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But Visse has recognized the extension of staunchly religious and not very erotic. The the idea of “street cries” to the wider scope of music will suggest Messiaen, but you’ll hear “the cry”, expressing more impassioned senti- some Daphnis-like rhythms when the Shu- ments. An early example of this expansion was lamite dances and some jazzy harmonies in a patriotic cantate melologue or partsong-with- ‘La Voix’ as the voice of the beloved travels recitation, Le Cri du Bagnerais, by Alfred over hill and dale. All in all, it’s pretty hand- Roland (1797-1874), sung, as intended, as a some stuff, especially when brought off sensi- nostalgic gesture by Bonepartist veterans in a tively by these artists. If a 20-minute set of reunion on the Waterloo battlefield in 1840. A unfamiliar but worthy French fare sounds far more “realistic” military picture is ventured enticing, by all means go for it. by Vincent Scotto (1874-1952) in his comic What doesn’t thrill me is this “world pre- evocation of sex-starved soldiers at the front in miere recording” of Carl Friederich Christian Le Cri du Poilu (perhaps translatable as “The Fasch’s Mass for 16 voices, a glorious Mass Cry of GI-Joe”). But Claude Ledoux (b.1960) that deserves better than it gets here. Bernius has drawn on dimensions of modern life in his et al seem intent on turning it into a secular Cri de Blog, a deliberately chaotic collage pit- concerto grosso, with cool, straight voices ting the biographical confession (in verse!) of crescendoing and decrescendoing their way an HIV-infected prostitute against the vacuous through the syllables, words, phrases, and words and technological sounds around us. cadences of the liturgy. A spiritually aware per- And ideological activism is behind Le Cri of formance of this would be something to trea- Bruno Ducol (b.1949), a torrent of protests sure. This time around, though, you hear the against tyranny that is hardly music at all. notes but are left wondering what they would It takes quite a bit of tolerance to enjoy sound like sung by performers who cared everything in this program. But the virtuosity about what they were singing. of the group’s six singers is incontestible, and Back on the plus side, the transcriptions of they are often put to huge strains and chal- Clytus Gottwald are fascinating—especially lenges. (They are joined intermittently by play- the three excerpts from Schumann’s Opus 39 ers on lute, piano, organ, and double bass.) Liederkreis, which are a little busy but quite Not simply entertainment here, but quite var- beautiful in their way. If the Fasch has you ied food for thought. feeling leery, remember that Marcus Creed Since verbal expression is so important in and the SW German Radio Vocal Ensemble this material, it is a great pity that Harmonia have recorded a stunning program of Gottwald Mundi gives us only the French texts, without arrangements of Ravel, Caplet, Messiaen, translations. Bonne chance! Debussy, Berg, Wagner, and Mahler on Carus BARKER 83181. Unlike this program, that one gets an unreserved thumbs-up. Hohes Lied GREENFIELD DANIEL-LESUR: Dialogue; La Voix du Bien-Aime; Le Songe; Le Roi Salomon; Le Jardin Clos; La Les Chantres Musiciens Sulamite; Epithalame; FASCH: Mass; RAVEL: DUBOIS: Mass; SCHMITT: Psalm 112; Cantique Soupir; DEBUSSY: Des Pas sur la Neige; Les de Simeon; LANGLAIS: Corpus Christi; DURUFLE: Angelus; SCHUMANN: Fruhlingsfahrt; Wehmut; Cum Jubilo Mass; FRANCK: Psalm 150 Waldesgesprach; Mondnacht Stuttgart Chamber Choir/ Frieder Bernius Antonio Figueroa, t; Marc Boucher, bar; Regis Carus 83222—66 minutes Rousseau, org; Les Chantres Musiciens, Les Voix Elles/ Gilbert Patenaude Excellent singers, a world-class choral conduc- XXI 1582—60 minutes tor, terrific sound, and a booklet with full notes and translations, and still I’m ambivalent Most of this music emanates from the quiet about this release. What I like is Jean-Yves spaces, and the 20 young male voices of Mon- Daniel-Lesur’s set of seven settings from Le treal’s Chantres Musiciens croon it elegantly Cantique des Cantiques, the biblical Song of and with commendable attention to spiritual Songs. Be assured that Daniel-Lesur (1908- detail. The warm, serene harmonies of the 2002) has more to recommend him than the Mass for Tenor Solo, Men’s Choir and Organ oddity of hyphenated first and last names. An by Theodore DuBois (1837-1924) made me assistant of the great Tournemire at St Clotilde, wish I were singing the work instead of writing he was a contemporary of Messiaen and about it. The plainsong that animates the six Jolivet. After the Second World War he was songs of Jean Langlais’s Corpus Christi and appointed Director of the Schola Cantorum in Duruflé’s flowing Cum Jubilo Mass oozes Paris and wound up heading the Music prayerful intensity; and if you’ve not experi- Department of France’s Ministry of Culture. enced the heady chromaticism given voice by His settings of the Song of Songs sound Florent Schmitt (1870-1958), here’s your 226 November/December 2009 Sig08arg.QXD 9/25/2009 3:35 PM Page 227

