Claire Croiza - Champion of the Modern French Mélodie
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Gabriel Fauré, Arthur Honegger, (Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Francis Poulenc, Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Claude Debussy, Julien Tiersot, (Marie-Joseph-Alexandre) Déodat de Séverac, Franz Schubert, André Caplet, Émile Vuillermoz, Pierre (Eugène Onfroy) de Bréville, Darius Milhaud
Label: Marston
Magazine Review Date: 11/1999
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 144
Mastering:
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: 52018-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Pelléas et Mélisande, Movement: Voici ce qu'il écrit à son frère Pelléas |
Claude Debussy, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Claude Debussy, Composer Georges Truc, Conductor |
| An die Musik |
Franz Schubert, Composer
"Mr" "Wagner", Piano Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Franz Schubert, Composer |
| (3) Songs, Movement: No. 1, Les berceaux (wds. Prudhomme: 1879) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
"Mr" "Wagner", Piano Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Gabriel Fauré, Composer |
| (2) Songs, Movement: No. 2, Clair de lune (wds. Verlaine) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
"Mr" "Wagner", Piano Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Gabriel Fauré, Composer |
| (Die) Schöne Müllerin, Movement: No. 2, Wohin? |
Franz Schubert, Composer
"Mr" "Wagner", Piano Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Franz Schubert, Composer |
| (2) Songs, Movement: Prison (wds. P. Verlaine) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
"Mr" "Wagner", Piano Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Gabriel Fauré, Composer |
| Voici que le printemps |
Claude Debussy, Composer
"Mr" "Wagner", Piano Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Claude Debussy, Composer |
| (Le) Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée, 'Book of B, Movement: Le dromadaire |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Francis Poulenc, Composer Francis Poulenc, Piano |
| (Le) Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée, 'Book of B, Movement: La chèvre du Thibet |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Francis Poulenc, Composer Francis Poulenc, Piano |
| (Le) Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée, 'Book of B, Movement: La sauterelle |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Francis Poulenc, Composer Francis Poulenc, Piano |
| (Le) Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée, 'Book of B, Movement: Le dauphin |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Francis Poulenc, Composer Francis Poulenc, Piano |
| (Le) Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée, 'Book of B, Movement: L'écrevisse |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Francis Poulenc, Composer Francis Poulenc, Piano |
| (Le) Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée, 'Book of B, Movement: La carpe |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Francis Poulenc, Piano Francis Poulenc, Composer |
| (L')Invitation au voyage |
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Francis Poulenc, Piano |
| Ariettes oubliées, Movement: Il pleure dans mon coeur (1885-88) |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Claude Debussy, Composer Francis Poulenc, Piano |
| (6) Poèmes d'Apollinaire, Movement: Automne |
Arthur Honegger, Composer
Arthur Honegger, Composer Arthur Honegger, Piano Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano |
| (3) Chansons de la Petite Sirène d'Anderson, Movement: Chanson des sirènes |
Arthur Honegger, Composer
Arthur Honegger, Piano Arthur Honegger, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano |
| (3) Chansons de la Petite Sirène d'Anderson, Movement: Berceuse de la Sirène |
Arthur Honegger, Composer
Arthur Honegger, Piano Arthur Honegger, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano |
| (3) Mélodies, Movement: Sarabande |
Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Composer
Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Composer Albert Roussel, Piano Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano |
| (2) Poèmes chinois, Movement: Amoureux séparés |
Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Composer
Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Composer Albert Roussel, Piano Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano |
| (La) Jeune fille parle |
Pierre (Eugène Onfroy) de Bréville, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Pierre (Eugène Onfroy) de Bréville, Composer Pierre de Bréville, Piano |
| (La) Belle au bois |
Pierre (Eugène Onfroy) de Bréville, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Pierre (Eugène Onfroy) de Bréville, Composer Pierre de Bréville, Piano |
| (2) Mélodies, Movement: Light (wds. Jean-Aubry) |
Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Composer
Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Composer Albert Roussel, Piano Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano |
| (4) Poèmes, Movement: Invocation |
Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Composer
Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Composer Albert Roussel, Piano Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano |
| (2) Rondels |
Pierre (Eugène Onfroy) de Bréville, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Pierre (Eugène Onfroy) de Bréville, Composer Pierre de Bréville, Piano |
| (Les) fées |
Pierre (Eugène Onfroy) de Bréville, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Pierre (Eugène Onfroy) de Bréville, Composer Pierre de Bréville, Piano |
| Judith, Movement: No. 4, Cantique fanèbre (soprano & women's choru |
Arthur Honegger, Composer
Antrewp New Concerts Orchestra Antwerp Caecilia Chorale Arthur Honegger, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano J. van Hertbruggen, Soprano Louis de Vocht, Conductor |
| Judith, Movement: No. 5, Invocation (women's chorus) |
Arthur Honegger, Composer
Antrewp New Concerts Orchestra Antwerp Caecilia Chorale Arthur Honegger, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano J. van Hertbruggen, Soprano Louis de Vocht, Conductor |
| Judith, Movement: No. 6, Fanfare |
Arthur Honegger, Composer
Antrewp New Concerts Orchestra Antwerp Caecilia Chorale Arthur Honegger, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano J. van Hertbruggen, Soprano Louis de Vocht, Conductor |
| Judith, Movement: No. 7, Incantation (men's chorus) |
Arthur Honegger, Composer
Antrewp New Concerts Orchestra Antwerp Caecilia Chorale Arthur Honegger, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano J. van Hertbruggen, Soprano Louis de Vocht, Conductor |
| Judith, Movement: No. 10, Nocturne |
Arthur Honegger, Composer
Antrewp New Concerts Orchestra Antwerp Caecilia Chorale Arthur Honegger, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano J. van Hertbruggen, Soprano Louis de Vocht, Conductor |
| Judith, Movement: No. 11, Cantique de la bataille (chorus) |
Arthur Honegger, Composer
Antrewp New Concerts Orchestra Antwerp Caecilia Chorale Arthur Honegger, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano J. van Hertbruggen, Soprano Louis de Vocht, Conductor |
| (Les) Choéphores, Movement: Exhortation |
Darius Milhaud, Composer
Antrewp New Concerts Orchestra Antwerp Caecilia Chorale Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Darius Milhaud, Composer Louis de Vocht, Conductor |
| (Les) Choéphores, Movement: Conclusion |
Darius Milhaud, Composer
Antrewp New Concerts Orchestra Antwerp Caecilia Chorale Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Darius Milhaud, Composer Louis de Vocht, Conductor |
| (2) Songs, Movement: Soir (wds. A. Samain) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Gabriel Fauré, Composer George Reeves, Piano |
| (L')amour de moy |
Julien Tiersot, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano George Reeves, Piano Julien Tiersot, Composer |
| Jardin d'amour |
Émile Vuillermoz, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Émile Vuillermoz, Composer George Reeves, Piano |
| Lamento |
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano George Reeves, Piano |
| Ma poupée chérie |
(Marie-Joseph-Alexandre) Déodat de Séverac, Composer
(Marie-Joseph-Alexandre) Déodat de Séverac, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano George Reeves, Piano |
| (3) Songs, Movement: No. 1, Après un rêve (wds. anon, trans Bussine |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Gabriel Fauré, Composer George Reeves, Piano |
| Chanson triste |
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano George Reeves, Piano |
| Aubade |
(Marie-Joseph-Alexandre) Déodat de Séverac, Composer
(Marie-Joseph-Alexandre) Déodat de Séverac, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano George Reeves, Piano |
| (5) Poèmes de Charles Baudelaire, Movement: Le jet d'eau |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Claude Debussy, Composer George Reeves, Piano |
| Jazz dans la nuit |
Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Composer
Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano George Reeves, Piano |
| Prières, Movement: O raison dominicale |
André Caplet, Composer
André Caplet, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Micheline Kahn, Harp Pascal Qt |
| Prières, Movement: Salutation angélique |
André Caplet, Composer
André Caplet, Composer Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Micheline Kahn, Harp Pascal Qt |
| (3) Ballades de François Villon, Movement: Ballade que Villon feit à la requeste de sa mè |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Claude Debussy, Composer Ivana Meedinitiano, Piano |
| (Les) Cloches |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Claude Debussy, Composer Ivana Meedinitiano, Piano |
| (Les) Angélus |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claire Croiza, Mezzo soprano Claude Debussy, Composer Ivana Meedinitiano, Piano |
Author: Patrick O'Connor
One of the greatest of all singers in the French language, Claire Croiza had an Irish-American father and an Italian mother. Her early career was mostly in opera, not only the standard mezzo repertory – Carmen, Charlotte, Dalila, Orpheus – but some important premieres and revivals too, including Monteverdi’s Poppea and Penelope. Croiza sang the Angel in the first French performance of The Dream of Gerontius and Klytemnestra in the first Brussels production of Strauss’s Elektra.
