Ravel Songs

A useful collection with some superb performances – and some disappointments

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Maurice Ravel

Genre:

Vocal

Label: Naxos

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 122

Mastering:

Stereo
DDD

Catalogue Number: 8 554176/7

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
(2) Mélodies hébraïques Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Laurent Naouri, Baritone
Maurice Ravel, Composer
(2) Epigrammes de Clément Marot Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Gérard Théruel, Baritone
Maurice Ravel, Composer
(5) Mélodies populaires grecques Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Inva Mula-Tchako, Soprano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
(Un) Grand sommeil noir Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Laurent Naouri, Baritone
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Manteau de fleurs Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Valérie Millot, Soprano
Si morne! Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Valérie Millot, Soprano
Don Quichotte à Dulcinée Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Laurent Naouri, Baritone
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Histoires naturelles Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Gérard Théruel, Baritone
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Ballade de la reine morte d'aimer Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Inva Mula-Tchako, Soprano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Tripatos Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Inva Mula-Tchako, Soprano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
(3) Chansons Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Valérie Millot, Soprano
Ronsard à son âme Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Laurent Naouri, Baritone
Maurice Ravel, Composer
(Les) Grands vents venus d'outre-mer Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Laurent Naouri, Baritone
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Sainte Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Laurent Naouri, Baritone
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Sur l'herbe Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Laurent Naouri, Baritone
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Rêves Maurice Ravel, Composer
Claire Brua, Mezzo soprano
David Abramovitz, Piano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Vocalise-étude en forme de habanera Maurice Ravel, Composer
Claire Brua, Mezzo soprano
David Abramovitz, Piano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
(3) Chansons madécasses Maurice Ravel, Composer
Claire Brua, Mezzo soprano
David Abramovitz, Piano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Noël des jouets Maurice Ravel, Composer
Claire Brua, Mezzo soprano
David Abramovitz, Piano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Chants populaires, Movement: Chanson espagnole Maurice Ravel, Composer
Claire Brua, Mezzo soprano
David Abramovitz, Piano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Chants populaires, Movement: Chanson française Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Gérard Théruel, Baritone
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Chants populaires, Movement: Chanson italienne Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Valérie Millot, Soprano
Chants populaires, Movement: Chanson hébraïque Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Laurent Naouri, Baritone
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Chants populaires, Movement: Chanson écossaise Maurice Ravel, Composer
David Abramovitz, Piano
Inva Mula-Tchako, Soprano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Chanson du rouet Maurice Ravel, Composer
Claire Brua, Mezzo soprano
David Abramovitz, Piano
Maurice Ravel, Composer
For some reason, room was not found on these two discs for the Trois poèmes de Mallarmé, otherwise this would have been the only complete set of Ravel songs on the market. As it is, the project as a whole is something of a curate’s egg from the performance point of view, with several superb renderings and one or two that really should have been sent back for cleaning.

Among the things I would not want to hear again are the Chanson francaise, where the tenor is badly out of tune, and sounds in early morning form, Si morne!, where the soprano’s top notes are squally, ‘Trois beaux oiseaux’ from the arrangement of the choral Trois chansons, where tuning again is a problem, and, I’m very sorry to say, the three Don Quichotte songs. Elsewhere generally slowish tempi often make phrasing difficult for the singers, but here the somewhat lugubrious speeds of the first two songs (timings of 2'22" and 3'23", as against the 2'02" and 2'57" of Martial Singher, who premièred the set in 1934) impede the music’s flow. Contrariwise, the last song, ‘Chanson à boire’, is faster than Singher’s, which in every case are close to Ravel’s metronome marks, so that one or two syllables are a touch scrambly. The piano sound in these songs is rather harsh and metallic, and I could have done without the extra low octave on the final note. Ravel was capable of writing octaves when he wanted them.

On a lower level of concern comes the slightly recessed sound of the piano throughout. There is no cause to be reticent about David Abramovitch’s playing, which in general is clean and sensitive, and virtuosic where called for (the guinea fowl’s screeches in Histoires naturelles are splendidly lifelike). But at times the accompaniments do lack presence. In the last Don Quichotte song, too, Laurent Naouri seems to have wandered slightly off-mike. One other curious feature is the incorrect ordering of the Trois chansons, where tracks 8 and 9 need to be transposed.

For me, two of the five singers stand some way above the rest. Naouri was an impressive Golaud in the recent Haitink Pelléas and he is a talented and thoughtful artist. Occasionally his tuning is less than perfect – one or two of the throwaway lines in Histoires naturelles are thrown rather carelessly for my taste – and the high passages in Sainte test him slightly. But the three Hebrew songs are extremely fine and moving. Best of all is the mezzo Claire Brua, whose Chansons madécasses are a real high point of the set, and worthy to be spoken of in the same breath as the classic Madeleine Grey performances made under Ravel’s supervision. She uses the words to great effect, expressing melancholy, reflection, surprise, eagerness, all through diction and phrasing. Not for the first or last time, a training in Baroque music pays dividends in this French repertoire. Recommending a whole two-disc set just for this performance would seem rather extravagant (the Naxos price bracket notwithstanding), but certainly this is not an interpretation any Ravel-lover would want to miss.

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