Canteloube Songs of the Auvergne - which is "best"?

[MichaelRabin]

I want to buy a complete set of the above. Gens (Naxos) has now brought out 2 CDs and there is an old Vanguard 2-CD set by Natania Davrath (hope I got the spelling right). de los Angeles on EMI produced just a selection of these songs. What are your comments on Gens & Davrath? Performance and sound is of course a criteria to consider. Or are there any other great versions on CD besides these two?

[Mark]

I want to buy a complete set of the above. Gens (Naxos) has now brought out 2 CDs and there is an old Vanguard 2-CD set by Natania Davrath (hope I got the spelling right). de los Angeles on EMI produced just a selection of these songs. What are your comments on Gens & Davrath? Performance and sound is of course a criteria to consider. Or are there any other great versions on CD besides these two?

All the recordings you list are great (I have and enjoy them all). I also like the selection which Frederica von Stade recorded for Sony. But for sheer girlish charm and wonderful 'local colour', the Davrath set is absolutely the one to have. I got lucky and scored mine for £5 from a charity shop about two weeks after being steered towards it by astute members of this forum.

[Lilas Pastia]

De los Angeles recorded them all, but in two different sessions (spaced a couple of years IIRC). Late ron EMI did one of its juggling reissue acts and mixed in a long selection on a single disc. Lovely, but Netania Davrath trumps all the competition. Very good sound despite its age. Sometimes available on the cheap from BRO (not right now, though). I have to say that most of those songs, although lovely, don't have staying power. Don't diss the selections: they offer the best songs. Anna Moffo - Stokowski is not to be dismissed.

[knight66]

I agree with the advice. I enjoy Gens, but somehow Davrath has the right approach that balances art song and an earthy approach.

Mike

[Mark]

I agree with the advice. I enjoy Gens, but somehow Davrath has the right approach that balances art song and an earthy approach.

Mike

Mike, you were among those who recommended Davrath ... and I thank you for it. 0:)

[knight66]

My pleasure Mark. It is such an old friend. Alan Keith used to play one or two of the songs on his programme 100 Best Tunes, so I was probably about 10 years old when I first heard it. I was delighted when it finally made it onto CD.

Mike

[Peregrine]

Davrath.

You might find a recurring theme amongst replies to your question....

[Tsaraslondon]

Davrath.

You might find a recurring theme amongst replies to your question....

I also liked Davrath. But De Los Angeles has always remained my favourite, perhaps because hers was the first voice I ever heard in these songs, and I now find it hard to listen to them without her voice in my mind's ear.

Streisand recorded a haunting version of the Brezairola on this album.



No really. Some of the other selections don't bear close scrutiny, but the Canteloube is quite lovely.

[SonicMan46]

Thanks, all - just added the Davrath set to my 'buy list'!  Actually, I have only an older 1-disc collection of some of these songs w/ Nagano & Upshaw (saw on Amazon that a 2-CD set w/ them is now available); I like Upshaw, but the other seems unsurpassable! 

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

This is quite an old thread - but a golden one!  I love these songs and worked hard over the years to collect and compare recordings of them and definitely concur with most of the posters here - Davrath remains the one to own.  Kiri te Kanawa's performance gets an honorable mention partly because Prof. Jean Fay (who died several years ago) worked with her closely on pronunciation and the English Chamber Orchestra sounds great under Jeffrey Tate. 

[knight66]

I don't know why I leave it so long between playing them. I am away from home, so will see what Spotify has to offer. The settings can sound soupy in the wrong hands in the right ones there is a tartness to balance the lush.

Mike

[San Antone]

This is the only recording I own and I haven't listened to it in a very long time.  But my memory is that it was very nice.

[asin]B000003ERS[/asin]

[pjme]

I have Davrath, Moffo and von Stade.  All very good. Davrath ,indeed , still stands out .

However, only Gens and von Stade ad the superb Tryptique!  That work makes me curious for all the other works Canteloube wrote .

