Voyages
Mary Bevan (soprano)
Joseph Middleton (piano)
rec. 2016, All Saints Church, Durham Road, London, UK
Sung texts with English translation enclosed.
Reviewed as download from press preview.
Signum Classics SIGCD509 [79]
The partnership between Mary Bevan and her regular accompanist Joseph Middleton has resulted in several highly interesting thematic albums. The present one, actually issued as long ago as 2017, emanated from a live BBC broadcast recital, where Middleton “had constructed a programme exploring the genius of Baudelaire and Goethe and how texts by them unlocked very specific musical landscapes in settings by Debussy, Duparc, Chausson, de Bréville, Séverac, Fauré and Schubert.” This led to a contact with Baudelaire expert, Professor Helen Abbott at the University of Birmingham, and together they devised a consummate concept, the fruits of which are presented here. It is a special treat to have Ms Abbott’s deep-probing liner notes as a guide through this voyage.
The Goethe songs represent a minority in this programme with the four Mignon songs from Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre by Schubert, preceded by Henri Duparc’s Romance de Mignon, a setting of a poem by Victor Wilder (1835-1892), based on Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn – so here we can compare how two composers have approached the same text, a recurrent feature of this disc. Le jet d’eau is set by both Debussy and Maurice Rollinat, L’invitation au voyage by Duparc and Chabrier, while Harmonie du soir has inspired Pierre de Bréville, Debussy and Rollinat. Such comparisons are interesting primarily for the possibility of exploring how differently composers from roughly the same generation interpret the same words. Admittedly, Baudelaire is not one of the easiest poets to interpret. He was of course a breaker of new grounds for 19th century poetry and a pioneering symbolist, often called the first modernist. I have to admit that I often find him diffuse and wilful, possibly due to my far-from-perfect French. In this collection, Debussy’s songs are in a similar haze, where he is in a state of assimilating Wagner’s magical world. I get a feeling that Tristan und Isolde hangs as a perfumed cloud over his shoulder. Mary Bevan sings the five songs exquisitely with beautiful tone and sensitive nuances, and Joseph Middleton is just as sensitive in his accompaniment – as they are throughout the programme. The problem is that I don’t find myself on the same wavelength. Let me hasten to add that I don’t have any aversions to Debussy’s songs in general, but here we don’t connect.
To continue on a more positive note I’ve always liked Henri Duparc. His extremely limited number of songs belongs to my great favourites and L’invitation au voyage is the ideal opening to this travelog. The same poem is also heard here in the setting of Chabrier, who during the last few years seems to have had a renaissance as song composer. Here, bassoonist Amy Harman is invited to form a trio together with Mary Bevan and Joseph Middleton. It works extremely well. The bassoon gets too little exposition as a solo instrument, which is a great pity. Gabriel Fauré is also a safe card among French vocal composers and his early Chant d’automne is a little gem. Déodat de Séverac is a fairly rare guest in the catalogues and on recital platforms, but from what I have heard of him, he should be given more chances. Les hiboux is a fine taster. Pierre de Bréville is even rarer. I can’t remember hearing anything by him previously. A search on Presto Classical resulted in nil hits for vocal music, but a few for chamber and instrumental. Maurice Rollinat (1846–1903), seems to have had little formal training as a composer. He was a poet who also appeared at the famous Chat Noir cabaret, where he sang his Baudelaire songs, accompanying himself on the piano. The two songs that conclude this programme are simple but melodious and make ideal encores to an almost eighty-minute-long recital.
To sum up: a fascinating journey through Baudelaire’s and Goethe’s poetic landscapes, under the guidance of Helen Abbott’s expertise and the sensitive music-making of Mary Bevan and Joseph Middleton.
Göran Forsling
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Contents
1 L’invitation au voyage Henri Duparc [4.06]
2 Chant d’Automne, Op. 5 No. 1 Gabriel Fauré [4.32]
3 Hymne, Op. 7 No. 2 Gabriel Fauré [2.02]
4 L’invitation au voyage Emmanuel Chabrier [6.08]
feat. Amy Harman bassoon
5 Romance de Mignon Henri Duparc [4.27]
Vier Mignon Lieder Franz Schubert
6 Nur wer die Sensucht, D. 877 No. 4 [3.06]
7 Heiss mich nicht reden, D. 877 No. 2 [3.39]
8 So lasst mich scheinen, D. 877 No. 3 [3.09]
9 Kennst du das Land, D. 321 [4.15]
10 Les hiboux Déodat de Séverac [3.13]
11 Harmonie du soir Pierre de Bréville [4.24]
Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire Claude Debussy
12 Le balcon [7.39]
13 Harmonie du soir [4.02]
14 Le jet d’eau [5.30]
15 Recueillement [4.23]
16 La mort des amants [3.18]
17 La vie antérieure Henri Duparc [4.16]
18 Harmonie du soir Maurice Rollinat [1.48]
19 Le jet d’eau Maurice Rollinat [5.35]
