Gerard Souzay stories
Jerry Young
access, and was curious to know what folks have to say about Gerard
Souzay, with whom he studied. I realized that I seldom see his name
mentioned in postings, which I think is unfortunate.
He asked me to see if folks had any interesting stories, comments,
observations about Souzay -- so please post them. I think he is
particularly interested in anecdotes, bon mots, and personal experiences.
I'll start with one.
When Souzay was studying with Nadia Boulanger, she criticized him for
writing something that sounded like Rachmaninoff. Souzay responded to her
that "Rachmaninoff is like chocolate; I need it."
On the subject, it is disappointing that Souzay was no longer in his
prime when CDs and digital recordings came along, and that so few of his
recordings are available. Does anyone know of more reissues in the works
to look forward to?
Thanks,
Jerry
Francois Velde
In article <226pgk...@talos4.sps.mot.com> Jerry Young <jerry_...@oakqm3.sps.mot.com> writes:
>I was telling a friend about the joys of the net, to which he has no
>access, and was curious to know what folks have to say about Gerard
>Souzay, with whom he studied. I realized that I seldom see his name
>mentioned in postings, which I think is unfortunate.
Ah! Souzay...
I know my mother is reading this: this is dedicated to her.
Some years back, as I was discovering French 19th c. poetry in school,
she made me listen to Souzay's recording of Horizons Chimeriques. I
was struck (somewhat negatively) by what seemed like an archaic diction
and overblown expressiveness, and my lack of response probably
disappointed her. But the seeds were sown...
I recently bought a re-issue of the same: Faure melodies, including
_Horizons Chimeriques_, Verlaine poems, and a few strange add-ons
(Songs of the Auvergne, some 16th c. songs). I was overwhelmed:
the beauty, the sensitivity, the power, the presence!! His diction
is perfect p-e-r-f-e-c-t. Every syllable is crafted, set precisely.
And when he utters:
"Votre appel au fond des soirs me D-esespere"
that "D" in "desespere", a mere consonant, is so full of despair I
want to cry with him. Likewise the double "f" in:
"helas! j'ai dans le coeur une tristesse aFFreuse"
the sound of those fricatives is heart-rending.
The voice is so beautiful, full, rich, beaming: it fills space
perfectly, it overtakes the words and infuses in them a new life.
The melodies become marvels of transparency: it is as if the
words become twice meaningful.
It also helps that the poetry is beautiful in its own right; the
Verlaine may become a bit repetitive, but the Horizons Chimeriques
are glorious pieces, and Faure was able to convey the full rhythm
of the alexandrin, and the smooth flow of the sonnet form, which
is something of a prowess.
It may be that a prolonged absence from France has made me more
sensitive to the language and the poetry, I don't know. But I cherish
this recording, and will look for others. I found the sound quite
satisfying: the piano is a bit left out in the back, but Souzay is
well recorded, IMHO.
Thanks also to Richard Wilmer, who I believe insisted on Souzay
in an e-mail exchange a while back. Surely he has more expert
comments to make on Gerard Souzay.
--
Francois Velde
David Fox
jerry_...@oakqm3.sps.mot.com (Jerry Young) wrote:
>
> He asked me to see if folks had any interesting stories, comments,
> observations about Souzay -- so please post them. I think he is
> particularly interested in anecdotes, bon mots, and personal experiences.
> On the subject, it is disappointing that Souzay was no longer in his
> prime when CDs and digital recordings came along, and that so few of his
> recordings are available. Does anyone know of more reissues in the works
> to look forward to?
No personal anecdotes, I'm afraid, but I do think the young Souzay had one
of the most divinely beautiful voices I've ever heard. It is very
frustrating to me that so few of his early recordings have been reissued on
CD, but my understanding is that Souzay himself prefers his later ones, and
has been unenthusiastic about rereleasing the earlier stuff. Anyway, at
least make sure that you pick up the Decca reissue of songs of Faure, etc.
-- superb!
David
**********************************
David Fox
University of Pennsylvania / College of General Studies
df...@mail.sas.upenn.edu
**********************************
Chris Brewster
He asked me to see if folks had any interesting stories, comments,
observations about Souzay -- so please post them. I think he is
particularly interested in anecdotes, bon mots, and personal experiences.
