Road 66 Shani Diluka & Natalie Dessay

• John Adams
• 1China Gates04:40
• Keith Jarrett
• 2My Wild Irish Rose05:05
• Percy Grainger
• 3Lullaby05:06
• Samuel Barber
• 4Pas de deux03:59
• Amy Beach
• 5Young Birches02:38
• Bill Evans
• 6Waltz for Debby02:10
• Philip Glass
• 7Etude no.902:17
• Leonard Bernstein
• 8For Felicia Montealegre01:59
• John Cage
• 9In a Landscape06:18
• George Gershwin
• 10I Love Porgy05:10
• Leonard Bernstein
• 11Interlude01:36
• Hyung-ki Joo
• 12Chandeliers06:26
• Alberto Ginastera
• 13Danza de la mozo donosa03:23
• Leonard Bernstein
• 14For Aaron Copland01:06
• Aaron Copland
• 15Piano Blues No. 1 - For Leo Smit02:22
• Bill Evans
• 16Peace Piece07:05
• George Gershwin
• 17Love walked in04:28
• Cole Porter
• 18What is this thing called love04:09
• Total Runtime01:09:57

Info for Road 66

From the incandescence of life to the Zen of Buddhism is just one small step . . . And so it is that Jack Kerouac, in his indefatigable search for the infinite, takes us on the roads of America, from the canyons to the stars. Here is an America caught between fantasy and reality, depicted through the metaphor of a journey on a long road, the legendary ‘Route 66’, like a specific musical odyssey traversing the United States both geographically and musically: ‘ . . . between the East of my youth and the West of my future’ (Kerouac).

This entire album was built on the idea of following in his footsteps, in a quest for the infinitely large within the infinitely small.

America represents a form of freedom in its expression and its immensity. Emerging from those wide open spaces in search of new worlds, its music is the fruit of its diversity, taking us from the repetitive and minimalist avant-garde to the dawn of Electro music, from the Woodstock Festival to the lands of Blues and Latino, without neglecting a contemporary scene indelibly marked by the dramatic events of 11 September 2001.

In my quest, I discovered hitherto unknown landscapes: Amy Beach, a female composer of genius, or Percy Grainger who became American by adoption; the world premiere of the piece by Hyung-ki Joo, who composed Chandeliers in New York in the aftermath of 7/11; the hypnotic meditations of John Adams, John Cage, and Philip Glass; the fascinating filiation between Bernstein, Copland, and Ginastera, who studied with Copland at Tanglewood and introduced a South American influence; the close links between Gershwin and jazz, which were an inspiration to Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett. To conclude the journey, Natalie Dessay offers us her exceptional presence in a new Cole Porter arrangement made especially for this disc by Raphaël Merlin of the Quatuor Ébène. The thrilling multiculturalism that – among so much else – engendered jazz, born from suffering to become a powerful, indispensable musical identity, accompanies Jack Kerouac throughout his book On the Road. He and the Beat Generation burnt out their short existences to reach the stars, nurtured by the mythical Eldorado that is America.

Shani Diluka, piano

Shani Diluka
"Revealing a profound sound, and a soaring virtuosity" are some of the words used to describe this artist. Discovered at the age of 6 years by a program initiated by Princess Grace of Monaco for gifted children,she was admitted to a specialized class at the Academy Prince Rainier III. She gave her first public recital at the age of 9 and at 10 years a report on her talents were telecast by the French channel The FR2. At the age of 12 she appeared on the first half of a concert with Helen Grimaud at the Acropolis in Nice. The same year she benefitted from the precious advise and encouragements from Mr. Lawrence Foster.

At the age of 16 she performed with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Monte Carlo. She obtains the final Diploma " The Premier Prix", in « Unanimity and first named » at The Superior National Conservatory of Music Paris and enters the Soloist cycle. Her meeting with the great pianist Leon Fleisher was a definite turning point in her already promising career.

Shani Diluka was soon to receive a number of distinctions and successes.. Her recording of Mozart by France Music was chosen to be aired on 150 International Radios world wide for the Commeration of Mozat's 150th Anniversary, (such as the B.B.C., A.B.C. of Australia, Deutsche Rundfunk, OSR Suiss) etc...