chance. The men are joined by 12 female voic- za for violin and piano, and a deeply-felt Esce- es for a lovely, rather chaste performance of na Religiosa for those same instruments with a Franck’s Psalm 150. (It could be juicier, I sup- cameo performance by the organ. The instru- pose, but why break the mood?) mental works are played beautifully (especially First-class organ playing is a must in the the Escena, where violinist Erica Kiesewetter French choral idiom, and the keyboard artistry really digs in), and I will return to both. Naxos on display here is formidable indeed. English set the mikes pretty close to the fiddle in that notes are supplied; but for the texts, it’s Latin second work, by the way, but the ear adjusts and French only. quickly. This is Granados as most of us have GREENFIELD never heard him. Pablo (Pau) Casals’s ‘Nigra sum’ has Song of the Stars: Catalan Choral become a staple of the repertoire for women’s GRANADOS: Cant de les Estrelles; Escena Reli- choir; and this cool, calm performance is giosa; Romanza; Salve Regina; CASALS: Rosarium pleasant, if a bit detached. You also should Beate Virginis Mariae; Recordare, Virgo Mater; enjoy Casals’s less familiar offerings, especially Nigra Sum; MORERA: El Rossinyol; Ave Maria; his ten brief and chaste evocations of the BLANCAFORT: Cant d’Amor; OLTRA: Preludio; Rosary composed for the choir of the Eco Monastery of Montserrat. There’s a also a Mark Kruczek, org; Douglas Riva, p; Erica striking ‘Ave Maria’ for women’s voices by Kiesewetter, v; Voices of Ascension/ Enric Morera (1865-1942) and a pair of songs Dennis Keene by Manuel Oltra (b 1922) that head straight for Naxos 570533—63 minutes the soul of Spain, just like the poems of Fred- erico Garcia Lorca that inspired them. We yell Enrique Granados (Enric in Catalan) gave the at Naxos when their notes and translations premiere of his piano suite, Goyescas, in aren’t satisfactory, so let’s praise them here Barcelona on 11 March 1911. Also introduced when they are. on that program was his 17-minute Song of the Stars, a poem composed by Heinrich Heine, GREENFIELD translated into Catalan, and set for piano, organ, and choral voices by the composer. Love Duets Things must have gone well, because the post- , Pearl Fishers, Carmen, , Iris, romantic sensibilities of the work scored big Boheme, with both the critics and the public. Alas, Rosanna Carteri, ; RAI Turin/ Granados chose not to publish the Cant de les Arturo Basile; Milan Symphony/ Antonio Tonini Estrelles and, owing to a Kafkaesque series of Preiser 93454—79 minutes events recounted in the notes, it wasn’t per- formed again until Maestro Keene and his A very well-filled disc. The duets portion is an Voices of Ascension got ahold of it for a pair of all-too-brief 1957 EMI LP. Di Stefano is a bit New York concerts recorded by Naxos in 2007. over his head in the Otello (he was foolish Of all the works here, it’s the one that reaches enough to try the entire role once in San Diego beyond Catalunya, beyond Spain, beyond any- opposite Tito Gobbi). But many tenors ill suit- one’s liturgy and heads—well, beyond. (“We ed to the Moor do well with this lyrical duet. want to visit new worlds! Break the enchant- Some typical Di Stefano comments apply: he ment of love! There’s no escape from its bonds! sings sometimes through the passagio with the Infinite space! Endlessly still!”) voice sometimes spreading on top, but there is Granados begins with a five-minute piano much amazingly gorgeous, heartfelt singing solo redolent of the 19th Century romantics, and a joy in performing. You should also get then has the organ join the piano for the this for the lovely singing of Carteri. Her lyric ascent to an otherworldly realm. The sopranos soprano is also beautiful and heartfelt. (Record enter on an ethereal pianissimo (“O infinite collectors best know her for one of the finest vastness and stillness of space!”), having been Traviatas with Valletti, Warren, and Mon- set up exquisitely by the piano. The rest is teux—available on Testament and Myto.) It dominated by the chorus, which intones the can be pure unadulterated joy for a sometimes core of the poem with ever-increasing spiritual jaded reviewer to listen to two gifted singers. intensity. I confess that the inclusion of audi- In the 1952 arias heard here, Carteri walks ence applause bothers me far less than usual away with the honors. No vocal difficulties. because it is so moving to hear Granados’s Yes, the French arias and duets are sung in handiwork connect despite the 98-year gap Italian and sound like Verdi and verismo. But between its first two performances. with singing of such quality, who cares? Car- He also gives us a Salve Regina that hear- teri’s Boheme arias are the finest moments kens back to the Renaissance, a lyrical Roman- here. Her recording of the complete opera is American Record Guide 227