I hope I'm not confusing him with another singer, but here goes. I was
told, in _strict_confidence_, that he has or had a wealthy benefactress
in St Paul (that's Minnesota) and that this relationship was also a
romantic one. And that he spent quite a bit of unpublicized time in St
Paul. I don't know who the woman is, but there are a few old families
here that my guesses would center on. The whole story is so
uncharacteristic for corn-fed Minnesota, that I'd love to know more.
Chris Brewster E-MAIL ADDRESS: c...@cray.com
Steve R. Van Dien
One of my voice teachers, Greg Lorenz, coached with Souzay a few years
ago. Greg told me that Souzay was intense but warm, with a rather bawdy
sense of humor.
The young Souzay's voice was indeed as warm and beautiful as they
come. Greg said it was surprisingly sizable as well, though it left a bit
to be desired in terms of technique --
Steve Van Dien
Josh Stern
>jerry_...@oakqm3.sps.mot.com (Jerry Young) wrote:
>> On the subject, it is disappointing that Souzay was no longer in his
>> prime when CDs and digital recordings came along, and that so few of his
>> recordings are available. Does anyone know of more reissues in the works
>> to look forward to?
>No personal anecdotes, I'm afraid, but I do think the young Souzay had one
>of the most divinely beautiful voices I've ever heard. It is very
>frustrating to me that so few of his early recordings have been reissued on
>CD, but my understanding is that Souzay himself prefers his later ones, and
>has been unenthusiastic about rereleasing the earlier stuff. Anyway, at
>least make sure that you pick up the Decca reissue of songs of Faure, etc.
>-- superb!
That's the recital with J. Bonneau that includes the French Airs, I
assume. It is very fine of course. Some other Souzay reissues that
are worth noting are the recital on Phillips with D. Baldwin which
contains Faure's La bonne chanson (setting of Verlaine) and especially
the EMI Ravel/Debussy disc which contained Ravel's 3 chansons madecasses,
2 melodies hebraiques, Don Quichotte a Dulcinee, etc. along with
Debussy's 3 ballades de F. Villon, Le promenoir des deux amants, etc.
Like so many interesting EMI reissues, the latter disc has been deleted,
but at one time there were a lot of cutouts floating around in Tower
bins and the like, and that may still be the case.
- Josh
Francois Velde
>df...@mail.sas.upenn.edu (David Fox) writes:
>>Anyway, at
>>least make sure that you pick up the Decca reissue of songs of Faure, etc.
>>-- superb!
>
>That's the recital with J. Bonneau that includes the French Airs, I
>assume. It is very fine of course.
That's the one I raved over: Faure (including Horizons Chimeriques),
Chausson, varia; a London/Decca release, 425 975-2; a 1950's style
picture of a quite handsome fellow on the cover, and a red fleur-de-lys.
The recordings are from 1950-55, which means G.S. was between 32 and 37,
to allay fears about his voice.
--
Francois Velde
David Fox
(Chris Brewster) wrote:
> I hope I'm not confusing him with another singer, but here goes. I was
> told, in _strict_confidence_, that he has or had a wealthy benefactress
> in St Paul (that's Minnesota) and that this relationship was also a
> romantic one.
At the risk of libel, I had always heard that Souzay is gay, which makes at
least part of this tale seem unlikely. Does anyone out there know
otherwise?
Francois Velde
df...@mail.sas.upenn.edu (David Fox) writes:
>c...@tamarack13.timbuk (Chris Brewster) wrote:
>
>> I hope I'm not confusing him with another singer, but here goes. I was
>> told, in _strict_confidence_, that he has or had a wealthy benefactress
>> in St Paul (that's Minnesota) and that this relationship was also a
>> romantic one.
>
>At the risk of libel, I had always heard that Souzay is gay, which makes at
>least part of this tale seem unlikely. Does anyone out there know
>otherwise?
I was waiting for someone else to step first. I have been told that,
indeed, his inclinations were different from what Chris suggested; and
that Dalton Baldwin was something more than an accompanist.
I feel quite uncomfortable peddling rumours and mongering gossip, but then,
with this new biography of Britten it appears that such matters are deemed
relevant to musical appreciation...
--
Francois Velde
Keith Moulton
>observations about Souzay -- so please post them. I think he is
>particularly interested in anecdotes, bon mots, and personal experiences.
>
>Jerry
Whoa, where do I start? As I'm still fairly close to Dalton Baldwin
(and thus indirectly to Gerard Souzay) I don't think it's appropriate for
me to blather on about everything I know of the man. It is no secret though
that Gerard is gay and that he has shared most of his life with Dalton
Baldwin. Although they do not spend as much time together as in earlier
times they do share a house in Antibes on the French Riviera. It's
gorgeous and I've had the pleasure of staying there a few times. Dalton
and Gerard always have entourages about them at the house and it's always a
little nuts, but they seem to feed off it creatively ala Poulenc.