There is

-a symphonic poem:1910-1912, Vers la princesse lointaine, poème symphonique d'après Edmond Rostand
-1913, Au printemps, poème lyrique pour chant et orchestre, sur un poème de M. Teyte (aussi pour chant et piano)
-1928, Ozeral, Nostalgie, Martina, d'après les « Les noces d'émeraude », pour orchestre
-1929, Lauriers, 3 pièces pour orchestre ( « Aux prairies », « A la mémoire d'un ami », « A la bourrée »)
-1933, Chansons galantes du XVIIIe siècle, pour quatuor vocal mixte et et clavecin.
-1934, Le Mas, suite symphonique
-1937, Jeanne en chantant, pour voix et 8 ondes martenot
-1937, Le visage de la France, pour chœur de femmes, 2 pianos et 4 ondes Martenot
-1918, 1937-1938, Poème, pour violon et orchestre
-1934-1935, Pièces françaises, 4 pièces pour piano et orchestre

Plenty of works for chorus, piano, 3 operas...

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

I have Davrath, Moffo and von Stade.  All very good. Davrath ,indeed , still stands out .

However, only Gens and von Stade ad the superb Tryptique!  That work makes me curious for all the other works Canteloube wrote .

There is

-a symphonic poem:1910-1912, Vers la princesse lointaine, poème symphonique d'après Edmond Rostand
-1913, Au printemps, poème lyrique pour chant et orchestre, sur un poème de M. Teyte (aussi pour chant et piano)
-1928, Ozeral, Nostalgie, Martina, d'après les « Les noces d'émeraude », pour orchestre
-1929, Lauriers, 3 pièces pour orchestre ( « Aux prairies », « A la mémoire d'un ami », « A la bourrée »)
-1933, Chansons galantes du XVIIIe siècle, pour quatuor vocal mixte et et clavecin.
-1934, Le Mas, suite symphonique
-1937, Jeanne en chantant, pour voix et 8 ondes martenot
-1937, Le visage de la France, pour chœur de femmes, 2 pianos et 4 ondes Martenot
-1918, 1937-1938, Poème, pour violon et orchestre
-1934-1935, Pièces françaises, 4 pièces pour piano et orchestre

Plenty of works for chorus, piano, 3 operas...

Ditto for me, pjme!  Automatic buys.  What an orchestrator! 

[springrite]

This is the only recording I own and I haven't listened to it in a very long time.  But my memory is that it was very nice.

[asin]B000003ERS[/asin]

Bought this a while ago and looking forward to receiving and listening to it as I love Moffo's voice!

[Ken B]

Never heard Davrath, but Gill Gomez is good.

[listener]

That work makes me curious for all the other works Canteloube wrote:
-a symphonic poem:1910-1912, Vers la princesse lointaine, poème symphonique d'après Edmond Rostand
-1913, Au printemps, poème lyrique pour chant et orchestre, sur un poème de M. Teyte (aussi pour chant et piano)
-1928, Ozeral, Nostalgie, Martina, d'après les « Les noces d'émeraude », pour orchestre
-1929, Lauriers, 3 pièces pour orchestre ( « Aux prairies », « A la mémoire d'un ami », « A la bourrée »)
-1933, Chansons galantes du XVIIIe siècle, pour quatuor vocal mixte et et clavecin.
-1934, Le Mas, suite symphonique
-1937, Jeanne en chantant, pour voix et 8 ondes martenot
-1937, Le visage de la France, pour chœur de femmes, 2 pianos et 4 ondes Martenot
-1918, 1937-1938, Poème, pour violon et orchestre
-1934-1935, Pièces françaises, 4 pièces pour piano et orchestre

Plenty of works for chorus, piano, 3 operas...

add to the list a wind trio "Rustiques" on Discover DICD 920 181 (o,o,p.)

[Tsaraslondon]

Never heard Davrath, but Gill Gomez is good.

Jill, but yes, she is. I have her set too.

[Mookalafalas]

Weird coincidence. I never heard of this composer or music until today. Excerpts from the Nagano edition are included in the big Erato box, and I am playing it now and then saw this thread.  It starts out very beautiful but then moves into some pieces that sound almost like show-tunes.  They are nice, too, but not what I was expecting.

[Ken B]

Weird coincidence. I never heard of this composer or music until today. Excerpts from the Nagano edition are included in the big Erato box, and I am playing it now and then saw this thread.  It starts out very beautiful but then moves into some pieces that sound almost like show-tunes.  They are nice, too, but not what I was expecting.

Welcome to Canteloube let-down. There is no remedy