Chants d'Auvergne, Vol. 2

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Chants d'Auvergne, Vol. 2
Frederica von stade chants d'auvergne vol 2.jpg
CBS Masterworks CD: MK 37837
Studio album by
Released1986
Studio Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre Classical vocal
Length60:34
LanguageFrench and Occitan
Label CBS Masterworks
Producer David Mottley

Frederica von Stade: Chants d'Auvergne, Vol. 2 & Triptyque is a 60-minute studio album containing thirteen of the thirty traditional Auvergnat songs collected and arranged by Joseph Canteloube, together with a song cycle of his own composition, performed by von Stade and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Antonio de Almeida. It was released in 1986. [1] The same artists recorded Canteloube's seventeen other Auvergnat songs for the album's predecessor, Frederica von Stade: Chants d'Auvergne, Vol. 1 , released in 1982. [1]

Contents

Recording

The album was recorded digitally on 21–24 July 1985 in Studio No. 1 at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, London. [1] The engineers used Neumann microphones and a Sony PCM 1610 system. [1] The album was mastered at the CBS Recording Studios in New York City with CBS's DisComputer system. [1]

Packaging

The cover of the album was designed by Alan Davis, and features a photograph of von Stade taken by John Gotman. [1]

Critical reception

Reviews

Joseph Canteloube Joseph Canteloube.jpg
Joseph Canteloube

Robert Ackart reviewed the album on LP in Stereo Review in June 1986. Canteloube's orchestrations of his Chants d'Auvergne were, he thought, open to criticism. The composer's arrangements hinted at the sound-world of ancient instruments, but some of them were so elaborate that they seemed alien to the folk-tunes that they enveloped. There was no denying, though, that they were gorgeous, and there was much to enjoy in their rhythmic complexity. The way in which Frederica von Stade performed them on her new disc could be praised without reservation. She was especially good at expressing the sadness of the less sunny songs. "Her limpid, golden voice, admirably handled, draws from each selection its full share of musical beauty and poetic meaning." And she sang the Canteloube cycle at the beginning of her album - a setting of verses celebrating summer, moonlight and dawn - with "an utterly seductive tonal and stylistic voluptuousness". Conducting, Antonio de Almeida was sensitive, and seemed more deeply engaged with his music than he did on some of his other LPs. In sum, the album was an "excellent" recording of a "glorious" performance that was "a joy to listen to". [2]

Hilary Finch reviewed the album on LP in Gramophone in July 1986. Frederica von Stade, she thought, was one of the few singers who sounded at home in Canteloube's arrangements of the folk-songs of the part of France from which he came. Her first selection of the Chants d'Auvergne had demonstrated "the singer, like the song, to be a perfect fusion of childlike storyteller and sophisticated vocal orchestrator", and her new album did likewise. One song was very reminiscent of the earlier album's "Baïlèro". "Pastourelle" was another example of "hilltop to hilltop vocalise". "Lou boussu" painted a picture of a hunchback with a "nice balance of melancholy and wry humour" that was reminiscent of Erik Satie. "Obal, din lo coumbèlo" was a wistful miniature fable about a hare, a shepherd and the three daughters of a Prince. "Jou l'pount d'o Mirabel" - "At the Mirabel bridge" - exemplified the subtlety both of Canteloube's craftsmanship and of von Stade's response to it: she used her voice like an artist touching in "fleeting brushstrokes of suggestion as [a] washer-girl and [a] horseman are brought into view ... behind a heat haze of rising and falling piano chromatics". What most made the album worthy of a place on collectors' shelves was not, however, its Auvergnat songs at all but rather a work of Canteloube's own invention. Von Stade was the first singer to have recorded Triptyque for more than twenty years. The 1914 song cycle put one in mind of both Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Ernest Chausson. "The pantheistic ecstasy of Roger Frêne's poetry is realized in steamy, late-romantic settings, with the voice joining in the nocturnal orchestration of the central moonlit panel, and ending in long, clear arcs of hymning melody to Pan". The album left one feeling regretful that much of Canteloube's music still lay unheard in libraries' dustiest recesses. [3]