She further studied with Maria Joao Pires and Murray Perahia. Once again these Great Stars of Classics, impressed by her talents invited her to work with them.

She is also regularly adviced by Marie Françoise Bucquet and Jorge Chaminé. The results of these important encounters, were confirmed when in 2005 she was chosen to the prestigious International Piano Foundation of Lake Como, presided by Martha Argerich, where only 6 pianists are chosen world wide each year.

Shani Diluka has given critically acclaimed solo recitals at such renowned venues such as the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, Salle Pleyel, Cite de la Musique, Olympia in Paris, or The festival"La Roque D'Antheron" where she is a regular performer, Theater ofFenice in Venice, Davos Festival, The Festival Bellerive in Geneva as well as at the The Arsenal of Metz, The Grand Theater season of Bordeaux, Chopin Bagatelles international festival, Zubin Mehta’s festival n Mumbai, Salle Garnier in Monaco, etc..

She has also performed as a Soloist with a number of reknown Orchestra's, such as The Orchestra Philharmonic of Radio France, the Sinfonia Varsovia, The Orchestra Philharmonic of Monte-Carlo, The Württemberg Orchestra, Swedish Royal Orchestra, The Kyushu Symphony Orchestra, The Orchestra National of Bordeaux Aquitaine.. and under such well known Conductors as Lawrence Foster,Vladimir Fedosseiev, Ludovic Morlot, Eivind Guilberg Jensen, Peter Csaba, Kwame Ryan, Ruben Gazarian, Marco Guidarini or Andrew Menze...

As a Chamber Musician she has collaborated with great formations such as Prazak Quartet, Ysaye Quartet, Ebene Quartet, Valentin Erben of the Alban Berg Quartet, or with the legendary Teresa Berganza and Natalie Dessay...

The talents of Shani Diluka expresses both on Stage and on Discs. In 2007 her first recording (Mirare/Hamonia Mundi) on Grieg's Concerto and "Lyrical Pieces", received the highest of distinctions : "The Choc de la Monde De La Musique", "Gold from RTL" , Chosen as "The Disc of the Month" by ARTE, 5/5 from Diapason and 4 Stars from the German Magazine "Bayern 4".

Her second recording on Mendelssohn, "Songs without words" further confirmed her talents by obtaining the coveted "Choc De La Monde De La Musique"again, The "Selection Mezzo", " The Best selection Disc of the Year " from ARTE, 5/5 from Diapason, and "10/10" by the very exigent "Classic Today". Further confirming her talents were the 5 consecutive discs produced in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010,2011 the " Best Of Roque D'Antheron" along side such great stars as Boris Berezovsky, Brigitte Engerer, Nicolas Angelich...

Her last recording (april 2011) of the "Complete Beethoven concertos" (Mirare/Harmonia Mundi), under the direction of Kwame Ryan, and the NationalOrchestra ofBordeaux Aquitaine received unanimous success from review such as Gramophone,Fanfare USA, Diapason, Musiczen, etc... The two next volumes of Beethoven concertos will be released next Season 22013, bringing Shani Diluka to the "The Musicales D'Orient festival (as guest pianist around the Berg quartet members), to Japan Folle Journée, collaborations with Ebene Quartet, Sayaka Shoji, Belcea quartet, Prazak quartet recording with the great Natalie Dessay for the Poulenc year.

Shani Diluka will be also recording in 2013 the complete Beethoven cello Sonatas with the mythical cellist of the BERG quartet : Valentin Erben.

Natalie Dessay
is one the stars of today’s operatic world, thrilling audiences as both a singer and an actress.

Now an admired interpreter of bel canto and lyric heroines such as Violetta (La traviata), Lucia di Lammermoor, Marie (La Fille du régiment), Amina (La sonnambula), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Manon, Juliette, Ophélie (Hamlet) and Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Dessay originally made her reputation with showpiece coloratura roles such as Offenbach’s Olympia, Mozart’s Queen of the Night and Strauss’ Zerbinetta.

