Fauré - Mélodies / Souzay · Ameling · Baldwin

Gabriel Fauré (Artist), Gérard Souzay (Artist), Elly Ameling (Artist), Dalton Baldwin (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 23, 1992)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 4
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000002S30
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,438 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Limpid, refined, elegant music., April 4, 2001

By	John Austin "[e-mail]" (Kangaroo Ground, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This famous set provides on 4 CDs the complete songs (mélodies, he preferred to call them) by Faure. They are entrusted to the native French baritone, the Dutch soprano, and their accompanist Dalton Baldwin, and were recorded in the early 1970s. The set is not inexpensive, so I shall try to outline its merits. The music itself is enthralling. Faure set, over a period of sixty years, texts by French poets. Limpid, refined, elegant music, it repays repetition and close listening. One reviewer has suggested that no listener will want to listen to umpteen of these mélodies in one sitting, but I have never had too much of them. If slow tempi and arpeggio accompaniments begin to pall, listen to "Nell" (CD 2, Track 4). The performers satisfy on all counts. Souzay's contribution reflect a life time's association with the music, and a tradition that goes back through his teachers to the time of Faure himself. His definitive version of "La bonne Chanson" is especially fine. If his style is more suited to the impassioned, ardent items, it balances well with the cooler, more detached singing of Elly Ameling. So that you will not be disappointed, I should also mention that translations of the texts are not provided. I also wish that the balance had been better engineered. Sometimes Souzay seems to have the microphone in his mouth, and always the piano seems too distant. These are but minor flaws, however, in a long necklace of priceless pearls.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elly Ameling steals the show, February 4, 1999

By A Customer

This is a collection I keep close to my CD player. Because it is comprehensive, you can listen to Faure develop his songcraft into stranger and richer and more wonderful harmonic territory. First his songs are simple and charming, but they become increasingly demanding and spare -- and yet, because his counterpoint is always clear, they never become impossible to follow, just... surprising. To convey musical development like this convincingly, a collection needs versatile singers and a walking encyclopedia of piano technique. Incredibly, this is what this collection almost always brings forward -- "almost" because while Souzay does the early, brooding, romantic stuff well, he is far less convincing in the later work, which seems to require a certain detachment. Elly Ameling is exquisite across the board in this respect, and it is her contributions to this project that make it worth every last penny. Her control, pitch, range, and emotional sensitivity are so beautiful you can hardly bear it. On each of these four, full discs, you're likely to find a half a dozen favorites on each. Take a long walk in the garden of this unfortunately neglected master.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Rate French, March 2, 2000

By A Customer

This is a wonderful collection. I teach a class in French diction for singers and am very familliar with the songs of Faure. These performances are executed flawlessly in every aspect. It is often difficult in this country to find recordings of French repertoire where the musical indications of the composer and the nuances of the language are respected. Also, the fact that this is a complete recording means that you are able to hear many songs which have possibly never been available in the U.S. on any other recording.