The Chateau de Chalencon in the Auvergne's St Andre de Chalencon Saint-Andre-de-Chalencon - Chateau de Chalencon -3.jpg
The Château de Chalencon in the Auvergne's St André de Chalencon

In the October 1997 issue of Gramophone, Richard T. Fairman used a compilation CD of most of Frederica von Stade's Auvergnat songs as a reference disc when reviewing a new CD of the Chants d'Auvergne performed by Dawn Upshaw, the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Lyon and Kent Nagano. [4] The von Stade anthology was one that he had long been fond of. It presented her performances of the most familiar of Canteloube's songs in renditions that were free of eccentricity. "Von Stade varies her tone according to the sense of each song," he wrote, "but the overall mood is less sharp, more comfortable if you like, than with Upshaw." Moreover, von Stade's Royal Philharmonic provided a more sumptuous backdrop than Upshaw's Lyon orchestra. Collectors tempted by Upshaw's album would "probably find that the consoling romanticism of [von Stade's] tried-and-trusted disc [was] more what they had in mind." [5]

Writing in Opera News in December 2016, David Shengold mentioned the album in the course of reviewing a box set of Frederica von Stade's recordings in which it was included: "[Von Stade's] two luminous discs of orchestrated Canteloube songs ... would be on anyone's list of essential traversals." [6]

Frederica von Stade's approach to the Chants d'Auvergne was also critiqued in the 1988 edition of The new Penguin guide to compact discs and cassettes, which judged that "Fine as Frederica von Stade's singing is, she is stylistically and temperamentally far less at home in Canteloube's lovely folksong settings than Victoria de los Angeles, [7] Kiri Te Kanawa [8] or Jill Gomez [9] ". [10]

Accolade

The album was nominated for a Grammy award for the best classical vocal solo performance of 1986. [11]

CD track listing

Joseph Canteloube (1879-1957), composer

Triptyque (1914, texts by Roger Frêne)

Joseph Canteloube , collector and arranger

Chants d'Auvergne (1923-1930)

Personnel

Musical

Other

Release history

On 3 February 1986, the album was released on LP (catalogue number IM 37837), with notes by Barrymore Laurence Scherer and an insert with texts and translations. [1] [3] The album was also released on cassette (catalogue number IMT 37837). [3]

Also in 1986, the album was issued on CD (catalogue number MK 37837), with a 32-page booklet including Scherer's notes and texts and translations. [12] In 1997, Sony issued a compilation CD (catalogue number SBK 63063) that included a selection of songs from the album and its prequel. [13] In 2014, Newton Classics issued the album coupled with its prequel in their 2-CD collection Chants d'Auvergne. [14] In 2016, Sony reissued the album on CD (in a miniature replica of the sleeve of the original LP) with a 52-page booklet in their 18-CD collection Frederica von Stade: The Complete Columbia Recital Albums (catalogue number 88875183412). [1]

Related Research Articles

Joseph Canteloube French composer, musicologist, and author

Marie-Joseph Canteloube de Malaret was a French composer, musicologist, and author best known for his collections of orchestrated folksongs from the Auvergne region, Chants d'Auvergne.

The Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo has been awarded since 1959. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:

Frederica von Stade American mezzo-soprano

Frederica "Flicka" von Stade Gorman OAL is a semi-retired American opera singer. Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970, she has performed in operas, musicals, concerts and recitals in venues throughout the world, including La Scala, the Paris Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburger Festspielhaus, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne and Carnegie Hall. Conductors with whom she has worked include Abbado, Bernstein, Boulez, Giulini, Karajan, Levine, Muti, Ozawa, Sinopoli, Solti and Tilson Thomas. She has also been a prolific and eclectic recording artist, attracting nine Grammy nominations for best classical vocalist, and she has made many appearances on television.

