Poulenc: Priez pour paix

“These singers have come up with some of the most absorbing recorded experiences of a composer who, for all his unmistakable voice, had an extraordinarily broad range of expression and poetic choices...Jonathan Lemalu has two cameos, embodying solemnity and wry fun...Martineau is the binding presence as he responds to both songs and singers with a transparent understanding of character.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2011 ****

“[Lott's] artistry and feeling for the French language remain as impressive as ever...Best of all perhaps are the two miniature cycles: first Tel jour, telle nuit, nine songs to words by Paul Eluard, beautifully sung by Felicity Lott. The other cycle, Le travail du peintre, fascinatingly gives us Poulenc's reaction to seven painters...Signum again provides excellent notes by Roger Nicholls and full texts and translations.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2011

“[Toreador] is finely sung here by Christopher Maltman and Martineau captures the colours and mischief of the piano part very nicely...[Deux Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire] are taken by Robert Murray and the rapid-fire setting of the first song reveals a singer who is able to get around this tricky piece very efficiently...The recordings all have a fine natural balance between voice and piano” International Record Review, September 2011

“The first time Michel Piquemal met Pierre Bernac, for whom most of these songs were written, Piquemal recalls that Bernac said: 'I am very moved, because what you're doing is exactly what Francis Poulenc was hoping for. He would have been happy.' Afterwards Piquemal studied both with Bernac and Denise Duval, the two singers who were closest to the composer, so this recital is part of a real, authentic tradition. The greatest challenge for a singer comes in the bestknown songs, for instance Montparnasse and 'C'.
Piquemal doesn't disappoint. He hasn't got the luxurious voice for the lyrical climax of the first, at the words 'Vous êtes en réalité un poète lyrique d'Allemagne / Qui voulez connaître Paris,' but he delivers all the complicated Apollinaire verse in this and the cycle Banalités with a complete understanding of the necessary balance between stressing the irony and maintaining the strict forward-moving musical line.
The one group that wasn't composed for a light baritone is Chansons villageoises, which, although sung and recorded by Bernac, was intended for a Verdi baritone; 'Un tour de chant symphonique' Poulenc called it. Like Bernac, Piquemal doesn't have the opulent vocal quality here that Poulenc was looking for, but instead he has an actor's way with the words that brings personality and humour to a text such as the opening 'Chanson du clair tamis' – très gai et très vite in Poulenc's marking.
All the brilliance of Maurice Fombeure's poetry gains clarity from Piquemal's diction and sense of fun, while the ensuing sadness of 'C'est le joli printemps' and the macabre parable of 'Le mendiant' are sharply contrasted.
If you want to sample this disc, try Bleuet, and the 'sensitive lyricism' that Bernac wrote of. It's one of8 the saddest songs Poulenc composed, with its image of the young soldier, the blue referring to the uniform of the conscript who has seen such terrible things while he's still almost a child. It has to be sung 'intimately', wrote Poulenc; Bernac, however, thought that it should also be 'virile and serious'. The penultimate line in which the boy faces the reality – he knows death better than life – is sung by Piquemal with a natural feel for the simplicity of the poem, never overdoing the emphasis, and never becoming arch.
At Naxos's low price this is a first-rate introduction to Poulenc's songs, but more than that it's an example of the best kind of French singing.
Christine Lajarrige is a sensitive accompanist, for Poulenc always acknowledged that his songs are duets, for voice and piano.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Michel Piquemal's Poulenc recital on Naxos is a real bargain, and a superb introduction to the composer's melodies. Piquemal gained the confidence of Pierre Bernac early in his career, and Bernac told him that his way with Poulenc's music would have made him happy.” Gramophone Magazine

“Interpretation of Poulenc's songs never stands still. But this recording reminds us of the impetus these artists gave to this repertoire, both in sound and imagination.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2011 *****

“This record will enchant you. Best of the Month” Hi-Fi News

“Souzay should...rank as one of the most elegant and sensitive song interpreters on record, as this collection of music by Fauré, Ravel, Poulenc and Duparc (among others) demonstrates. Poulenc’s Priez pour paix and Hahn’s L’Heure exquise show him at his exquisite best.” Sunday Telegraph, 4th July 2010 *****