Mélodies
Degout’s selection of French song evokes memories of the masters
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Claude Debussy, (Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, (Alexis-)Emmanuel Chabrier, Maurice Ravel, Reynaldo Hahn, Camille Saint-Saëns
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Naïve
Magazine Review Date: 4/2011
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: V5209
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(3) Mélodies, Movement: La mer est plus belle que les cathédrales |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
(3) Mélodies, Movement: Le son du cor s'afflige vers les bois |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
(3) Mélodies, Movement: L'échelonnement des haies |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
(Le) Galop |
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
Lamento |
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
Élégie |
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
(La) Vie antérieure |
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer
(Marie Eugène) Henri Duparc, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
Mélodies persanes, Movement: Au cimetière |
Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer
Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
Mélodies persanes, Movement: Tournoiement |
Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer
Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
(L')île heureuse |
(Alexis-)Emmanuel Chabrier, Composer
(Alexis-)Emmanuel Chabrier, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
Chanson pour Jeanne |
(Alexis-)Emmanuel Chabrier, Composer
(Alexis-)Emmanuel Chabrier, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
(Les) Cigales |
(Alexis-)Emmanuel Chabrier, Composer
(Alexis-)Emmanuel Chabrier, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
Trois jours de vendage |
Reynaldo Hahn, Composer
Hélène Lucas, Piano Reynaldo Hahn, Composer Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
(Le) cimetière de campagne |
Reynaldo Hahn, Composer
Hélène Lucas, Piano Reynaldo Hahn, Composer Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
Histoires naturelles, Movement: Le paon |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Hélène Lucas, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
Histoires naturelles, Movement: Le grillon |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Hélène Lucas, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
Histoires naturelles, Movement: Le cygne |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Hélène Lucas, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
Histoires naturelles, Movement: Le martin-pêcheur |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Hélène Lucas, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
Histoires naturelles, Movement: La pintade |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Hélène Lucas, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
(3) Ballades de François Villon, Movement: Ballade de Villon à s'amye |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
(3) Ballades de François Villon, Movement: Ballade que Villon feit à la requeste de sa mè |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
(3) Ballades de François Villon, Movement: Ballade des femmes de Paris |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Hélène Lucas, Piano Stéphane Degout, Baritone |
Author: John Steane
So it may be well to pause and take stock after the first seven. The voice – a natural for Pelléas, one would think – responds rapturously to Debussy and Verlaine’s submarine wonders, then echoes the anguished tenderness of the woodland horn, the hedgerows where nature pales beneath a milky sky (is that what they have been about?). Then in the Duparc group we revive memories of Charles Panzéra, baritone of the 1930s, and, yes, there is a likeness, a line even between these two singers. While characterised by a very French refinement – nothing too much, for instance – both can expand tone and emotion frankly, as in the third verse (“C’est là que j’ai vécu”) of “La vie antérieure”.
At this point the programme lightens somewhat: Saint-Säens, Chabrier and Hahn approaching the condition of popular song and the artists adapting themselves well. It is these songs and their comparisons that nevertheless come closer to defining a limitation. Both Stephen Varcoe and François le Roux in their recitals have Graham Johnson as pianist, and that helps. One further comparison remains to be made, inevitably with Gérard Souzay. In Ravel’s Histoires naturelles (recorded in 1951), the voice is so beautiful, the style so richly animated that his mastery is beyond question. The modern master is not quite there yet.
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