Chants d'Auvergne is a collection of folk songs from the Auvergne region of France arranged for soprano voice and orchestra or piano by Joseph Canteloube between 1923 and 1930. The songs are in the local language, Occitan. The best known of the songs is the "Baïlèro", which has been frequently recorded and performed in slight variations of Canteloube's arrangement, such as for choir or instrumental instead of the original soprano solo.

Antonio de Almeida was a French conductor and musicologist of Portuguese-American descent.

<i>Song Recital</i> 1978 studio album by Frederica von Stade

Song Recital is a 54-minute studio album of Lieder, mélodies and English and American songs performed by Frederica von Stade with piano accompaniment by Martin Katz. It was released in 1978.

<i>Shéhérazade</i> (Frederica von Stade recording) 1981 studio album by Frederica von Stade

Shéhérazade is a 40-minute studio album of art songs by Maurice Ravel performed by Frederica von Stade. In the Chansons madécasses, she is accompanied by the flautist Doriot Anthony Dwyer, the cellist Jules Eskin and the pianist Martin Katz. In two of the Cinq mélodies populaires grecques, the Deux mélodies hébraïques and Shéhérazade itself, she is accompanied by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Seiji Ozawa. The album was released in 1981.

<i>Live!</i> (Frederica von Stade album) 1982 live album by Frederica von Stade

Frederica von Stade Live! is a 46-minute live album of arias, art songs and folk songs from America, France, Ireland and Italy, performed by von Stade with piano accompaniment by Martin Katz. It was released in 1982.

<i>Nuits dété & La damoiselle élue</i> 1984 studio album by Frederica von Stade

Nuits d'été & La damoiselle élue is a 51-minute studio album of songs by Hector Berlioz and a cantata by Claude Debussy performed by Frederica von Stade, Susanne Mentzer, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Seiji Ozawa. It was released in 1984.

<i>Chants dAuvergne, Vol. 1</i> 1982 studio album by Frederica von Stade

Frederica von Stade: Chants d'Auvergne, Vol. 1 is a 51-minute studio album presenting seventeen of the thirty traditional Auvergnat songs collected and arranged by Joseph Canteloube, performed by von Stade and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Antonio de Almeida. It was released in 1982. The same artists recorded the rest of Canteloube's Auvergne songs and three mélodies of his own composition for a sequel album, Frederica von Stade: Chants d'Auvergne, Vol. 2, released in 1986.

<i>Voyage à Paris</i> 1995 studio album by Frederica von Stade

Voyage à Paris is a 70-minute studio album of French art songs performed by Frederica von Stade with piano accompaniment by Martin Katz.. It was released in 1995.

<i>La damnation de Faust</i> (Georg Solti recording) 1982 studio album by Georg Solti

La damnation de Faust is a 126-minute studio album of Hector Berlioz's légende dramatique, performed by José van Dam, Malcolm King, Kenneth Riegel, Frederica von Stade and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Georg Solti. It was released in 1982.

<i>Offenbach Arias and Overtures</i> 1995 studio album by Frederica von Stade

Offenbach Arias and Overtures is a 65-minute studio album of excerpts from operettas by Jacques Offenbach performed by the American mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Antonio de Almeida. It was released in 1995.

<i>Judith Blegen & Frederica von Stade: Songs, Arias & Duets</i> 1975 studio album by Judith Blegen and Frederica von Stade

Judith Blegen & Frederica von Stade: Songs, Arias & Duets is a 42-minute studio album of art songs, art duets and operatic arias performed by Blegen and von Stade with members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. It was released in 1975.

<i>Frederica von Stade chante Monteverdi & Cavalli</i> (recording) 1985 studio album by Frederica von Stade

Frederica von Stade chante Monteverdi & Cavalli is a 48-minute studio album of arias by Francesco Cavalli and songs and arias by Claudio Monteverdi, performed by von Stade with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Raymond Leppard. It was released in 1985. A second, 54-minute version of the album, released in 1995 as Recital: Frederica von Stade: Cavalli, Monteverdi & Mozart Arias, added two bonus arias taken from Erato's 1978 recording of Mozart's Così fan tutte, on which von Stade sang Dorabella with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg under Alain Lombard.

