Search - Bizet, Chabrier, Faure :: French Songs

Music for reading Proust to.

darragh o'donoghue | 10/16/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"CD 1 is devoted to 22 melodies by Gabriel Faure, arguably the finest exponent of the song in French music. They reveal the breathtaking range of his art, from nostalgia to melancholy to romance to humour to despair. The settings include poems by Silvestre, Samain, Villiers de l'Isle Adam, Leconte de Lisle, Bussine, Sully Prudhomme and Hugo, but it is Verlaine who inspires the most profound response, with songs like 'Clair de lune' and 'En Sourdine' magically embodying that conflation of nature, the spirit and sensuality so resonant in the poet's musical lines.Verlaine is also a guiding ghost in the work of Reynaldo Hahn, friend of Proust, who dominates CD 2. His song-cycle 'Chansons grises' is a somewhat darker interpretation of the poet, especially in a work like 'Paysage Triste'. Hahn is relatively unknown today, but he was a great pictorial composer - 'La Nuit' is stark and spacious; 'Les Fontaines' laps with watery phrases; 'L'Air' has an atmospheric suspense. My favourite work in this whole collection, though, is his 'L'enamouree' after Banville, one of those big, sentimental, romantic melodies the French do so well. The CD finishes with three songs apiece by Bizet and Chabrier, the latter as expansive and melodic as his famous orchestral showpieces.Singer Rachel Yakar and accompanist Claude Lavoix offer no real challenge to the maestros in this genre, Felicity Lott and Graham Johnson. Yakar lacks Lott's wit and range, and over two hours, her readings can become monotonous. Similarly, Lavoix seems sluggish beside Johnson's encyclopaedic playfulness. Nevertheless, these are songs we don't hear that often: best enjoyed in small doses."

Rachel Yakar, l'interpretation parfait... deliciously French

Ingrid Heyn | Melbourne, Australia | 05/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The reviewer below mentions the superiority of Felicity Lott as a singer of French melodies. This is a strange comment that probably has a great deal to do with the reviewer not speaking fluent French. Although I admire Felicity Lott's singing in her duet work with Ann Murray, I've never really taken to her as a soloist. The voice often seems cold, and possessed of some idiosyncratic habits that can sometimes marr her performances. Nevertheless, she has indeed sung some fine things.



However, that has nothing to do with the singing of Rachel Yakar. Ms Yakar is not only a specialist in French melodies (and a native speaker of French), but is also well known as a baroque specialist. This combination of specialities often produces very fine approaches to interpretation - one sees it in the singing of Sandrine Piau, Veronique Gens, Patricia Petibon, etc. And in the singing of Rachel Yakar, the effect is marvellous - a wonderful sense of intimacy and that indefinable quality one can only call "charm". I doubt that this elusive quality can be taught - I have never yet heard a singer develop it from nothing.



The first CD is especially fine - it was recorded earlier in Ms Yakar's career than the second CD, and it shows the beauty of Rachel Yakar's voice as well as her delightful and almost bitter-sweet interpretation of the melodies.



The second CD reveals some wear on the voice, unfortunately. Yet in spite of this, the interpretation is wonderful. How delightful to hear French sung idiomatically rather than with the faintest of English accents! It seems ridiculous to say this, but... French ought to be sung with a French accent. This affects everything - placement, timbre, reverberation, line, everything.



Merveilleux, Mme Yakar! This is a thought-provoking and beautiful recording worth the possessing."