What a fantastic title for a recital! This latest programme from Susan
Graham and Malcolm Martineau is thoughtfully constructed
and
superbly executed.
At its heart is a group of six Mignon songs by various composers, which
is perceptively chosen, not least in terms of juxtaposing familiar settings
with some which may be less so. I freely confess that I hadn’t
realised Tchaikovsky had made this Goethe setting - Miss Graham sings
it in Russian even though it’s listed in the booklet under its
German title. It’s an attractive setting and, as annotator Richard
Stokes says, it boasts an “indestructible tune”. Rather
oddly it’s placed between what are, effectively, three versions
of
Kennst du das Land; on the one hand, the songs by Liszt and
Duparc and, on the other hand, Wolf’s renowned
lied. I
say oddly because all those three composers set the same poem - Tchaikovsky
does not - and one might have thought the three pieces might more logically
follow each other. However, that’s a minor point. It’s fascinating
to hear Duparc’s response - in French - to these words - he sets
one verse less than Liszt and Wolf. From simple beginnings Duparc’s
mélodie expands into a passionate outpouring. Susan Graham
demonstrates here, as elsewhere on the disc, what a wonderful affinity
she has for French repertoire. I liked the Liszt setting too - and her
performance of it - but, good piece though it is, it’s not quite
in the same league as Wolf’s magnificent
lied. His
Kennst
du das Land is justly celebrated as a yearning masterpiece and Graham
and Martineau give a surging, yet also subtly shaded rendition of it.
Earlier in this Mignon group I enjoyed very much Susan Graham’s
deeply felt way with Schubert’s melancholy setting.
I mentioned Miss Graham’s affinity with French music. Happily,
she includes a generous helping on this particular musical
menu gastronomique.
Her Berlioz performance is wonderful: here she deploys gorgeous, full
tone and, as so often on this disc, treats us to some very expressive
singing. She embraces and conveys the varied moods of Poulenc’s
little cycle of six songs. She’s very intense in the fourth one,
‘Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant’ and in the song that
follows, ‘Violon’, her singing is tremendously involving.
The set closes with ‘Fleurs’, an exquisite song which receives
a touching performance. Here I really admired Susan Graham’s enviably
creamy legato. The notes include the instructions that Poulenc gave
to his singer about the delivery of each song and I was interested to
read that he directed that two or three of them should be sung simply
or ‘with humility’. Some might argue that Susan Graham’s
highly sophisticated singing eschews simplicity. That may be so but
I for one am not going to argue in the face of such artistry. There’s
a bit more Poulenc to come. We’ve more or less reached the encore
section of this recital by the time his
Les chemins de l’amour
is heard but it’s well worth the wait. It’s an oh-so-French
waltz and Miss Graham turns in a delicious account of it.
Before the delights of the Poulenc cycle there’s a somewhat
unfamiliar
offering in the shape of Joseph Horovitz’s scena
Lady
Macbeth.
For this Horovitz has woven together a text compiled from three key
speeches
by the Queen in Shakespeare’s play. The result is something of a
mini-portrait
of Lady Macbeth. The words are treated in a vividly dramatic, highly
charged
way and Miss Graham gives a searing reading. I could imagine this piece
being
very effective in recital; it certainly is in this recording.
In complete contrast, the last four items in the programme - all by
American
composers except for the Poulenc - have a cabaret feel to them; and why
not?
I used to think that Cole Porter’s
double-entendre-rich song
was
amusing but, frankly, it’s been done to death; it seems that every
diva
wants to include it in recital programmes. Give it a bit of a rest,
ladies,
and we’ll probably enjoy it more when we
do hear it. Here I
think
that Susan Graham hams it up and underlines some of the double meanings
rather
too heavily - and a bit more than you might expect under studio
conditions.
I think she’s much more successful with the Vernon Duke song; she
gives
a winning performance of this fine example of cabaret songs, paying it the
compliment
of lavishing just as much artistry on it as anything else on the programme
-
and rightly so. Stephen Sondheim’s clever parody of
The Girl from
Ipanema
is the real encore and is done as such; it’s great fun.
This is a delicious recital. Susan Graham’s lustrous voice and
intelligent
approach to a well-conceived and nicely varied programme gave me
consistent
pleasure, as did the pianism of Malcolm Martineau, which is splendid at
every
turn. My only slight criticism of the album is that though all the texts
are
provided, which is very welcome, the layout of them isn’t always
ideally
clear and that isn’t helped by the very small typeface. However,
that’s
only a small drawback to a rewarding and very enjoyable recital disc.
John Quinn
Track listing
Henry PURCELL (1659-1695)
The Blessed Virgin’s Expostulation [7:13]
Hector BERLIOZ (1803-1869)
La Mort d’Ophélie [6:59]
Six Mignon songs from Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Lied der Mignon: Heiβ mich nicht redden [1:40]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
So laβt mich scheinen [2:39]
Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Mignon’s Lied [6:09]
Henri DUPARC (1848-1933)
Romance de Mignon [3:56]
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt [2:59]
Hugo WOLF (1860-1903)
Kennst du das Land [5:39]
Joseph HOROVITZ (b. 1926)
Lady Macbeth (scena) (1970) [7:15]
Francis POULENC (1899-1963)
Fiançailles pour rire [13:30]
Cole PORTER (1891-1964)
The Physician [4:20]
Vernon DUKE (1903-1969)
Ages Ago [3:24]
Francis POULENC
Les chemins de l’amour [3:36]
Stephen SONDHEIM (b. 1930)
The Boy from Tacarembo La Tumbe del Fuego Santa Malipas Zatatecas La
Junta del Sol y Cruz [2:50]
