We have not heard from
Taconet before. Marco Polo now remove
that lacuna. He was born in Normandy
the son of a ship-owner. He studied
harmony with George Vierne, brother
of Louis. He was active in Paris but
seems to have done well in Le Havre
- a significant artistic centre which
drew the great and the good of the musical
world. His music takes its first international
bow with this disc.
Dominque Méa
has a boyishly hooting yet pleasing
soprano. Her instrument is at times
placed under considerable strain by
Taconet's high-lying writing. With Méa
fluttering under pressure we still get
a pretty fair impression of these fourteen
songs. The dreamy, hooded and tranced
tone of these songs places them in the
Duparc and early Fauré lineage.
He too had a predilection for steady
or more usually slow tempi and moods
to match. From this it is clear that
song lies at the heart of Taconet's
output; there are sixty in all. His
choice of poet took in Samain, de Lisle,
de Régnier, Verlaine and Prud'homme.
Among the fourteen
the gems are the ecstatically inclined
Elégie, the limpid melody
of Les Sources, the almost lively
Rondel (to words by Charles d'Orléans)
and Chanson (words: Gabriel Vicaire).
Méa is well served by pianist
Carlos Cebro who tempers all with warmth
and rippling buoyancy as in the Samain
setting, Soir.
In addition to the
songs we are offered a 24 minute and
four movement violin sonata dating from
the mid-1920s. It was premiered at Le
Havre by the composer and the violinist
Emile Damais on 8 December 1935. Here
is a work of plunging Franckian lyricism,
much more surgingly outgoing than the
songs. After the surge of the allegro
agitato comes a more delicate, pointed
and mercurial scherzo - anxious
yet playful. The Andante is marked
Pénétrant and its
subdued heads-bowed tenor may link back
to the losses of the Great War. Taconet
served in the French Army and few can
have emerged unchanged from those four
years. Even so his allegro vivace
casts aside cloying thoughts and
breezes along with singing vitality
... ringing with hints and echoes of
French folksong. It recalled for me
the Dunhill Second Violin Sonata and
also the as yet unrecorded sonata by
Cyril Rootham.
I was pleased to make
the acquaintance of these works. The
performance of the songs is flawed yet
their enchanted spirit is eloquently
enough put across. The Sonata is a kindly
work with its emotional anchor found
in a poignant Andante.
Another name to be
added to the great neglecteds of France
alongside Bonnal, Witkowski and d'Ollonne.
I hope to hear more of Taconet's music
especially the 1930 Piano Quintet. The
subtly fragranced songs would make a
very rewarding project for any up-and-coming
young singer ready to surmount their
technical and artistic demands.
Rob Barnett
Dominique Méa (sop); Carlos Cebro
(piano) 
