CHAUSSON: The Complete Songs.(Review)

CHAUSSON: The Complete Songs

[] Lott, McGreevy Murray; Trakas; Chilingirian Quartet, Johnson, piano. Texts and translations. Hyperion CDA67321/2 (2)

Poor Ernest Chausson, stuck in line behind Debussy, Duparc, Faure and Ravel in melodies fame. But lucky us, because editor, musicologist, impresario and pianist Graham Johnson gives us a jewel-box of essays, poems, time-lines, artwork and Chausson's complete songs. And the performances are as magical and eloquent as the program book. In fact, by the third track we are convinced that this proper, wealthy, happily-married and slightly diffident composer should jump to the head of the list.

Felicity Lott fans should feel no urgency to add this CD to their collections, as she sings very little: only the famous "Le temps des lilas" and the strange, experimental and not immediately endearing cycle Serres Chaudes (Hothouses). The soprano seems to be holding back emotionally and is disappointingly pagebound. The bulk of the vocal work falls to Irish mezzo Ann Murray and American baritone Chris Pedro Trakas. To be sure, Trakas is stuck with many of the unpublished and therefore unfamiliar songs, as well as most of the somber, introspective pieces, but he sounds uncomfortable and overly correct. He sets the right tone of wistfulness in "Amour d'Antan," and the exquisite "Apaisement" is beautifully sung, but in the more outgoing numbers demanding volume and arc, such as "Lame des bois," he sounds tight and tentative.

On the other hand, Murray is ...