Fauré Mélodies
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Gabriel Fauré
Label: Red Seal
Magazine Review Date: 1/1994
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 63
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 09026 61439-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (2) Songs |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (3) Songs, Movement: No. 2, Rêve d'amour (wds. Hugo: c1862) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (3) Songs, Movement: Tristesse (wds. T. Gautier: c1873) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (3) Songs, Movement: No. 1, Après un rêve (wds. anon, trans Bussine |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (3) Songs, Movement: No. 1, Au bord de l'eau (wds. Prudhomme: 1875) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (3) Songs, Movement: Nell (wds. L de Lisle: 1878) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (3) Songs, Movement: Automne (wds. A. Silvestre: 1878) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (3) Poèmes d'un jour |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (3) Songs |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (4) Songs, Movement: No. 1, Aurore (wds. Silvestre) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (4) Songs, Movement: No. 4, Les Roses d'Ispahan (wds. de Lisle) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (2) Songs, Movement: Nocturne |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (2) Songs, Movement: No. 2, Clair de lune (wds. Verlaine) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (4) Songs, Movement: No. 3, Spleen (wds. Verlaine: 1888) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
| (5) Mélodies |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Catherine Collard, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer Nathalie Stutzmann, Contralto (Female alto) |
Author:
The recital follows Faure's progress as a song-writer from the 16-year-old boy in his school hall ''amid smells from the kitchen'' scribbling a waltz-song about a butterfly and a flower to the mature composer in his fiftieth year, honoured and urbane frequenter of Princesse de Polignac's salon. Many of his best-known and most tuneful songs are here, and it is also good to have the Verlaine settings, the Cinq melodies 'de Venise', in sequence. As far as the programme is concerned the record stands well in company with its competitors.
So does it in respect of the singer's voice, which is of exceptional quality. The rare tone of a true contralto suits the lament of Theophile Gautier's fisherman who sees around him endless night hovering like a shroud; the Nocturne (''ma nuit au sombre voile'') also draws darkness like honey from this rich depth. The sound can lighten too, so that in several of the songs a gentle piano or pianissimo final phrase produces a particularly lovely effect. But they need more, and if these performances fail to satisfy on first hearing, plenty of comparisons come readily to hand to explain why.
There is, for one thing, a general matter of style and technique. In the Chanson du pecheur, for example, listen to the opening lines as sung here and then to the recording by Dame Janet Baker. Stutzmann habitually presses, introducing a small swell, crescendo or bulge on individual notes so that there is no true legato; with Baker no such device impedes the beauty of the melodic line which is enhanced accordingly. There might be some defence if, as a result, Stutzmann's singing gained in expressiveness, but on the contrary it is Baker who captures the mood, that of an intense private grief and tenderness, just as in the happier songs it is Baker whose smile comes vividly through the sound of the voice. Sarah Walker provides other comparisons, and again a much more expressive art is at work (a tiny instance, but significant, is the light portamento which caresses the words ''dormante'' and ''charmante'' in Nocturne). Both of the other records also exhibit a more satisfying relationship between the voice and the independent melodic line of the piano part. Catherine Collard often has a delightful touch, yet repeatedly some felicity is notable in the other performances which has no counterpart here. A contributory factor may be the very close recording of the piano and the generally higher volume level throughout. '
So does it in respect of the singer's voice, which is of exceptional quality. The rare tone of a true contralto suits the lament of Theophile Gautier's fisherman who sees around him endless night hovering like a shroud; the Nocturne (''ma nuit au sombre voile'') also draws darkness like honey from this rich depth. The sound can lighten too, so that in several of the songs a gentle piano or pianissimo final phrase produces a particularly lovely effect. But they need more, and if these performances fail to satisfy on first hearing, plenty of comparisons come readily to hand to explain why.
There is, for one thing, a general matter of style and technique. In the Chanson du pecheur, for example, listen to the opening lines as sung here and then to the recording by Dame Janet Baker. Stutzmann habitually presses, introducing a small swell, crescendo or bulge on individual notes so that there is no true legato; with Baker no such device impedes the beauty of the melodic line which is enhanced accordingly. There might be some defence if, as a result, Stutzmann's singing gained in expressiveness, but on the contrary it is Baker who captures the mood, that of an intense private grief and tenderness, just as in the happier songs it is Baker whose smile comes vividly through the sound of the voice. Sarah Walker provides other comparisons, and again a much more expressive art is at work (a tiny instance, but significant, is the light portamento which caresses the words ''dormante'' and ''charmante'' in Nocturne). Both of the other records also exhibit a more satisfying relationship between the voice and the independent melodic line of the piano part. Catherine Collard often has a delightful touch, yet repeatedly some felicity is notable in the other performances which has no counterpart here. A contributory factor may be the very close recording of the piano and the generally higher volume level throughout. '
Fauré Mélodies
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