Any enthusiast will have friends with large collections of recorded
music who will insist on playing an ever lengthening selection
of their favourites from amongst the rarities they have acquired.
Those Magdalen discs I have come across all remind me strongly
of these sessions. All kinds of rarities, often strange and
occasionally wonderful, are unearthed, cleaned up, and paraded
for the listener’s delight. The results can be quirky,
fascinating but almost always intriguing. All in all the very
reverse of the kind which you sometimes feel was selected by
a committee and whose contents are excessively predictable.
The present disc is a prime example of Magdalen’s approach.
By no means all of the performances would go to the top of any
list of the best recordings of the works in question, but all
have some degree of interest to commend them, and several are
of considerable merit. I should perhaps indicate before going
any further that this is not a disc for those for whom recording
quality is a prime consideration, most being no better than
can be expected of recordings over half a century old and several,
in particular the piano solos and the Suite Pastorale,
not very good even for that time despite apparently sympathetic
restoration by Paul Arden-Taylor. The performances however are
another matter. To start with the best first, the two songs
with Pierre Bernac and Francis Poulenc are sheer perfection
in terms of style. Nothing is overstated but every inflection
makes its point even if the lack of texts and translations is
particularly frustrating here. Also near perfection are the
two brief extracts from the enchanting opera L’Étoile.
These are already available along with other highlights from
that work on Regis coupled with the whole of Offenbach’s
La Belle Hélène (Regis RRC 2062A) - another
essential purchase for any enthusiast for this composer. Again
the link between words and music is perfectly realised without
excess point-making.
The Ode à la Musique is a surprising stranger
in both recorded or live form. It is a piece of great beauty
and memorable quality whose brevity and the need for a soprano
soloist as well as a choir are probably the practical reasons
for its rarity. The performance here is not just idiomatic in
its phrasing, articulation and general approach but in the actual
sounds. Like the Suite Pastorale it was made at a time
when each country or region’s orchestras had their own
characteristic sound. Nowadays they tend towards an international
norm which the better orchestras are capable of varying according
to the music they are playing. This is in some respects a gain
but as can be heard now the loss of individual character does
deprive us of such positive and pungent performances as are
found here.
Although perhaps less strikingly individual Marcelle Meyer’s
performances of four piano works are worth hearing. The remaining
orchestral works are perhaps the least valuable part of the
disc. Beecham’s performance of the Overture to Gwendoline
is well known although even he cannot make much of a dull piece.
The other pieces are given generally adequate performances but
no more than that. Barbirolli’s Joyeuse Marche
was a particular disappointment in lacking the cracking rhythmic
energy it needs.
Overall nonetheless this is a fascinating collection which will
have you going back to other recordings of these works to compare
and contrast their approaches to the music of this most fascinating
and surprising composer. The appeal of the disc is added to
by a helpful essay by James Murray, but, as I have mentioned
earlier, is reduced by the lack of the essential texts and translations.
John Sheppard
Full details of performers and recordings
Gwendoline Overture [9:10]
Orchestre National de la Rédiffusion Française;
Sir Thomas Beecham (conductor); recorded in the Salle Wagram,
Paris, on 9 November 1957
España [5:52]
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie Orchestra; Wilhem Schüchter
(conductor): recorded in Bielfeld on 25 November 1954
L’Étoile - Je suit Lazuli [2:52] Moi, je
n’ai pas une áme ingrate [1:42]
Fanély Revoil, Lucie Thelin (sopranos); Orchestre de
l’Opéra-Comique, Paris: Roger Désormière
(conductor): recorded at the Studio Albert, Paris in February
and June 1943
Suite Pastorale [18:40]
L’Orchestre de la Societé des Concerts du Conservatoire,
Paris; Edouard Lindenberg (conductor): recorded at the Maison
de la Mutualité, Paris, on 8 June 1953
L’Île heureuse [2:56] Ballade des grands
dindons [3:03]
Pierre Bernac (baritone); Francis Poulenc (piano); recorded
at the Studio Albert, Paris on 2 November and 7 July 1936
Bourrée Fantasque [5:42] Dix Pièces
Pittoresques - Mélancholie [2:25] Tourbillon
[1:26] Mauresque [2:35]
Marcelle Meyer (piano): recorded at the Salle Advar, Paris,
from 28 April to 2 May 1955
Ode à la Musique [8:33]
Janine Micheau (soprano): Elisabeth Brasseur Chorale; L’Orchestre
de la Societé des Concerts du Conservatoire, Paris: Jean
Fournet (conductor): recorded at the Maison de la Mutualité,
Paris, on 16 June 1952
Joyeuse Marche [3:55]
Hallé Orchestra: Sir John Barbirolli (conductor): recorded
at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester on 11 August 1957
Le Roi malgrée Lui - Fête Polonaise [7:12]
Sinfonia of London; Robert Irving (conductor): recording first
issued in 1959.
Full list of performers at end of review: no texts or translations
included 