Canteloube - Chants d'Auvergne aka Songs of Auvergne - Victoria de los Angeles

Recorded 1982-3, digitally remastered and released 1999
Release codes: CDM5 66978 2 & ASIN: B00000K4FG

Reviews:

MusicWeb Review:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/nov99/canteloube.htm

…As for de los Angeles perhaps her Catalan origins gave her an enduring feeling for these songs which are to traditional Auvergnat texts. The minority language of this land of puys and volcanic drama must have been especially appealing. Certainly she is in full sympathy with this winking, knowing, playful, innocent, material. Te, l'co, te is the only track which completely defeats de Los Angeles at least in company with Davrath's powerhouse celestial flights. The celebrated (it has perhaps escaped association with that advert now) Bailero is beautifully rolled but it is the edge-of-sleep dreaminess of Pour l'Enfant (16) and the grand operatic L'Antoueno (6) that command instant attention and enduring love.

De Los Angeles is in golden voice and her breath control is wondrous. She coaxes her voice into the sound-set of youth and is utterly convincing. My idiosyncratic preference for Netania Davrath's Vanguard CDs remains undisturbed. Davrath is recorded very closely with plenty of staggeringly spotlit orchestral details popping in and out of focus. Davrath is nonpareil in irresistibly conveying the spirit of the young shepherdess. De Los Angeles brings a more grown up intelligence to the word and music spinning. This artistry is superbly partnered by the orchestra (clearly a big band) and the string textures (startlingly Finzi-like sometimes as well as being touched with drenched-Mahler!) are golden nectar by comparison with the 'authentic' village band sounds conjured by de la Roche on Vanguard. The usual swings and roundabouts then.

I can recommend this disc alongside the Dawn Upshaw recordings and the Davrath. Try to hear all three. The EMI is at mid-price and jostles for first place amid a small field standing above quite a few versions in which operatic heavy-weights and record companies with ambitions. Sadly some of these operatic onslaughts have drowned the music deeper than the Titanic. De Los Angeles is not in this category. Sweetness and the golden night itself.

Reviewer: Rob Barnett, musicweb-international.com


Amazon Customer Review:

http://www.amazon.com/Canteloube-Chants-dAuvergne-Victoria-Angeles/dp/B00000K4FG

I recently acquired a large hard drive for my computer and set about loading my favorite CDs for instant listening while working in my home office. In that process I came upon this CD, but do not remember buying it. To be able to quickly jump from track to track, I loaded it and expected to make a quick decision whether to keep it or not, expecting the not. (I believe that I ordered this CD due to the similarity of the title with a CD of Jean Ferrat's that is quite special to me.)

WOW! Was I wrong! So wrong that I don't mind admitting it. Victoria de los Angeles is one of the greats. Her command of her voice is superb. Her phrasing leaves me breathless. The previous reviewer called her voice too heavy for these songs. While I have not heard the works he/she noted, I did not have that reaction. The selection of works is marvelous. I cannot recommend this CD higher. I recommend it for the true classic connoisseur, for the person who 'just' likes classics, and for the person who likes some classics but not all and needs to hear a recognizable tune.

A last comment, my first thought was that the recording suffered because I (mistakenly) felt that the source of her voice in the recording was too removed from the microphone. I was wrong again. In fact the balance of her clear, soprano voice to the orchestra is perfect.


Track list:
01 - La pastrouletta e lou chibalie
02 - Bailero
03 - No. 3 Trois Bourree - L'aio de rotso
04 - No. 3 Trois Bourree - Ound' onoren gorda
05 - No. 3 Trois Bourree - Obal, din lou Limouzi
06 - L'Antoueno
07 - La Pastrouletta e lou Chibalie
08 - La delaissado
09 - Lo calhe
10 - Lo fiolaire
11 - Passo pel prat
12 - Lou boussu
13 - Brezairola
14 - Malurous qu'o uno fenno
15 - Oi Ayai
16 - Pour L'Enfant
17 - Chut Chut
18 - Pastorale
19 - Lou Coucut
20 - Obal Din Lo Coumbelo
21 - La-Haut Sur le Rocher
22 - He! Beyla-z-y-Dau Fe
23 - Te L'Co Te!
24 - Uno Jionto Postouro