Customer Reviews

Forgotten Songs: Dawn Upshaw Sings Debussy

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Thank you Dawn Upshaw for programming on one CD the 'big' collections of the Debussy vocal repertory. The only other recording which has most of these vocal collections is Barbara Hendrick's 'Melodies' CD which has the Ariettes oubilees and the Baudelaire Poems, but it lacks the Vasnier Songbook. Upshaw's disc is a rare find with its wider-encompassing collection. She is accompanied by the very capable, James Levine, NY MET Conductor. Levine's touch and balance in voicing chords gives the right 'color' to accompany the fluid lines of Debussy's text setting. Upshaw is able to connect long lines with that 'milky' texture her voice is known for, giving an impassioned performance for the listener.

I had the fun of playing the accompaniment once to some of the songs in this cycle with a friend-soprano. That gave me a real appreciation for what musical intricacies are in this song cycle. Debussy was a master composer who didn't let the piano languish doing upty-oomps while the singer roars all over the staves. Instead, Debussy weaves the singer and piano in a sort of pas-de-deux, letting each musician shine and add color the music while creating a true duo, challenging each musician to play to his or her utmost ability.

Sadly, Dawn Upshaw, who has a great voice, seems to be trying to temper her power and warm tone to accommodate the delicacy of Debussy's miniatures. It seems to be a mismatch which frankly surprised me. I thought if anyone had the flexibility and drama to do the "Forgotten Songs" it would have been Upshaw. But for whatever reason, the recording is slightly unfulfilling. A few songs ("Mandoline", "Balcon") are completely satisfying, but on the whole, this is not a one-hundred percent triumph. Perhaps Upshaw is more suited to a long, endurance work of increasingly soaring tones such as her recording of Gorecki's Third Symphony, where she is unsurpassed. I have not heard her do Strauss, but I'll bet she does it well, as I think her voice is more suited to that composer than here with Debussy.

I had no real problems with Levine's piano work, but sometimes it seems bit flat in dynamics. Levine is, however, well suited here to adapt his playing to fit a singer, since his "day job" is conducting opera.

Still, not that many singers have chosen to record these pretty litte songs, so I do play this CD often and with enjoyment.

Dawn Upshaw is one of the most intelligent and creative and adventuresome singers on the concert stage today. Just reviewing the list of her recordings available and it is obvious that she has paid attention to both contemporary and established composers in a way that is truly refreshing.

Here the program is devoted to the works of Claude Debussy, a composer for whom Upshaw has a particular penchant. Her voice is crystal clear, perfectly focused and yet not afraid to animate when the lyrics demand. She covers three cycles here: 'Ariettes oubliees' (for this listener the most successful on the album), 'Racueil Vasnier', and 'Cinq Poemes de Charles Baudelaire' (contrast these with the recently released Susan Graham version and see what interpretation is all about!).

The collaboration between Upshaw and James Levine is sensitive (if not always the pianism of others..). But the entire recital is uplifting and satisfying for the variation in the songs, recorded sound, the generosity of the disc, and most of all for the musical intelligence in which these songs are performed! Grady Harp, April 05

Full marks to Dawn Upshaw for reviving these forgotten songs. It is this beautiful recording, featuring Upshaw in her prime, which inspired me to reopen my long-forgotten scores of the Debussy mélodies, which I'd studied decades ago and only ever heard performed on disc by a past generation of singers such as Suzanne Danco and Maggie Teyte, whose recordings can now sound somewhat one-dimensional and appear stylistically dated. This recording, in a warm and spacious acoustic, not only gives the songs new colour but makes them seem much more contemporary. The digital sound does full justice to the lovely harmonic treatments of the piano parts, excellently played here.

There are now several recordings by contemporary French vocalists, but they tend to be rather characterless and mundane, as if French song is all in a day's work for them (which it probably is!). The notes and diction may be more perfectly rendered by the French interpreters, but for me, their versions are nowhere near as expressive as Upshaw's. In this recording, the warmth of her personality and, more importantly, her love of this music, shine through and bring out the sheer beauty of these songs.