I believe that Gerard has now officially retired from performing
but is actively teaching in Antibes and in various masterclasses like the
one held by the Centre International de la Formation Musicale every summer
in Nice.
As regards some of Souzay's recordings, I heard him say to someone
who asked him to autograph an early recording of his that it wasn't any good
and that he should buy his older stuff! The guy really is an artist and has
the sensitivity that one often recognizes in such people.
Another story concerns Klemperer and the cancellation by Dietrich
Fischer-Dieskau of a performance of one of the Bach passions. The young
Gerard substituted for him and after a fine performance eagerly sought
the maestro's criticism. The old temperamental man just said in a
scruffy voice (or was it von Karajan?) "scheusslich." I guess he was
disappointed, yet his recordings of the passions and German lieder are
often admired.
Souzay likes to paint (like Pavarotti!:--), but his drawings seem
to always consists of brightly colored geometric shapes which are purely
abstract, at least to my eyes. There was a book published recently in
France solely devoted to his art work if you're interested.
There have been some CD reissues on Philips but I'm not sure about
anything that's in the pipeline now. I'm going to work with Dalton this
summer so maybe I can find out. Email me in September.
Mes regards a votre ami et les autres,
Keith Moulton.
Erika Reiman
>
>df...@mail.sas.upenn.edu (David Fox) writes:
>>c...@tamarack13.timbuk (Chris Brewster) wrote:
>>
>>> I hope I'm not confusing him with another singer, but here goes. I was
>>> told, in _strict_confidence_, that he has or had a wealthy benefactress
>>> in St Paul (that's Minnesota) and that this relationship was also a
>>> romantic one.
>>
>>At the risk of libel, I had always heard that Souzay is gay, which makes at
>>least part of this tale seem unlikely. Does anyone out there know
>>otherwise?
>
It's not at all certain that their relationship was romantic, but I
suppose one doesn't refer to just anyone as "dearly beloved".
Jerry Young
km...@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu writes:
> Souzay likes to paint (like Pavarotti!:--), but his drawings seem
>to always consists of brightly colored geometric shapes which are purely
>abstract, at least to my eyes. There was a book published recently in
>France solely devoted to his art work if you're interested.
He doesn't bother changing into painting clothes, and when he gets pant
on a good pair of pants, he simply mixes up paints that match the cloth
and paints over the spots.
I have one book of Souzay's paintings; each piece has a saying of
Souzay's. This has been out since mid-'80s, so I wonder if it is the same
book. The sayings alone are worth the price of the book. He has a
remarkable way with words -- both his and other's.
Chris Brewster
> I was told that he has or had a wealthy benefactress
> and that this relationship was also a romantic one.
At the risk of libel, I had always heard that Souzay is gay, which
makes at least part of this tale seem unlikely. Does anyone out there
know otherwise?
Well, so it's either a benefactOR, or I have the wrong singer. I can't
think of a singer whom I could have confused with Souzay...
Chris Brewster
raouf...@gmail.com
> In article <CB.93Jul...@tamarack13.timbuk>, c...@tamarack13.timbuk
> (Chris Brewster) wrote:
>
> > I hope I'm not confusing him with another singer, but here goes. I was
> > told, in _strict_confidence_, that he has or had a wealthy benefactress
> > in St Paul (that's Minnesota) and that this relationship was also a
> > romantic one.
>
> At the risk of libel, I had always heard that Souzay is gay, which makes at
> least part of this tale seem unlikely. Does anyone out there know
> otherwise?
>
> David
>
I remember a beautiful recital at London's Wigmore Hall around 1979 where Gerard Souzay sang Faure's last cycle "L'horizon chimerique" coupled with Die Winterreise . The Faure was superb , I will never forget the opening of the recital "La mer est infinie" , expansive , spacious , rivetingly beautiful . The next day I passed Mr. Sousay on Wigmore street and would have loved to thank him but he seemed in a terrible moment of anger or anguish , it was hard to see so great a singer , who had given us so much pleasure the day before , in such a state of unhappiness .
gggg...@gmail.com
http://www.classical-music.com/article/five-essential-works-faur
Daniel
Daniel E-MAIL ADDRESS: outwes...@mail.com