The centenary of
Gabriel Fauré
's death in 2024 has brought a variety of interesting albums devoted to his music, including several collections of his songs. This release by baritone
Stéphane Degout
is a very strong entry in the field.
Degout
is in middle age and mid-career, and he wisely orients his program and his darkening voice toward
Fauré
's later songs and the more complex
Paul Verlaine
song cycle
La bonne chanson, Op. 61
. There are three late song cycles here:
Le Jardin clos, Op. 106
,
Mirages, Op. 113
, and the magnificent
L'horzone chimérique, Op. 118
's final essay in the song genre from 1921. The first and last of these, especially, contain quite short songs of an almost Brahmsian intricacy, and
exhibits superb control over these, putting just the right emphasis on the splashes of chromatic color, not deep but extended, that run through the individual songs. Another attraction here is the 1892 Pleyel piano of accompanist
Alain Planès
, which he gets to explore in the substantial
Ballade in F sharp minor, Op. 19
, serving as an entr'acte. The hint of clanking coming from the instrument only enhances the authentic atmosphere, as does
Harmonia Mundi
's sound environment from the Abbaye de Royaument. A wonderful
song release that can stand with the classics of the genre. ~ James Manheim