime and the experiences of the current pandemic. Much of this repertoire was composed around the time of the First World War, but also embraces broader themes of beginnings and endings, night and day, love and loss.

Nadia Boulanger is celebrated as a teacher of great composers, but was a composer in her own right; her 'Three Pieces' occupy a similar soundworld to that of Debussy, whose Cello Sonata is at the heart of the programme, and Faur, whose song 'Les berceaux' we hear in an arrangement for cello and piano. There are works by Webern that show us 'before and after' his early lessons with Schoenberg: the 'Zwei Stucke fr Cello und Klavier' of 1899, written when Webern was only 16, and the 'Drei Kleine Stucke', Op. 11 and Cello Sonata, both dating from 1914. The album discovers a softer side to Hindemith in his richly Romantic 'Three Pieces', Op. 8, and the whole recital is framed by glorious songs by Strauss and Debussy, performed by Solenn' Lavanant-Linke.

Beatriz Blanco, cello
Federico Bosco, piano
Solenn’ Lavanant-Linke, mezzo soprano

Beatriz Blanco
Praised by critics and audiences alike for her passion, musicality, sensitivity, and technical mastery. The quality and depth of her sound and stage presence have been evident since her debut with the Castilla y León Symphonic Orchestra in 2004. ​

Awarded at the “Associacion Suisse des Musiciens”, with the Würdigungspreis of the Austrian Government 2013, Antonio Janigro Competiton in Zagreb 2016, the Rahn Musikpreis in Switzerland, her solo career includes performances with the Symphonieorchester Basel, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Argovia Philarmonic, Radio and Television Spanish Orchestra (ORTVE), Málaga Philarmonic Orchestra, Castilla y León Symphonic Orchestra (OSCyL), Orchestra Sinfónica del Vallés (OSV). She has performed in major European concert halls including the Theatre des Champs Elysees (Paris), Victoria Hall (Geneva), Stadt Casino (Basel), Solitär (Salzburg), Tonhalle (Zürich), Lingotto (Torino), Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Palau de la Música and L'Auditori in Barcelona and Palau de las Arts in Valencia. ​

Since 2008, she has been delving into the cello and piano duo repertoire together with Italian pianist Federico Bosco. They received the first price at the Salieri-Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition 2015, in Verona, Italy, with engagements across Europe for the upcoming seasons, including their debut at the Menuhin Festival Gstaad Switzerland. ​

Her discography includes “A mon Ami”, cello and piano pieces by F.Chopin and A.Franchomme and “Baroque Portrait”, dedicated to J.S.Bach cello suites and J.Barrière Sonates. ​

Combining her concert activity with teaching, she taught at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid before joining the Cello Faculty at the Vorarlberger Landeskonservatorium in Feldkirch, Austria. She is regulary invited to give masterclasses in different Festivals and Academies such as Talis Festival in Sarajevo, Sighisoara Festival in Romania and Curso de Jóvenes Músicos Santa María del Paular in Madrid, Spain. ​

Beatriz is since 2019 artistic director of the Festival y Academia Ribeira Sacra in Galicia, Spain, bringing musicians all over the world together to perform chamber music in very unique places and to teach young talented musicians from Spain and abroad. ​

She studied with Asier Polo in Spain, Ivan Monighetti at the Hochschule für Musik Basel, Clemens Hagen at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg and with Thomas Grossenbacher at the Zürcher Hochschule der Kunste. ​

Beatriz plays a C.Pierray cello (Paris, 1720), on her property thanks to the help of Fr. Dr. Anne Budde.

Federico Bosco
(Turin 1982) played recitals for various Associations in Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Austria and Spain. He makes his debut as a soloist in 2006 with the Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Paul Klee Auditorium in Bern (Mozart’s Jeunehomme) and the following year with the Basle Symphony Orchestra in Basler Stadt-Casino (Bartók 1); he performs with the orchestras of the Turin Conservatory and the Philarmonie of the Theater für Niedersachsen Hildesheim/Hannover.

Enthusiastic lover of chamber music, he plays in ensembles from duo to quintet, and he gained awards in various national and international competitions like the Sandro Fuga (Turin) and the Orpheus competition (Bern). Together with the cellist Beatriz Blanco he obtained the first prize at the 2015 International chamber Music Competition “Salieri-Zinetti” in Verona. He performed in prestigious scenarios like the Lucerne Festival, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, the Auditori and the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, the Festival of Granada, the National Auditorium in Madrid, the Theater Calderón in Valladolid, the Malta Intarnational Arts Festival, the Swiss Chamber Music in Adelboden, the Lingotto Musica in Turin, the Salzburg Chamber Music Festival and others, gaining positive reactions from both audience and critics.

