John Mark Ainsley, Graham Johnson - L'invitation au voyage: Mélodies from La belle époque (Hyperion French Song Edition) (2006)

Tracklist

01. L'invitation au voyage
02. Départ
03. Bonjour, Suzon!
04. Regrets!
05. 6 Fables de La Fontaine: No. 2, La cigale et la fourmi
06. 6 Fables de La Fontaine: No. 6, La chauve-souris et les deux belettes
07. Joyeusetés de bonne compagnie: No. 10, Le spectre de la rose
08. Joyeusetés de bonne compagnie: No. 14, Oh! quand je dors
09. Chanson du berger, Op. 11 No. 5
10. Guitare, Op. 10 No. 11
11. L'invitation au voyage
12. Viens!, Op. 11 No. 3
13. Madrid
14. Comment, disaient-ils
15. Soupir
16. Si mes vers avaient des ailes
17. L'invitation au voyage
18. Ici-bas
19. Sérénade
20. Psyche
21. Les papillons
22. La chanson des blondes
23. Danse indienne
24. L'invitation au voyage

L'invitation au voyage, so-called because the first and last tracks as well as two tracks in-between are settings of Baudelaire's poem of the same name from Les fleurs du mal, bears the subtitle "Mélodies from La belle époque," that is, songs from the period between the Franco-Prussian War and the Great War. The for the most part nearly unknown composers represented here can be separated into two groups: those with beards and those without beards. Those with beards tend to write pop-oriented songs with instantly memorable tunes, ingratiating chord changes, infectious rhythms, and immediately graspable forms. Those without beards tend to write art-oriented songs with yearning themes, restless harmonies, supple rhythms, and elusive forms. But with or without beards, the composers invariably write mélodies that are sweet, light, clear, and, despite chromatic flirtations with Wagner, quintessentially French.
The same cannot be said of the performances by tenor John Mark Ainsley and pianist Graham Johnson. Certainly, Ainsley has a fine, clear voice with sweet tang in his upper range. And surely, Johnson's accompaniments are light, clear, lucid, and exceedingly sensitive. But their performances hardly sound quintessentially French -- indeed, they hardly sound French at all. Ainsley's diction is too precise and his pronunciation is too arch, while Johnson's accompaniments miss the lilt of the harmonies and the sway of the tempos. Although clearly first-class technically and interpretively, Ainsley and Johnson's performances sound more like admiring tourists than natives. Still, for first-class performances of sweet, light, and clear songs by nearly unknown French composers from La belle époque, this disc can't be beat, especially with Hyperion's trademark clean, warm sound.

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