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Joseph CANTELOUBE
(1879-1957)
Songs of the Auvergne (1923-1935): Malurous
qu’o uno fenno [1.37]; Baïlèro [6.40]; Trois Bourrées:
L’aïo dè rotso – Ound’ onorèn gorda? - Obal dins lou Limousi
[6.46]; La pastoura als camps [2.41]; Lo Fiolairé [2.40];
L’Antouèno [3:00]; Chut, chut [2.39]; Oï, ayaï
[3.39]; La delaïssádo [5.01]; Lou boussu [2.28];
Deux Bourrées: N’aï pas iéu de mîo – Lo calhé [5.23]; La
pastrouletta è lou chibalié [1.51]; Pour l’enfant [2.41];
Pastourello [2.56]; Lou Coucut [2.14]; Passo pel
Prat [4.02]; Uno jionto postoura [2.08]; Pastorale
[4.06]; Tè, l’co, tè [0.42]; Brezairola [3.41];
Obal, din loc coumbèlo [3.18]; Hé! Beyla-z-y d’au fé!
[1.51]; Jou l‘Pount d’o Mirabel [3.47]; Lou diziou
bé [1.20]
Netania Davrath (soprano)
Orchestra/Pierre de la Roche
rec. Baumgarten Hall, Vienna, Austria, 27 March 1963, 16 March 1966.
ADD
ALTO ALC 1151 [77:24] 
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Netania Davrath (1931-1987), for all her slender audience reach,
has never been matched in this repertoire. Neither should we
forget her other folksong collection (Vanguard)
and the Abravanel-conducted Honegger King David (Vanguard).
For those in the know she is incomparable in the Auvergne songs;
one of a kind.. Her unknowingly seductive voice is all artlessly
bluff innocence and heartbreaking vulnerability. The arrangements
zing, ping and gurgle with pipe, reed, tabor and hurdy-gurdy
authenticity. Simply irresistible.
Davrath’s voice is bell-clear, smokily girlish, embodying countryside
innocence yet sophisticated. She magically spins in facial expressions
– smiles, winks and grimaces. Listen to the way she colours
and adds emphasis and de-emphasis to “Chut Chut” and the words
“tu tu lai lara” in Lo fiolairé. Yet there is no mistaking
the Finzian tragedy entangled in playfulness in Oï ayaï
and in the slowly unfolding La delaïssádo. The lullaby
Brezairola is the crown of all lullabies. The voluptuous
shimmer of the heat-haze in Obal, din loc coumbèlo has
a soft-focus operatic emotional reach. The zip and vocal bravura
of the dog-calls in Tè l'co tè are extraordinary and
so is the bray and hoof-kick vivacity of Hé! Beyla-z-y d’au
fé! Vocal production is pure, lit with endearment, affection,
humour and sensuousness. She is elegant without gentility yet
pristine and flamboyant.
Gens
(also Naxos
vol. 2), Upshaw,
de
Los Angeles, von
Stade, Bayo (Naive), Bajor,
Gomez,
Te Kanawa (Decca – rather too maturely full-fat operatic for
my taste), MacLiver
and Madeleine
Grey (the pioneering version on Pearl) have their moments
and more. Davrath, however, stands consistently supreme.
Canteloube had a sure hand when it came to arranging and orchestrating
these gems. Surely the trick, while using classical apparatus,
is not to stifle the butterflies, birdsong, mist, escarpments,
sun-dazzle, sheep-calls and heat-haze of the original songs.
Canteloube works with an impressionistic palette, touching in
with the subtlest intensifying use of piano, flute, oboe and
clarinet. The lovely in-your-face balance takes the lightest
tincture from Ravel, d'Indy, early Roussel and Bonnal.
The original 30ips half-inch master tapes were made on an Ampex
300 series vacuum tube (valve) tape recorder. Specially designed
playback heads were used and the greatest attention paid to
alignment, signal-to-noise ratio and frequency response. The
fabulous results are still there to revel in.
There are downsides to this disc but do not let that put you
off. We get neither sung words nor translations in the insert.
While the disc is very well filled we have to do without about
18 songs included on the twin CD set: Vanguard
Classics ATM-CD-1189 though some of them are not Songs
of the Auvergne. On the plus-side the notes are by James
Murray.
One of the crowning glories of the analogue era. Do not miss
out on this.
Rob Barnett
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