Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Duparc

Two wonderful performances with French baritone, Gérard Souzay


Duparc "L'Invitation au voyage"
Gérard Souzay, baritone Dalton Baldwin piano

AND
Gérard Souzay sings "Chanson triste" in an orchestral version here.

7 comments:

  1. I love both of these performances--they're exquisite. They're very expressive without going too far or being overly sentimental. Here's another performance I enjoyed of L'Invitation au Voyage sung by Charles Panzéra:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78sK4f86_8M

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael,the Panzéra was great! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I enjoy this performance very much but I wish sometimes the vocalist would match the color in the piano part. For example at the "un peu plus vite". I would like the "La, tout n'est qu'ordre..." to be more vulnerable like the piano part. There are many other subtleties that make the performance very successful however.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I loved all the colors in the orchestral version of "Chanson triste." I should mention, though, that due to Duparc's masterful writing, the piano version is very colorful and gorgeous as well. Souzay does a marvelous job making the high notes tender and soft as opposed to operatic and overly dramatic, which is tempting (and easier) to do! I just love this piece - what a beautiful musical setting of a heart-melting poem.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Souzay's control is amazing. He is in complete command of his instrument in these recordings. I like his heady light quality to his voice. And I think Dalton Baldwin is just as refined.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really enjoyed hearing a French person sing this song. There are just those subtle differences that you hear that let you know the nationality of the singer. I love the handle that Souzay has on this song. I really also enjoyed hearing a mans interpretation of this. I think when a woman talks about her sister and a man talks about her sister that there is something a little different about both.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I thoroughly enjoy listening to Souzay's interpreting. Such evenness and consistency makes me feel very comfortable as a listener, knowing he is perfectly together with his instrumental partners. I can see what Matthew was saying about some of the colors which could be more present in the vocal delivery, but I might describe this as a minimal use of vocal and expressive vulnerability. It is not always my favorite interpretive approach, but I think it is very effective for some audiences.

    ReplyDelete