Debussy: Complete Mélodies on Ligea

[tomdeacon]

A 4 CD box on Ligea from France deserves mention.

1. The pianist/organizer, Jean-Louis Haguenauer, who knows his way around
Debussy, has assembled the best singers for the task: Liliane Faraon and
Magali Léger, sopranos, Marie-Ange Todorovitch, mezzo, Gilles Ragon, tenor,
and François Le Roux, baritone.

2. He has recorded the cycle using a beautiful period Blüthner from 1905.

3. Complete sung texts and translations are included in a lavish 237 page
booklet (book?) with an article on the music by Denis Herlin, a researcher
at the CNRS in Paris.

4. Many world premieres are included.

5. Sponsored by Indiana's Jacobs School of Music.(Haguenauer teaches piano
at that school, although he is French born and trained.)

6. The price is right. About 38 Euros from www.amazon.fr.

Currently out of stock. But watch for it.

--
TD

[Dana John Hill]

Thanks for the heads up. This will fill an important gap in my collection.

Dana John Hill
Gainesville, Florida

[Dana John Hill]

On 12/18/2014 3:22 PM, tomdeacon wrote:

Sorry to respond twice to the same message, but the cover text appears
to indicate that the performances are on the composer's own piano.
That's a treat.

[MickeyBoy]

Looks like it is available as a more expensive download (57.6 euros):
http://eboutique.harmoniamundi.com/integrale-des-melodies.html

It's available here for 48 euros:
http://musique.fnac.com/a7877187/Claude-Debussy-Integrale-des-melodies-4-CD-CD-album

Here's some information from IU:
http://info.music.indiana.edu/releases/iub/jacobs/2014/12/First-complete-songs-of-Claude-Debussy-recording-features-IU-Jacobs-School-of-Music-professor-Jean-Louis-Haguenauer.shtml

The recordings were done on Debussy's personal restored Bluethner, with unstruck Aliquot strings in the treble. See here on these strings:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliquot_stringing

Tom, have you heard the performances? Anything to share? Opinions about Haguenauer's recordings of the solo piano pieces/

[MiNe109]

On 12/18/14, 3:27 PM, Dana John Hill wrote:
> On 12/18/2014 3:22 PM, tomdeacon wrote:
>> A 4 CD box on Ligea from France deserves mention.
>>
>> 1. The pianist/organizer, Jean-Louis Haguenauer, who knows his way around
>> Debussy, has assembled the best singers for the task: Liliane Faraon and
>> Magali Léger, sopranos, Marie-Ange Todorovitch, mezzo, Gilles Ragon,
>> tenor,
>> and François Le Roux, baritone.
>>
>> 2. He has recorded the cycle using a beautiful period Blüthner from 1905.

<snip>

> Sorry to respond twice to the same message, but the cover text appears
> to indicate that the performances are on the composer's own piano.
> That's a treat.

Yes, it is! Although I hope it wasn't recorded in the piano's present space:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdp9bDUsRk4

Stephen

[Herman]

Here's the inside dope on the piano used:

http://www.litart.co.uk/bluthner.htm

[tomdeacon]

I own his previous Debussy recordings for Ligia and Meridian. He would
appear to have specialized in Debussy.

So far Ihave not got through this set. To be savoured slowly, I think. But
my recollection of the Debussy solo CDs was positive, if a long time ago,
5-7 years.

He said on FB that he was worried about sales. Not sure he should. This set
is a real bargain, particularly for the extensive booklet. Nothing else
comes close for completeness, I think.
--
TD

[MickeyBoy]

Update on availability:

QOBUZ has the set available as a download in 24 bit/88.2 kHz format, with the book also in digital format. Cost: 39.59 GBP, which converts to $61.87 US. See here:

http://goo.gl/vZsFsO

I'd love to have the set in 24/88.2, but the book in print form. Alas, there is some doubt as to whether the FLAC files delivered from many on-line sources are actually high definition as advertised.

If any piano music would benefit from truly high definition recording, it would be Debussy's. People who heard him play said he could pull some wondrous and new sounds out of his piano.

[MickeyBoy]

Another update:

Interview with Haguenauer on ResMusica after his recording of the integrale of Debussy melodies won a Clef d'or for 2014:

http://www.resmusica.com/2014/12/15/jean-louis-haguenauer-de-la-mise-en-perspective-des-melodies-de-debussy/

Haguenauer comments on the sound of the composer's piano - no imprecision or 'flou,' on the contrary the fourth string which is above the three struck strings is tuned to the octave above, adding clarity to the sound and clarifying the texture. It has a very refined sound, a piano like an orchestra with three distinct registers the composer used. Like the pianist, the singer should not whisper or try to attain a blurred, impressionist effect, but should say (dire) the words with a full voice and mastery of the poetry. Haguenauer said elsewhere that he learned much about these melodies from Irene Joachim, the grand-daughter of the famous violinist. Sounds to me that we are presented with an authentically French realisation of Debussy's complete oeuvre for solo voice.

gibertjoseph.com has the 4-CD set priced at 51.48 euros. Although distributed by harmonia mundi and released last February, this set is surprisingly difficult to obtain. The booklet - French & English - is 236 pages long.