Her devotion to the melodie, though, brought her into contact with all the foremost composers of the time; Duparc, Faure, d’Indy and Debussy all befriended her. On these CDs her accompanists include Poulenc, Honegger, Roussel and Breville. One can hear that Croiza had a powerful voice – it isn’t difficult to imagine her in some of the big roles she had sung when in her prime. By 1927, when the first of these records was made, she was 46, and the voice doesn’t seem to have altered much in the following decade.
Croiza brings the dual talents of actress and musician to everything she does. One of the finest recordings is of Duparc’sL’invitation au voyage, with Poulenc as accompanist. What she does with the song is to demystify it to an extent, singing with a firm line and a joyous expression, but touching individual words with exquisite soft tone. Similarly, also with Poulenc, in Debussy’s ‘Il pleure dans mon coeur’ (from Ariettes oubliees), on the word ‘trahison’ she suggests all the inexplicable sadness that overcomes the poet.
Croiza’s diction is exemplary but the absence of texts for such comparatively rare songs as Honegger’s ‘Automne’ fromPoemes d’Apollinaire: Alcools and the first two Chansons de la Petite Sirene make them more difficult to appreciate. In her lectures on singing (The Singer as Interpreter; Gollancz: 1989), translated by Betty Bannerman, Croiza deplored what she called the ‘cocktail voice’, that all-purpose open sound used to overcome problems of articulation. No one described her own singing better than Croiza herself, when she said ‘Let us love the words that we pronounce, and have a sense of joy in pronunciation’. Good articulation and exact pronunciation are not necessarily inseparable – it’s perfectly possible to speak or sing very clearly while mispronouncing the text. When the two skills come together with a voice as beautifully formed and controlled as Croiza’s, just listening becomes a lesson in itself.
Some of Croiza’s song recordings were issued on LP in the 1970s, but it is particularly exciting to have them all here, juxtaposed with the substantial extracts from Honegger’s Judith and the short scenes from Debussy’s Pelleas and Milhaud’s Les choephores. As for Croiza’s recitation of poetry by Charles Peguy and scenes from Racine’s Esther and Athalie, any actor wishing to delve into the perilous world of high-flown French theatre would benefit from a study of these (the translations published in the booklet are a help, although there are no French texts). As with all the issues in Ward Marston’s pioneering series, this is of immense historical and musical importance.'
Her devotion to the melodie, though, brought her into contact with all the foremost composers of the time; Duparc, Faure, d’Indy and Debussy all befriended her. On these CDs her accompanists include Poulenc, Honegger, Roussel and Breville. One can hear that Croiza had a powerful voice – it isn’t difficult to imagine her in some of the big roles she had sung when in her prime. By 1927, when the first of these records was made, she was 46, and the voice doesn’t seem to have altered much in the following decade.
Croiza brings the dual talents of actress and musician to everything she does. One of the finest recordings is of Duparc’s
Croiza’s diction is exemplary but the absence of texts for such comparatively rare songs as Honegger’s ‘Automne’ from
Some of Croiza’s song recordings were issued on LP in the 1970s, but it is particularly exciting to have them all here, juxtaposed with the substantial extracts from Honegger’s Judith and the short scenes from Debussy’s Pelleas and Milhaud’s Les choephores. As for Croiza’s recitation of poetry by Charles Peguy and scenes from Racine’s Esther and Athalie, any actor wishing to delve into the perilous world of high-flown French theatre would benefit from a study of these (the translations published in the booklet are a help, although there are no French texts). As with all the issues in Ward Marston’s pioneering series, this is of immense historical and musical importance.'
Claire Croiza - Champion of the Modern French Mélodie
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