Nicholas Phan, Myra Huang, Telegraph Quartet, The Knights Chamber Orchestra, Colin Jacobsen & Eric Jacobsen - Illuminations

The poetry of Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud inspired composers Faur�, Debussy and Britten, and in turn spurred Grammy Award-nominated tenor Nicholas Phan to combine their works on his new album, 'Illuminations'.

Following acclaimed albums devoted to Britten, baroque lute songs and German lieder, Grammy Award-nominated tenor Nicholas Phan continues to spread his wings with 'Illuminations', an album featuring compositions by Benjamin Britten, Claude Debussy and Gabriel Faur� who were each inspired by the poetry of two 19th-century French literary titans, Paul Verlaine and his prot�g� and eventual lover Arthur Rimbaud. The intertwined lives of the French poets and composers manifested themselves in Faur�'s impassioned Verlaine-inspired La bonne chanson and Debussy's Ariettes oubli�es drawn from Verlaine's Romances sans paroles. Just decades later Britten was inspired by Rimbaud's influential prose-poetry Les Illuminations.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR NICHOLAS PHANone of the most beautiful young lyric voices around. � Opera News

The year has barely begun and already here's a disc to remember come all those end-of-year round-ups. � Gramophone Editor's Choice (on A Painted Tale, AV 2325)

so many strengths � a dapper, cultivated timbre, splendid enunciation, and keen intelligence and musicianship. � WQXR (on Still Falls the Rain, AV 2258)

There are so many jewels here � Phan's sheer sensitivity is a delight. An absorbing recital disc and an ideal introduction to the joys of lieder. Beautifully recorded � TheArtsDesk.com (on Gods & Monsters, AV 2368)