Search - Joseph Canteloube, Maurice Ravel, Anonymous :: Madeline Grey sings Canteloube & Ravel

The gold standard

gewe | 03/01/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD has the merit of containing all Madeleine Grey's published recordings. Apart from what is here included there are reportedly only a couple of unissued recordings on Gramophone and what may exist in radio archives. The booklet notes for this offering quite rightly describe Madeleine Grey (1896-1979) as a singer having "a crystal-clear voice [and] incomparably flexible diction" who "became the dream performer for a score of composers" between the two world wars. Included here is her famed performance of selections from Songs of the Auvergne recorded in 1930 or perhaps earlier. The sound of the orchestral accompaniment leaves something to be desired, especially in the selections from the first series, but Madeleine Grey's voice is strong throughout. Frankly, I do not believe the sound could be much improved whatever remastering technology is used - what is there is there and what isn't there simply isn't. The remaining performances on this disc were recorded later in that decade, and the recordings are definitely an improvement sonically. Madeleine Grey is here superb in songs by Ravel and in what might be called ethnomusicological contributions. The surfaces on the disc are generally free of noise except for the very end of Track 18. The Canteloube and Ravel were issued earlier on the Pearl label, any copy now available being rare, used, and expensive. Final thought: This performance of Songs of the Auvergne is the standard by which all others are judged. You might wish to have this recording if only as an historic document while obtaining for yourself a more modern recording as well - and here I might recommend de los Angeles, Te Kanawa and/or von Stade."