Ian Bostridge: Songs
by Debussy, Fauré, Poulenc. Belcea Quartet; Drake, piano;
Bosch, double bass. Texts and translations. EMI Classics 57609
Ian
Bostridge's voice defies characterization as simply a tenor, having
the flexible range and tonal ambivalence of a
baryton
martin, the traditional Pelléas voice. Any early received
impression of Bostridge as having a rather neutered timbre and
impersonal style leaves the listener unprepared for this new
recital disc. While it's true that the singer doesn't stamp the
music with personal idiosyncrasies, what he does do is far more
challenging: he climbs inside the songs on this all-French program
and becomes whatever they require. This protean gift is apparent as
early as track 4, Fauré's "Fleur Jetée," a reading urgent
to the point of recklessness, yet never blurring the clarity of
either text or music.
There are fine details, such as making the word "lointain"
(faraway) sound distant in "Les Berceaux," or matching tone to the
kindly smile described at the end of the seventh song in
LaBonneChanson. In Fauré's "Prison" there's a
note of forthright accusation, soon followed by an exemplary "Nell"
- excited, expressive yet limpid. The Poulenc set, with its more
mannered style and arch, oblique attitudes, brings out all the
skill and control in Bostridge's work, ranging from the flat, even
delivery of "Montparnasse" to the thrusting accents, picked out in
staccato or
sforzando, in "Dans le Jardin d'Anna." The
singer then treads cautiously through Poulenc's "C" in a
quasi-
parlando, reminiscent of the historic recording artist
Vanni-Marcoux, touching on falsetto at the word
"délaissée" (forsaken), while for "Fêtes Galantes"
there's an abrupt switch to the boulevard insouciance of a French
patter song.
From the quiet, weird ostinato of the pianist's left hand in
Debussy's "Le Faune" and the sensitive articulation of the closing
chords in "Colloque Sentimental," it's clear that Julius Drake is a
partner equal in interpretive imagination and technical resource to
the tenor himself.
After the Poulenc series, which takes one through extreme
contrasts, the radiant optimism of Fauré's
La Bonne
Chanson in its seldom heard chamber-music form, with string
quintet and piano, clears the aural palate. Bostridge seems to take
heart from the cushion of warm instrumental support. Throughout his
recital, there are many, varied examples of a virtuosity that draws
no attention to itself but focuses on every facet of the music. At
last, here is a chance to relax, but it's a joyful, exultant
relaxation.
JOHN W. FREEMAN
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