Susan Gritton Sings
Gerald FINZI (1901-1956) Dies Natalis, Op. 8 [26:00]
Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976) Les Illuminations, Op. 18
[22:59]
Quatre chansons françaises [13:24]
Frederick DELIUS (1862-1934) A Late Lark [5:20]
Susan Gritton (soprano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Edward Gardner
rec. Studio 1, Maida Vale, London, 20-22 November 2009
English texts and French texts with English translations included
CHANDOS CHAN 10590 [68:15]
At first sight it might seem that with this CD Susan Gritton is treading a
little on Tenor Territory but in fact most of the music is at least as much
associated with the soprano voice.
It’s true that only the Delius piece is actually specified as being for tenor
and orchestra but the Finzi, is mainly associated with the tenor voice – I’ve
only heard it once before sung by a soprano – and the association of Peter
Pears, in particular, with Les Illuminations has secured it a firm
place in the tenor repertoire. But that work is described as being “for soprano
or tenor”. It was premièred by and dedicated to Sophie Wyss and has been performed
and recorded frequently by sopranos over the years. Nowadays Dies Natalis
is almost always sung by a tenor but, in fact, it was premièred by a soprano
– Elsie Suddaby – and its first recording was made by Joan Cross. The performance
by soprano that I’ve heard is the 1996 recording by Rebecca Evans and Vernon
Handley for Conifer (7505 51285 2), which I presume is no longer available.
Both Dies Natalis and Britten’s Quatre chansons françaises
are for “high voice”. So, whatever claims tenors may have made on these pieces
over the years, there’s absolutely no reason why a soprano shouldn’t sing
them.
This new recording of the Finzi begins auspiciously; the ‘Intrada’ is played
with gentle eloquence by the BBC Symphony under Edward Gardner’s assured direction.
Susan Gritton’s tone at the start of ‘Rhapsody’ is pleasing but right from
the start she employs a significant amount of vibrato. Furthermore, when she
goes up to the top of her register at “In their splendour and glory” she spreads
the note on “glory”. This isn’t the only occasion that a top note is produced
in this way. It soon became apparent that unless I followed the words very
closely they were very indistinct due to the singer’s vibrato. I admired the
gentle, vulnerable sound at “The corn was orient”, where the orchestral support
is similarly sympathetic, and at “O what venerable creatures” the words were
sufficiently distinct, proving that Miss Gritton can sing clearly.
All too often, however, as the work unfolded the words were blurred and this,
to me, is a fatal flaw, especially when one recalls how important words in
general were to Finzi, that most discerning lover of English literature. The
third movement, ‘The Rapture’, begins with some nice, light and vigorous playing
by the orchestra but throughout the first stanza I’m afraid I found it almost
impossible to make out what Miss Gritton is singing. She produces some lovely
sounds in the following movement, ‘Wonder’, but again there’s no clarity to
the words and that vitiates the impact of Finzi’s music, despite the excellence
of the accompaniment. The concluding movement, ‘The Salutation’ is somewhat
better and all the performers produce a gentle sense of rapture. Other listeners
may find the diction issue less serious but despite its incidental beauties
– and a fine account of the orchestral score – I’m afraid I find this Dies
Natalis uncompetitive on account of the obtrusive vibrato and lack of
clear diction.
For comparison I sampled the afore-mentioned recording by Rebecca Evans and
found that much more satisfactory in terms of clarity. Miss Evans’s vibrato
is less generous, I think, than that of Miss Gritton. And while there are
occasions in her performance also when the words are not quite as clear as
they would be with a tenor – at “In their splendour and glory”, for example
– that’s due, I believe, to the inherently different characteristics of the
soprano and tenor voices. And overall Rebecca Evans articulates the text more
clearly than Susan Gritton.
I’m afraid that the issue of diction carries over into Les Illuminations.
In the second song, the fast-moving ‘Villes’ the first line – “Ce sont des
villes!” is utterly indistinct. Though matters improve from here on it’s still
not easy to follow the words. To reassure myself that I wasn’t being unfair
I took down the 1963 recording by Peter Pears with Britten conducting (Decca
417 153-2). I know Pears’ vocal timbre isn’t to everyone’s taste but the words
are completely clear.
In the next song, ‘Phrase’, the tempo is much slower and here the words are
much clearer and Susan Gritton’s vocal sound itself is pleasing. Even more
attractive is ‘Antique’ while ‘Being Beauteous’, though again suffering from
cloudy diction, displays Miss Gritton’s ability to sing long lines with a
lovely tone. In fact, the sound of her voice in this song is sensuous, which
is just what’s wanted. Sensuality is also the chief characteristic in the
final song, ‘Départ’; music in a slower tempo seems more suited to her voice.
So there’s a lot to enjoy in this performance of Les Illuminations,
despite the times when the words are less than ideally lucid. As was the case
in Dies Natalis Edward Gardner proves himself to be an adept and considerate
accompanist.
Britten composed Quatre chansons françaises when he was a mere fourteen
years old. These pieces are astonishingly precocious, especially in the scoring
for chamber orchestra. They lay unperformed during Britten’s lifetime and
it was not until 1980 that the songs were first heard in public, sung by Heather
Harper. They are well done here and I was especially taken with the Bergian
first song, ‘Nuits de juin’. Here Gritton produces a lovely sound and the
orchestral support is excellent.
The Delius piece, A Late Lark, was specified by its composer as being
for tenor and orchestra so, strictly speaking, Susan Gritton is “poaching”
but I don’t think anyone will mind because this languorous piece seems well
suited to her voice.
So this disc is something of a mixed bag. The issues I have with diction and,
in places, what I feel is the excessive vibrato, constitute an obstacle for
me. Others may well take a different view, in which case there is a great
deal to enjoy here. For me, however, singing is about the communication of
music and words and I don’t think that’s completely achieved here.
Documentation and sound quality are up to the usual high Chandos standard.
John Quinn
Something of a mixed bag