Customer Reviews

Canteloube: Chants D Auvergne/Villa - Lobos- Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What is it about these wonderful songs that tend to bring out the best in some of the world's finest sopranos?

There are so many fine recordings of these songs.

The great Frederica Von Stade recorded a quite mesmerizing selection of the Auvergne songs at about the same time as Dame Kiri. There is the lovely recording by the legendary Victoria De Los Angeles, a selection of the songs many of us grew up on.
There is the seminal first complete recording (and then some, as I recall) by the late Natania Davrath, a much under-appreciated artist who, in many ways, is responsible for the popularity these songs enjoy today. Even Anna Moffo recorded a lovely handful of the songs in the 60s conducted by no less than Leopold Stokowski!

And then there is Dame Kiri. We know her. We love her. We have come to expect the best from her. We have come to always expect more from her, in fact, than from just about anyone else.

So unfair. We expect her to jump the musical hurdles of our emotional connections to music and art in a way we expect from few others.

And yet she so seldom disappoints. Is this the absolute best recording of the Chants d'Auvergne ever? Such a personal choice. Who is to say?

I can tell you this, once I heard this truly remarkable set, which has literally sent chills up my back since the the first time I heard it all those years ago, I knew my search for the recording of these songs I would keep near me forever was over.

Here is an interpretation combining, in equal measure, patrician elegance with almost peasant-like eloquence. She renders song after song, some deceptively complicated, with a divine simplicity that simply defies the imagination.

I don't know how Dame Kiri achieved this miraculous feat. It must have come from the heart, because it certainly goes to mine.

And finally, it would be unthinkable not to give credit to the exquisite playing of the English Chamber Orchestra and the always sensitive collaboration of conductor Jeffrey Tate.

These traditional songs from the Auvergne region of France, arranged and orchestrated by Joseph Canteloube, are so intensely beautiful that when I requested a classical radio station to play some of them, motorists stopped on the highway to phone in their thanks.

I first heard a selection of these songs 30 years ago, performed by Anna Moffo, and fell in love with them. It's wonderful to find a complete recording of all 5 series on this 2 CD set, sung by Kiri te Kanawa with enormous talent and verve. Whether the mood is passionate, playful, mocking, tender, mournful or-an emotion few composers have ever captured-helpless with pleasure, these pieces have one thing in common: they are the work of a master orchestrator at the height of his powers, using the fullest resources of the modern orchestra. You will not find more beautiful music than this!

In my opinion, this is one of Kiri's better recordings. Her voice, while always gorgeous, is fresh and light here, and her interpretation, while not riveting, is certainly not boring. Musically, this is a wonderful collection, very romantic and lush in sound. A very worth-while recording.

Dame Kiri te Kanawa has just the voice and character to make this music live. Her voice has a spiritual quality (as opposed to a human quality) that suits the fantasy and seductive qualities of the music. However, her characterization is not void of human qualities, a reminder that these are human feelings. The orchestra under Jeffrey Tate copes very well with the virtuosic writing for woodwinds and stratospheric strings. I heard Renee Fleming's recent interpretation of Bailero and the characterization was more human. Their voices are quite similar, but if you want angelic qualities, Kiri is the angel.

Actually this is true for the CD 1 of the box. I remember that it was through this CD that I discovered Dame Kiri te Kanawa for whom I have had a permanent admiration since. And I suspect this to be true for many a fan of Dame te Kanawa. Her voice is non pair, her clarity and tone bring class and meaning to anything that she sings, from French opera to Puccini and Canteloube or Maori tunes. And the supporting role of Mr. Tate is quite remarkable too. Yet, her more than splendid work in this CD is the one that remains engraved in my mind, no matter how many CDs from her I shall ever get. This is one of those epochal works, when two great artists team up to bring to the public at large great art from whom is after all a local musician. But such are the mysteries of music creation and interpretation.

This is a Penguin Guide and Gramophone recommendation, and also one of Dame Kiri's best discs. Unfortunately (and this is why I give it 4 stars not 5) this was one of the early Decca Doubles before they started including texts and translations. This may not bother you, but if it does you can download the texts (although with the Canteloube settings being in heavy Auvergne regional dialect, and Villa-Lobos ones being in Portuguese -not a popular language in classical music- that may not help everyone!). Also worth considering Maria Bayo's Villa Lobos on Erato.

Althrough the Vanguard Netania Davrath recording is more complete (Featured 15 additional songs collected by Canteloube and orchestrated by Gershon Kingsley), the Decca/Dame Kiri version is still the one to get! She's so lovely in these mid-1980's digital recordings, and the 2-for-1 price is well worth it! I love Dame Kiri, and I hope you'll like this one, as much as I did!

This is an excellent CD! Kiri Te Kanawa has a wonderful voice! Everyone who likes classical music should get this CD.