In 2015 appeared his first Album, dedicated to Chopin’s cello literature and some previous unrecorded pieces by Auguste Franchomme.

He collaborates with the Ballet and the Orchestra of the basler Theater for a creation on Ravel’s musics (Concerto in G) and with the acting company Souffle 14 for a production on the Schumann’s, successfully performed in France (Moulin d’Andé, Le Havre, Fécamp), and.

He studied conducting with Rodolfo Fischer at the Hochschule in Basel, who invited him as assistant for BuenosAiresLirica. He had been working for two seasons as coach and musical assistant at the Theater für Niedersachsen Hildesheim-Hanover and collaborated with the Theater St. Gallen for some of the Opera productions.

Federico Bosco studied in in Italy with Claudio Voghera, Filippo Gamba and Andrea Lucchesini, then at the High School in Basle with Adrian Oetiker. In masterclasses in Italy, France and Switzerland he has met artists like Piotr Anderszewski, Aldo Ciccolini, Edson Elias, Homero Francesch, Alicia de Larrocha, Benedetto Lupo e Roland Pröll. Very significant for his formation were the chamber music lessons with Ferenc Rados, Gérard Wyss, the Altenberg Trio Wien at the Accademia di Pinerolo, Ralf Gothoni at the Escuela de música Reína Sofia di Madrid, the composition studies with Giulio Castagnoli and the History lessons with Enzo Restagno.

He is now sharing his activities between projects with his musical partners and the work at Hochschule in Basle where he accompanies the instrumental and singing classes. He is regularly invited to take part at international Masterclasses (Rencontres Musicales Alberto Lysy, Sommerakademie Lenk, Sommerakademie Ettal, Lubijana Festival)

Solenn’ Lavanant Linke
During the current season Solenn’ Lavanant Linke performs in Lucerne Cherubino in a new production Le Nozze di Figaro and gives her debut in the part of Lucretia in a new production of Britten’s The rape of Lucretia. In Mainz she is heard as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel and as Ramira in La finta Giardiniera.

In 2019 she made two highly successful role debuts in Lucerne: as Donna Elvira in a new production Don Giovanni directed by Benedikt von Peter and as Herodias in a new production Salome directed by Herbert Fritsch and conducted by Clemens Heil. She performed Muse / Niklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro in Mainz.

After her debut at the Zurich opera in the title role of Charpentier’s Médée in February 2017, Solenn’ Lavanant Linke also debuted with great success as Cherubino in a new production of Le Nozze di Figaro at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich directed by Christoph Loy and conducted by Constantinos Carydis.

As a member of the ensemble of Theater Basel between 2009 and 2015 she performed Cherubino, Idamante in Idomeneo, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Kitchen Boy in Jenufa, Varvara in Katia Kabanova, Charlotte in Werther, Marguérite in Faust, Muse/Niklausse, the title role in Carmen directed by Calixto Bieito and the title role of Médée conducted by Andrea Marcon.

In Basel she also worked under directors such as David Bösch, Benedikt von Peter, Arpad Schilling, Elmar Goerden and Armin Petras.

She guested at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as Ippolita in Cavalli’s Elena conducted by Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, at the Schwetzingen SWR Festival as Merione in Telemaco, at the Opéra de Lausanne as l’Enfant in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges and Penelope in Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, or at the Festival d’Ambronay as Ottavia in L’Incoronazione di Poppea.

She gave her operatic debut at the Theater Bern in 2007 as La prima tromba in La Prova d’orchestra and as Dorothée in Cendrillon. She returned to Bern as Smeraldine in L’Amour des trois oranges in and sang Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Théâtre du Jorat in Mézière.

Besides many other concerts she sang Poulenc’s La voix humaine in Geneva, La voix humaine and Cyrus in Belshazzar in Zurich and the mezzo solo in Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony conducted by Dennis Russell Davies in both Budapest and Basel. She was heard at the prestigious Lucerne Festival, and went on tour through Switzerland with the Ensemble Mondrian performing chamber music.

Her first CD recording was as Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas conducted by Leonardo Garcia Alarcon. This recording was nominated in 2011for the MIDEM CLASSICAL AWARDS. Moreover, she took part in the CD production Camille Saint-Saëns: Music for the Prix de Rome under Hervé Niquet.

Solenn’ Lavanant Linke first studied art at the Art Academy in Paris until finding her voice with Xavier Le Maréchal. She received her performance diploma from the Haute école de musique in Lausanne in the masterclass of her teacher Gary Magby. During her studies, she was prize winner of the Foundation Colette Mosetti and soloist of the Migros Cultural Percentage. After successfully concluding her studies, she was employed by the Opera Studio of the Theater Basel in 2009, from which she was then taken over in the soloist ensemble.

Booklet for Of Love and War