In recording this first recital for harmonia mundi, Stephanie d'Oustrac and Pascal Jourdan wished to measure themselves against three cornerstones of Romantic music, three composers who each in their own way made a decisive contribution to the evolution of the lied (Liszt), or even to the birth of the French melodie, in the case of Berlioz's Les Nuits d'ete. Much more widely known in their sumptuous orchestration, these songs take on a completely different dimension when accompanied by the sobriety of a piano. This artistic approach found its ultimate resonance in the five Wesendonck-Lieder, which Wagner originally intended as a simple duo for voice and piano, though they were eventually to form one of the most famous cycles in the history of the lied.

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) 
1 "Die Loreley, S. 273/2
Poeme de Heinrich Heine" 6'07 date Olga 1856 
2 "Freudvoll und leidvoll, S. 280/1
Poeme de Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" 2'17 (premiere version, 1844) 
3 "Es war ein Konig in Thule, S. 278/2
Poeme de Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" 2'50 date Olga 1856 
4 "Im Rhein, im schonen Strome, S. 272/2
Poeme de Heinrich Heine" 2'52 date Olga 1855 
5 "Freudvoll und leidvoll, S. 280/2
Poeme de Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" 3'10 = s.280/1 comme plage 2 (seconde version, 1849)
6 "Uber allen Gipfeln ist Ruh, S. 306/2
Poeme de Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" 3'52 1859 (deuxieme version, 1859)
"Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
Les Nuits d'ete
Six melodies pour voix et piano, op. 7, H. 81A
Poemes de Theophile Gautier (extraits de La Comedie de la mort)" 
7 "1. Villanelle, H. 82
" 2'35 
8 "2. Le Spectre de la rose, H. 83
" 6'20 
9 "3. Sur les lagunes - Lamento, H. 84
" 6'06 
10 "4. Absence, H. 85
" 4'43 
11 "5. Au cimetiere - Clair de lune, H. 86
" 5'58 
12 "6. L'Ile inconnue, H. 87
" 3'23 
13 "La Mort d'Ophelie, op. 18 n° 2, H. 92A
Ballade imitee de Shakespeare, paroles d'Ernest Legouve" 6'11 
"Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Wesendonck-Lieder, WWV 91
Funf Gedichte fur eine Frauenstimme
Poemes de Mathilde Wesendonck" 
14 1. Der Engel 2'57 
15 2. Stehe still 3'31 
16 3. Im Treibhaus 6'16 
17 4. Schmerzen 2'26 
18 5. Traume 4'13