Joseph Canteloube - Songs of the Auvergne (Netania Davrath)

Information

Composer: Joseph Canteloube

CD1:

• (01) Chants d'Auvergne, Series 1
• (04) Chants d'Auvergne, Series 2
• (09) Chants d'Auvergne, Series 3
• (14) Chants d'Auvergne, Series 4

CD2:

• (01) Chants d'Auvergne, Series 5
• (09) New Songs of the Auvergne

Netania Davrath, soprano
Orchestra conducted by Pierre de la Roche

Date: 1963
Label: Vanguard Classics

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Review

It is interesting to turn up the original Gramophone reviews of these recordings. At first it seemed there had been some mistake and that they were to be found in other issues. Then I discovered them, consigned to a section, no longer with us, headed ''Continental''. There they shared the reviewer's attention with records of flamenco and bouzouki, Gilbert Becaud and Les compagnons de la chanson. The reviewer found the first LP (1963) ''a little too specialised'' though it would no doubt ''be appreciated by connoisseurs of folk-lore, and those who appreciate good music''. By 1965 this view had been refined and it was acknowledged that ''this LP is of course not so much of pure folklore but of concert music based on folklore''.

One quite sees the difficulty. The words are all about sheep and cuckoos and hunchbacks and things, the tunes are usually simple and end with a playful scoop (very folkloric) to the top octave, while the orchestral score sounds at best like lush Ravel and at worst like Hollywood. Since those days the songs and their settings have gained a place in or near the Classical Top 20, and recordings are numerous and prestigious. To my mind there is still a lot to be said for this early one, and especially for the voice-character of Netania Davrath. She is straightforward and girlish, credibly of the open-air, yet with a real voice, and although placed very close to the microphone in relation to the accompaniment, she is not piping her woodnotes wild but singing with well-tutored production. And the orchestral sound actually gains by not being as glossy in finish as those in most of the later versions.

The other interest lies in what is called ''New Songs of the Auvergne''. These turn out to be from Languedoc, the Pays Basque and elsewhere, and are in more or less standard French. Canteloube appears to have written piano accompaniments, which are now orchestrated and conducted by Gershon Kingsley, making an attractive collection, quite humorous (though with some rude verses left out), rather more varied in idiom than the 'old' Auvergne series, and giving the singer welcome opportunities for characterization. Occasionally a 'cute' skittish touch momentarily irritates, but there is much to enjoy—by anyone, I should think, except 'connoisseurs of folk-lore' and 'those who appreciate good music' but are rather solemn about it.

-- Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 8
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/July02/Canteloube_Davrath.htm

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Joseph Canteloube (21 October 1879 – 4 November 1957) was a French composer, musicologist, and author. He was a student of Vincent d'Indy and a close friend of Déodat de Séverac (Canteloube wrote biographies for both). Alongside his career as a composer, Canteloube was a musicologist, collecting traditional French folksongs. It took more than thirty years (1924-55) for him to complete his most admired and famous Chants d'Auvergne. These passionate songs reflect the landscapes of his native Auvergne in lush orchestral colors and have enabled French folklore and rustic melodies to become better known.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Canteloube

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Netania Davrath (12 August 1931 – 11 April 1987) was a Soviet-born soprano. She studied in Jerusalem, Israel with Edith Boroschek, and subsequently in Düsseldorf and the Juilliard School in New York with Jennie Tourel, as well as in Italy. Davrath was fluent in eight languages. Her repertoire includes both opera and concert pieces, with a style that influenced by her attraction to folk music. She recorded ten discs under the Vanguard Classics label. Her early recording of Joseph Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne is considered by many to be unsurpassed by all who have subsequently revisited them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netania_Davrath

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