Born in Lyons in 1965, Natalie Dessay grew up in Bordeaux. She first dreamed of becoming a dancer, but later studied acting and singing at the Bordeaux Conservatoire. She progressed with extraordinary rapidity, completing five years’ worth of study in just one year and graduating with First Prize at the age of twenty. In 1989, after a brief period in the chorus of the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, she entered France’s first Concours des Voix nouvelles and won second prize. This led Dessay to further studies at the Paris Opéra and also brought her to the attention of the agent Thérèse Cédelle – still her agent today – and to her first major engagements as a soloist.

In 1992 she sang her first Olympia in Offenbach’s Contes d’Hoffmann at Paris’s Opéra Bastille in a staging by Roman Polanski. The next year she was invited to the Vienna Staatsoper to sing Blondchen (Die Entführung aus dem Serail). In 1993 she was Olympia in the opening production for the rebuilt Opéra de Lyon and by 2001 she had performed the role in eight different stagings of Hoffmann, including her debut appearance at La Scala. The 1990s also brought the Queen of the Night at Aix-en-Provence, Ophélie (Hamlet) in Geneva (she also sang the role at London’s Royal Opera House and at Barceona’s Liceo in 2003, where the production was filmed for DVD), Aminta (Die schweigsame Frau) in Vienna, Fiakermilli (Arabella) for her debut at the New York Met, which was soon followed by Olympia and Zerbinetta, Lakmé at Paris’ Opéra Comique (she recorded the role for EMI Classics with Michel Plasson), Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers in Lyons (also recorded for EMI Classics), and, in Paris, Morgana in Handel’s Alcina and the title role in Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol (also to be seen on DVD). Conductors for these appearances included Pierre Boulez, James Levine, James Conlon, William Christie and Marc Minkowski.

In 2001 the soprano’s career entered a new phase when she realised a long-held ambition to perform Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, a role she subsequently sang in 2004 in Chicago, in 2006 at the Bastille in a powerful staging by Andrei Serban, and in a new production for the opening of the New York Metropolitan’s 2007-8 season on 24th September 2007, which was broadcast on a giant screens at Lincoln Centre and Times Square. She also recorded the French version of the opera. More Donizetti, La Fille du régiment, provided a triumph for her in 2007 in Laurent Pelly’s witty staging in London, Vienna and New York. The British performances led to a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for Dessay, and to a DVD-release which has proved an international bestseller.

In 2008 Natalie Dessay returned to the Metropolitan for revivals of Lucia and of La Fille du régiment, which was broadcast live in high definition to hundreds of cinemas around the world. In the autumn of the same year she triumphed as Manon (a role she first sang in Geneva in 2004) at Chicago Lyric Opera opposite Jonas Kaufmann as Des Grieux; this was in David McVicar’s production of Massenet’s opera, also staged in Barcelona, where it was recorded for DVD with Rolando Villazón as Des Grieux.

January 2009 brought Natalie Dessay’s first Mélisande at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, directed by Laurent Pelly (a DVD of this Pelléas et Mélisande was released in November 2009). More firsts followed in 2009 with Violetta in the summer in Santa Fe and Musetta at the Opéra de Paris in the autumn. In 2010, Paris mounted a new production of La Sonnambula for Dessay, six years after her first appearances as Bellini’s heroine in Santa Fe; her interpretation of Amina was recorded during concert performances in Lyon in November 2006 and released in autumn 2007. In 2009 Dessay assumed the role of Amina again, this time in a new production at the Metropolitan Opera. Another new production of La sonnambula, seen in both Paris and Vienna, followed in 2010. 2011 brought her first Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, again at the Opéra de Paris, in a staging conducted by Laurent Pelly and conducted by Dessay’s frequent colleague Emmanuelle Haim. In summer 2011, the Aix-en-Provence Festival brought Dessay in a new production of La traviata.

Natalie Dessay signed her first exclusive contract with EMI Classics in 1994 and, in addition to the recordings already mentioned, her catalogue includes discs of Mozart (a collection of arias and his Mass in C minor), songs and arias by Strauss, works by Monteverdi Bach and Handel (including a disc of arias from Giulio Cesare), all conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm, and collections of Italian arias, French arias and vocalises. Her 2-CD and DVD compilations Le Miracle d’une voix, released in 2006, have proved an enormous success, selling over 250,000 copies and showcasing her range of achievement as an artist.

Booklet for Road 66