Francis POULENC (1899-1963) The Complete
Songs - Vol. 2
Toréador – Chanson hispano-italienne (1918) [6.26] *
Trois Poèmes de Louise Lalanne (1931) [3.45] **
Deux poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire (1938) [6.01] ***
Trois chansons de Federico Garcia Lorca (1947) [5.09] ****
Paul et Virginie (1946) [1.09] *
Nuage (1956) [2.24] *****
Hymne (1947) [4.01]******
Ce doux petit visage (1939) [1.53] ****
Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon (1943) [3.54] ****
Priez pour paix (1938) [2.41] ***
Tel jour telle nuit (1936-7) [15.09] **
La tragique histoire du petit René (1934-5) [1.29] ******
Le petit garçon trop bien portant (1934-5) [2.04] ****
Le travail du peintre (1956) [12.15]*
Les chemins de l'amour (1940) [3.52] **
Lorna Anderson (soprano) ****; Jonathan Lemalu (bass-baritone) ******; Felicity
Lott (soprano) **; Christopher Maltman (baritone) *; Lisa Milne (soprano)
*****; Robert Murray (tenor) ***; Malcolm Martineau (piano)
rec. 14-20 February and 6-10 September 2010, St. Michael and All Angels in
Summertown, Oxford
SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD 263 [72:17]
This second volume of a projected complete survey of Poulenc's songs
– a delightful prospect – begins with one of his earliest and longest examples,
the waltz-song Toréador, which Poulenc described as a caricature
of a music-hall song. Christopher Maltman sings it stylishly, with Malcolm
Martineau contributing his usual artistry in conjuring a whole world of colours
and moods from the piano part. With its subtle tempo fluctuations, it's
a tricky song to bring off, but the pair achieve remarkable unanimity. Felicity
Lott sings the three settings of Louise Lalanne (- a pseudonym for Marie Laurencin
in Nos. 1 and 3, Apollinaire No.2) with her own distinctive artistry, if not
always complete comfort or tonal beauty, while Martineau is quite sensational.
The two major items on this CD are the cycle Tel jour, telle nuit
and Le travail du peintre. In the cycle, which is among the composer's
masterpieces, Felicity Lott is still able to float some of the very highest
notes, but elsewhere she takes a moment to settle on the centre. Her musicianship
is still a lesson for all, making the fact that the poems are more naturally
expressed by a man almost of no account, but one has to make other allowances.
To find her in her prime, one should listen to her wonderful performance of
the same cycle on Hommage à Francis Poulenc (Forlane). Alternatively,
choose the last track on this CD for her ravishing performance of Les
chemins de l'amour.
The thumb-nail sketches of seven artists - Picasso, Chagall, Braque, Gris,
Klee, Miró and Villon - grouped as Le travail de peintre (poems by
Eluard), are sensitively sung by Maltman, though his slow vibrato occasionally
threatens to distract. In the two Apollinaire settings Robert Murray sings
superbly, showing a marvellous range of vocal colours and especially brilliant
in Dans le jardin d'Anna. I should have been glad to hear
more than nine minutes of him. Lorna Anderson has slightly more to do and
is excellent in the three Lorca settings. Jonathan Lemalu (five and a half
minutes) has burnished tone, heard to splendid effect in Hymne, and
he is equally impressive in the completely different mood of La tragique
histoire du petit René. Saddest of all is the measly two and a half minutes
allowed for our enjoyment of the wonderful legato lines of Lisa Milne. Her
Nuage is captivating.
So, generally these fine singers score pretty high in their projection and
pronunciation of diverse texts, and their all-round musicianship. One's
regrets over the short allocation of time given to some of them surely speaks
for itself. Nevertheless, I am tempted to say that Martineau is the most outstanding
performer here. I should love to hear him in Poulenc's solo piano music.
As in Volume One, it is good to have texts included, but again there are a
couple of typos in the poems. Also as in the previous volume, Roger Nichols'
notes are authoritative but do not cover every song. Why is this?
Philip Borg-Wheeler
Overall this CD is guaranteed to bring hours of pleasure - a must-have for
Poulenc fans.
Guaranteed to bring hours of pleasure - a must-have for Poulenc fans.