Camille Maurane - The Art of Camille Maurane (CD DOUBLE SLIMLINE CASE)

Camille Maurane - The Art of Camille Maurane (CD DOUBLE SLIMLINE CASE)

The tessitura of Maurane'sfine voice, with a pleasant low register and clear, fluent top notes like a tenor's, places him in that splendid line of Frenchbaryton-Martin named after the early 19th-century singer Jean-Blaise Martin. More modern exponents include Pierre Bernac, creator of many songs by Poulenc, and Jacques Jansen, recently the subject of a tribute on record by Eloquence (4824603) featuring Decca recital recordings of Debussy, Chabrier, Ravel and Reynaldo Hahn.

Jansen's contemporary, Maurane(1911-2010) was an equally renowned exponent of the role of Pelleasin Debussy's opera for which his delicately shaded palette of timbres was ideally suited. Maurane'slongevity and diligently maintained technique allowed him to continue singing well into his 70s. Throughout his career he retained his clear diction and a mode of restrained expression which had been the hallmarks of his teacher at the Conservatoire, Claire Croiza.

However, his voice was in its prime when these recital recordings were made in Paris in 1954-5 for the then-new Philips label. As Daniele Pistoneobserves in a newly commissioned appreciation for the booklet, for Mauranemusic was all about nuance, and with the most subtle command of nuance he would try to find the best blend of colours, heightened by the silences between the music. From the sparenessof Debussy's Trois ballades de François Villonto the clarity of Ravel's Don Quichotteà Dulcinée, as well as the more intense expression of Duparc'ssongs, he is at the height of his powers; he moulds syllables, shapes ideas, and in a superbly evocative manner demonstrates the art of turning music into speech.

'Camille Mauraneis naturally sympathetic and his style has a parlandoelement… he is very well accompanied and the balance is excellent.' Gramophone, November 1984 (La bonne chanson)

'In the Duparcgroup, one can hear why Mauranewas so admired in France… his beautiful baritone, never forced, caresses the words and the vocal line.' Gramophone, December 1995

Tracklistings:

CD 1

HENRI DUPARC

1 L'invitation au voyage

2 Soupir

3 Testament

4 Sérénade florentine

5 La vague et la cloche

6 Lamento

7 La vie antérieure

8 Phidylé

9 Extase

10 Elégie

11Le manoir de Rosemonde

12 Chanson triste

Camille Maurane, baritone

Lily Bienvenu, piano

CD 2

GABRIEL FAURÉ

1–9La Bonne Chanson, Op. 61

Camille Maurane, baritone

Lily Bienvenu, piano

CLAUDE DEBUSSY

10–12Trois ballades de François Villon

MAURICE RAVEL

13–15 Don Quichotteà Dulcinée

Camille Maurane, baritone

Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

Jean Fournet

THE COMPLETE PHILIPS RECITAL RECORDINGS OF CAMILLE MAURANE