<i>A Midsummer Nights Dream</i> (Eugene Ormandy recording) 1977 studio album by Eugene Ormandy

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a 51-minute studio album containing the overture and most of the incidental music that Felix Mendelssohn wrote to accompany William Shakespeare's play of the same name. It is performed by Judith Blegen, Frederica von Stade, the Women's Voices of the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Eugene Ormandy. It was released in 1977.

<i>Mahler Symphony No. 4</i> (Yoel Levi recording) 1999 studio album by Yoel Levi

Mahler Symphony No. 4 is a 73-minute studio album on which Mahler's Fourth and his song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen are performed by Frederica von Stade and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Yoel Levi. The recording was released in 1999.

<i>The Three-Cornered Hat</i> (André Previn recording) 1983 studio album by André Previn

The Three-Cornered Hat is a 42-minute classical studio album in which the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under André Previn perform the whole of Manuel de Falla's ballet The Three-Cornered Hat and, as a filler, the Ritual Fire Dance from his ballet Love the Magician. The longer work's two brief vocal passages are sung by the American mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade. The album was released in 1983.

<i>Cendrillon</i> (Julius Rudel recording) 1979 studio album by Julius Rudel

Cendrillon is a 136-minute studio album of Jules Massenet's opera, performed by a cast led by Elizabeth Bainbridge, Jules Bastin, Jane Berbié, Teresa Cahill, Nicolai Gedda, Frederica von Stade and Ruth Welting with the Ambrosian Opera Chorus and the Philharmonia Orchestra under the direction of Julius Rudel. It was released in 1979.

<i>Mignon</i> (Antonio de Almeida recording) 1978 studio album by Antonio de Almeida

Mignon is a 194-minute studio album of Ambroise Thomas's opera, performed by André Battedou, Marilyn Horne, Paul Hudson, Claude Méloni, Frederica von Stade, Alain Vanzo, Ruth Welting and Nicola Zaccaria with the Ambrosian Opera Chorus and the Philharmonia Orchestra under the direction of Antonio de Almeida. It was released in 1978.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Frederica von Stade: The Complete Columbia Recital Albums, Sony CD, 88875183412, 2016
  2. Ackhart, Robert: Stereo Review, June 1986, p. 124
  3. 1 2 3 Finch, Hilary: Gramophone, July 1986, p. 200
  4. Canteloube, Joseph: Chants d'Auvergne (complete), with Dawn Upshaw, cond. Kent Nagano, Erato CD
  5. Fairman, Richard T.: Gramophone, October 1997, p. 123
  6. https://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2016/12/Recordings/Frederica_von_Stade__The_Complete_Columbia_Recital_Albums.html
  7. Canteloube, Joseph: Chants d'Auvergne (excerpts), with Victoria de los Angeles, EMI Records CD
  8. Canteloube, Joseph: Chants d'Auvergne (complete), with Kiri Te Kanawa, cond. Jeffrey Tate, Decca and London CD
  9. Canteloube, Joseph: Chants d'Auvergne (excerpts), with Jill Gomez, cond. Vernon Handley, EMI Records CD
  10. Greenfield, Edward, Layton, Robert and March, Ivan: The new Penguin guide to compact discs and cassettes, Penguin 1988, p. 276
  11. "Frederica von Stade". 15 December 2020.
  12. Frederica von Stade: Chants d'Auvergne, Vol. 2 & Triptyque, cond. Antonio de Almeida, Sony CD, MK 37837, 1986
  13. Frederica von Stade: Chants d'Auvergne (excerpts), cond. Antonio de Almeida, Sony Essential Classics CD, SBK 63063, 1997.
  14. Chants d'Auvergne (complete), with Frederica von Stade, cond. Antonio de Almeida, Newton Classics CD, ASIN B00HZ9IDDA, 2014