[tomdeacon]

I think there has been a rush on it. SUCH a bargain. You would pay more
just for the booklet.

--
TD

[MickeyBoy]

The set is listed on US Amazon at the preorder price of $75.98, release date of 10 Feb. Amazon.fr lists it at 47,90 euros, en stock le 12 janv.

[MickeyBoy]

> The set is listed on US Amazon at the preorder price of $75.98, release date of 10 Feb. Amazon.fr lists it at 47,90 euros, en stock le 12 janv.

I neglected to research shipping costs and whether it is possible to avoid the VAT (la TVA) on shipments from France to the USA. Apparently shipping would be 8.5 euros. Dunno about the TVA - if it is around 20% shipping would wipe out removal of the tax.

Could anyone add anything to this discussion?

[Christopher Webber]

On 09/01/2015 01:19, MickeyBoy wrote:
> Could anyone add anything to this discussion?

My copy is due to arrive today, keenly anticipated. I will report back.

[Christopher Webber]

On 09/01/2015 08:28, Christopher Webber wrote:
> My copy is due to arrive today, keenly anticipated. I will report back.

Just to report back on the box, though I recognise this doesn't help you
on the shipping front (Amazon.fr to UK was much the cheapest option for
me, and I suspect for you too as shipping from France is cheaper than
from other European countries, and probably England too).

It doesn't seem to be strongly marketed, which is a shame. I would grab
it now, while stocks last.

The documentation is superb, with Denis Herlin's long essay (French and
English) particularly worth having. There are performer biographies too.
The world premieres involved are variant versions of songs.

The 4 CDs present the songs (including his last, the angry 1915 wartime
propaganda song for treble voice) chronologically, where that's possible
given the differing composition dates of the various cycles.

The texts are complete, and the English translations are excellent.

I'm now looking forward to sitting down and actually listening to this
beautifully presented set!

[Christopher Webber]

On 09/01/2015 12:11, Christopher Webber wrote:
> I'm now looking forward to sitting down and actually listening to this
> beautifully presented set!

I've finished my 4-CD odyssey. Briefly, the piano sounds great, the
pianist Jean-Louis Haguenauer is excellent, and the recording is
natural, full and balanced. It's like having the 1905 Blüthner in the
room with you, and it does indeed prove the perfect instrument for these
songs.

We get 101 tracks, over 40 more than the previous 'intégrale' (EMI
1980's) and the new additions to the canon include the two, late 'Nuits
blanches' songs which were only rediscovered in 2000 (though they have
been recorded before) as well as differing versions of several examples
of songs which were wholly or partly rewritten. There are not many
'world premiere recordings' here, but there are a few: and the overall
quality of these songs, even the early ones, is of course breathtaking.

You'll guess what the catch is. It's no surprise that the singers can't
match the Ninon Vallin's, Mary Garden's, Pierette Alarie's or Gerard
Souzay's of the past. That would have been too much to ask. But in
different ways, all five have technical defects which makes listening
more uncomfortable than it should be. The tenor and baritone (Gilles
Ragon and Francois Le Roux) are of course vastly experienced artists,
elder statesmen of French singing. They make up in interpretative depth
much - or in Le Roux's case, pretty much all - of what they've lost in
suppleness, power and steadiness.

The mezzo (Marie-Ange Todorovitch) is also a commanding singer whose
voice has become plummy and cumbersome at the top: and rather curiously
she's given the three delicate 'Bilitis' songs, which suit her less well
than many of the later songs might have done. The sopranos - Liliana
Faraon marginally more lightweight, and mainly therefore consigned to
the very early songs, Magali Léger more lyric and with a greater range
of colours in the voice - are both perfectly acceptable, though both are
prone to a little squalliness in the upper reaches, and Léger's is not
ideally supported in the middle of her range. Interpretatively neither
are as compelling as their male colleagues, though their voices are
certainly in better shape.

Technically the most secure singing comes from the boy treble who sings
the very last song Debussy wrote, a piece of wartime propaganda about
homeless children at Christmas which he does marvellously. There's an
Easter Egg, too - after that 101st track we have an undocumented bonus
one, with the treble (touchingly) repeating the unaccompanied 'Berceuse'
(1899) with which Le Roux rounded off CD3.

Because of the variable vocal security throughout, this can only be
recommended as a "reference" edition to supplement recitals you might
already have. But for anyone interested in Debussy, and his development
as a song writer, it remains a must-buy for its completeness,
presentation - and sensitive pianism.