{"id":15575,"date":"2013-10-29T12:56:31","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T17:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=15575"},"modified":"2013-10-29T12:57:23","modified_gmt":"2013-10-29T17:57:23","slug":"album-review-full-set-of-francis-poulenc-songs-is-all-thats-best-and-worst-about-classical-music-in-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2013\/10\/29\/album-review-full-set-of-francis-poulenc-songs-is-all-thats-best-and-worst-about-classical-music-in-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Album review: Full set of Francis Poulenc songs is all that’s best and worst about classical music in 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Francis<\/a>
Francis Poulenc, as seen by Jean Cocteau.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A remarkable Franco-Qu\u00e9becois effort landed in my lap recently: A five-CD box containing the full, official collection of m\u00e9lodies (art songs) by Francis Poulenc, in honour of this year’s 50th anniversary of his death.<\/p>\n

\"integrale\"<\/a>The box set, released by Montreal’s ATMA Classique, is a massive undertaking, featuring six singers, one hardworking pianist (the golden Olivier Godin) and multiple recording sessions at the Domaine Forget.<\/p>\n

It also represents the very best and very worst of the classical music world, innocuously packaged into a not-very-attractive two-colour package.<\/p>\n

The best first: How wonderful that such a comprehensive tribute to a French composer has come out of Quebec, featuring largely Canadian talent.<\/p>\n

Of the six singers — sopranos Pascale Beaudin, H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Guilmette and Julie Fuchs, mezzo Julie Boulianne and baritones Marc Boucher and Fran\u00e7ois Le Roux — only Fuchs and Le Roux are from France.<\/p>\n

The five CDs have been intelligently programmed, both in terms of ordering and how the voices have been apportioned according to each singer’s natural vocal timbre and singing style.<\/p>\n

The box set also represents a convenient, one-stop reference for singers, collaborative pianists, teachers and librarians.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, why this need to be completist about Poulenc?<\/p>\n

The French composer, born in 1899, started writing in his teens. There are 170 of his m\u00e9lodies<\/em> on these five CDs. Poulenc was an excellent pianist, creating works where melody and accompaniment are inextricably bound in attitude as well as in performance. But not all of these songs — most setting poems by Poulenc’s many poetical friends — are masterworks.<\/p>\n

The people involved in this project treat every single work as a masterpiece. They are beautifully sung and pianist Godin deserves a medal of some sort for his magnificent work here.<\/p>\n

In an equalized set like this, okay songs sit alongside the so-so and the fabulous. Is that fair to Poulenc himself?<\/p>\n

The young Francis was always showing off, and being cleverly ironic in ways a hipster of 2013 might relate to very nicely. A couple of his early m\u00e9lodies<\/em> go a long way. His later work is much more subtle, emotionally honest and harmonically seductive.<\/p>\n

I realise that, in the best of all possible worlds, the patient listener will sort through all 170 songs to curate a playlist of his or her favourites, then return a year or two later to add and delete according to a new whim.<\/p>\n

But in the real world, I fear that these catch-all boxes gather more dust than playing time, becoming the bookshelf prizes of collectors and specialists rather than living, well-loved members of the household\/workplace\/commuting soundtrack.<\/p>\n

And, for people naturally inclined to fear art music, a set like this is yet more proof of a world that sometimes exists more to glorify itself than to attract fresh ears and eyes.<\/p>\n

I also object to the complete set because of personal taste. I may like one singer but not another, yet still feel forced to choose the whole.<\/p>\n

In my case, Le Roux is a source of aggravation.<\/p>\n

Here is a venerable artist who has done so much to deepen our appreciation of Poulenc’s music, He is also someone who should no longer be singing outside of his teaching studio and\/or shower. The difficult, sublime and rarely performed song cycle La Fra\u00eecheur et le feu<\/em> (the Chill and the Fire) is Le Roux’s, for example, rendered with undeniable artistry but a less-than-perfect voice.<\/p>\n

I wouldn’t want to listen to it again, but it should<\/em> be listened to again and again.<\/p>\n

In short, Francis Poulenc: Int\u00e9grale des m\u00e9lodies pour voix et piano<\/em> has made me grit my teeth as much as it has made me smile. The result? A splitting headache.<\/p>\n

For more information, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is a promotional video released by ATMA:<\/p>\n