Search - Richard Lalli, Christopher [Composer] Berg, Christopher Berg :: Christopher Berg: Un Américain à Paris (Songs and Cantatas on French Texts)

Delightful music, but some problems with the performances

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 05/12/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Christopher Berg, a contemporary American composer, is represented here by five sets of songs and cantatas set to French texts; hence the title of the CD, "Un Américain à Paris." They are performed by a group called The Mirror Visions Ensemble, which consists of soprano Tobé Malawista, tenor Scott Murphree, and baritone (and pianist) Richard Lalli. The music itself reminds one of Poulenc - not a bad thing in my opinion - and is characterized by sensitive word-setting, melodic charm, descriptive piano accompaniments and alertness to the nuances of the meanings of the texts. "Les Loisirs de la poste" ("Postal Pastimes"), set to four-line poems that Stéphane Mallarmé wrote as calling cards or as inscriptions on fans, memorialize Whistler, Chausson, J. K. Huÿsmans, Verlaine, Reynaldo Hahn, and Degas. Each is very brief, whimsically allusive, over almost before it is begun, and charmingly set. "Portrait en miniature de Madame de Sévigné," inspired by some of the vivid letters of a 17th-century French noblewoman, are set for combinations of three singers (and are nicely accompanied, except in his own exquisitely-sung baritone solo, by Mr Lalli - all the rest of the piano accompaniments are by the composer, an excellent pianist who studied with notable pianist/composer Robert Helps). The text's natural, conversational style is aptly caught by the music and the performers. "Hommage à Francis Poulenc", set to nonsense children's poems by Robert Desnos, were suggested by and written for the group's soprano, who sings them here. Each poem describes, in surrealistic fashion, an animal (The Pike, The Lobster, The Glow Worm, The Badger, The Ant - the latter described as "eighteen meters long!"). The set is intended as a companion to Poulenc's own "Le Bestiaire" ("The Bestiary"). "L'Intelligence et la musicalité chez les animaux" ("Intelligence and Musicality among Animals"), set to delightfully wacky prose from composer Erik Satie's "Memoirs of an Insomniac," is also, of course, about animals, with such sentiments as "fish are prevented from studying oceanography," and the observation that the nightingale's voice is "not properly placed" and that she has no knowledge of clefs, nor tonalities, nor rhythm. You will smile!Totally different in character from the other songs is "La Moisson" ("The Harvest"), also to poetry of Robert Desnos, written during the darkest days of World War II. It muses on dying, ending with "Goodbye dream, goodbye beauty! I sacrifice you to the too limited world." It is sung with great sensitivity and tonal beauty by tenor Murphree.The bad news is that the Ms Malawista's voice is a distraction. From the picture in the booklet she appears to be a beautiful young woman, but her voice is, I'm afraid, like that of someone who has sung too much music that strained the voice: it frays under pressure and as she ascends to the upper part of the staff a wobble intrudes. Although clearly an intelligent and sensitive intepreter, at times the voice betrays her intentions. She is to be respected for her artistry, however, and for her devotion to modern American song. I was charmed and delighted by the music on this disc and am eager to hear more songs by Christopher Berg.Scott Morrison"