This Dawn Upshaw album, despite some stiff competition, remains my favorite performance of Claude Debussy songs and is one of the very best classical song albums I have in my collection. Upshaw has a beautiful voice, sings very musically and technically is outstanding here (the sliding mentioned in other reviews here is less prominent than one would think from reading them). One of the hallmarks of really good singers I think is the ability to hit high notes very softly. Upshaw does so consistently across the 24 songs recorded here. In fact, she spends much of the program very high in her range. So this is a difficult group of songs technically, yet Upshaw excels.

One of the interesting discoveries over time for me has been how Debussy began as primarily a vocal composer and migrated over to being an instrumental composer as he matured. The "title track" here, the "Forgotten Songs" (Ariettes oubliettes), dates from 1887, when Debussy was just 25 (!), and I think represents his first great composition. Later in the decade, Debussy was to complete the extremely sophisticated "Cinq Poemes de Baudelaire" as well as the orchestral/vocal setting of the pre-Raphaelite "Blessed Damosel," moving on to the almost unknown but stunning Trois melodies from Verlaine (1891) and then the essential non-orchestrated composition of his only opera, the marvelous "Pelleas and Melisande." Then the vocal music drifts off as Debussy becomes increasingly interested in piano and orchestral composition.

Upshaw has programmed music from the very beginning of Debussy's development, with the Baudelaire songs concluding the release finished when the composer was all of 27. The album is programmed thematically around a long and adulterous romance Debussy had with Marie Vanier, an older married woman and accomplished amateur soprano. The CD begins with 12 earlier songs. While a few are remarkable (for example, La Romance d'Ariel (track 11)), it interested me that one of the ways Debussy matured as an artist was to make his music much more distinctive and memorable, which is obviously not a technical characteristic. The 12 early Vanier songs are pleasant but flow by you in somewhat unmemorable fashion. The Ariettes oubliettes and Baudelaire songs, in contrast, are incisive, each one different from the other, and each one memorable.

James Levine provides expert if unobtrusive accompaniment. The recording is from 1995 and I am happy to report that Sony has emerged from the technical recording problems afflicting many of their early 1990s release - a long way of saying that the engineering is pretty good. Other recordings that are worth investigating include an overlapping album by the French alto Nathalie Stutzman, a nice recording from the mid-1980s by Barbara Hendricks and a version of the Ariettes oubliettes by the French soprano Veronique Gens. Each of these alternatives range from the outstanding to the very good, but Upshaw holds her own. I think this is a great recording.

This recording of Debussy's Melodies are really excellent. Dawn Upshaw's voice is exactly right for this kind of music - light, charming, and lyrical, with real sensitivity to the text. The Ariettes Oubliees are the best I've heard, with the exception of Frederica von Stade. In addition, her interpretation of Mandoline from the Vasnier Songbook is perfect - the tempo, piano, voice, and interpretation are exactly right. My only criticism is that the diction, while perfectly clear, has an "American" accent that is sometimes distracting.

So many of these songs are taken from french love poems, and they are very very dreamy. Many feature the moon and the sea. Dawn Upshaw's voice is clear and slides over the big intervals with remarkable ease and then dwells expressively both up high and down low. Very enjoyable.

Dawn Upshaw possesses a voice with beautiful bell canto tonal quality and uses the glissando technique, only when effective, rendering this collection of uncommon art songs superbly sung. The entire album is a joy to listen to...

I am in love with this CD. My favorite piece is the 3rd track entitled "Mandoline ("Les donneurs de sérénades"), song for voice & piano, L. 29". It's fun and playful. Ms. Upshaw's voice soars throughout this album and brightens my day whenever I hear it. Get it!

A lovely collection of Debussy Art Songs, many rare ones on the recording. Enchantingly sung by Ms. Upshaw with the incomparable James Levine on the piano.