The great French baritone Pierre Bernac wrote in his book The
interpretation of French song that “Massenet abandoned
himself to his unique gift and fluency which, in his mélodies,
led to a sugary sentimentalism. They cannot be recommended.”
These words seem to have been sufficient to deter most potential
performers. They are quoted in part in the booklet notes for
this release, which is frank enough to admit that not all of
Massenet’s 250 songs are “of equal worth” - of which composer
could that not be said? - but seeks to present a sufficient
collection, assembled by the singer here, to prove Bernac’s
statement at least only a partial truth.
For many years Massenet was principally remembered for his early
operas Manon and Werther. From the 1970s onwards
the appearances of complete recordings of later works such as
Esclarmonde, Thaïs with the central dramatic
scene in the final Act restored (it was cut in the first complete
recording made during the 1950s), Thérèse, La Navarraise
and Don Quichotte established him as much more than
just a composer of sentimental romances. We discovered from
encounters with these scores that he wrote highly dramatic verismo
as well as operas on the grandest scale. He continued to experiment
with new ideas and styles. His posthumous Amadis with
its totally orchestral opening Act in the form of a tone poem
shows that this expanding creative impulse remained vibrant
to the end of his life.
Most of the songs here come from late in Massenet’s career -
many indeed from the year of his death - when he was already
increasingly experimental, and the song cycle Lyrical expressions
is certainly that. He mingles spoken and sung voice in these
ten songs, which are in effect highly dramatic little operatic
scenas for voice and piano showing the influence of
Wolf as well as French models. The delightfully insouciant piano
accompaniment to Battlement d’ailes even anticipates
Bernac’s beloved Poulenc. La dernière lettre de Werther
sets a poem by the historian Roger de Goncaut-Biron. It finds
Massenet recalling his own Werther of some twenty years
earlier - a performance of which had actually inspired the poem
- with a wistfulness which rivals passages in Ravel’s Shéhérazade.
This cycle was composed for the contralto Lucy Arbell, for whom
Massenet had already created the title roles in his operas Thérèse,
Cléopatre and Amadis, and whose dramatic talents
he admired. They are presumably given here with upward transposition
for d’Allonnes, but one can imagine that a lower voice could
give them even greater force. Some of the spoken passages are
extremely expressionist, almost anticipating the melodramatic
experiments of Schoenberg in their use of a French version of
Sprechgesang. We are here a very long way indeed from
Bernac’s “sugary sentimentalism”.
The three songs with cello and piano accompaniment come from
between ten and thirty years earlier, although Le printemps
visite la terre already shows signs of Massenet’s expanding
dramatic accomplishments. In this song the rather effete cello
detracts from rather than enhances the effect, especially since
the player sounds somewhat backwardly balanced. Élégie
is probably Massenet’s best-known song, although more usually
in its version for solo cello than with voice. Here Fontana
is more forward in the frame and matches d’Allonnes perfectly
in a scale which moves the music firmly out of the realm of
the salon and into the concert hall. The setting of
Amours bénis is less interesting and the cello, which
introduces the main melodic material, cannot entirely escape
the salon atmosphere redolent of the Palm Court.
Of the songs with purely piano accompaniment, the late Heure
vécu is a delightful trifle; but the contemporary Victor
Hugo settings Soleil couchant and La nuit
are something much more serious with emphatic piano chordal
passages and dramatic declamation. La mort de la cigale
with its almost coloratura passages proves something
of a strain for d’Allonnes, but she is superb in the Hugo settings
and Jean is a superb accompanist.
The song cycle Poème d’octobre which brings this disc
to a conclusion is the earliest composition here. Not surprisingly
it is much more conventional than the later mélodies,
with a style that in places does not advance much beyond Gounod.
But what beautiful music is contained within it! And there are
occasional passages which remind one of Debussy’s early songs
– with which they are more or less contemporary – where Massenet
introduces almost parlando passages for the singer.
It should be noted that it is only in these songs on this disc
that Massenet resorts to the repetition of lines and stanzas;
otherwise the music is always a fresh response to new words.
So, is Bernac’s judgement on Massenet’s melodies at
all accurate? On the basis of the songs on this disc it must
be regarded as totally wide of the mark, although one might
be willing to concede that others of the 250 might indeed fit
Bernac’s description better. One can only be grateful to these
artists for their choice of items which expands our views of
Massenet’s still underestimated muse to as yet undreamed-of
new horizons. Perhaps Graham Johnson might be persuaded to look
further in his comprehensive surveys of French songs to see
if there are yet more undiscovered gems? If not, further exploration
by these present artists would be more than welcome.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
Track list
Expressions lyriques (1912) [24.09]
Le printemps visite la terre (1901) [1.34]
On dit! (1901) [2.31]
La lettre (1907) [2.29]
Élégie (1881) [3.00]
Heure vécue (1912) [1.34]
Soleil couchant (1912) [3.22]
La nuit (1912) [3.10]
La mort de la cigale (1911) [2.46]
Amours bénis (1899) [3.37]
Poème d’octobre (1877) [11.25]
Sabine Revault d’Allonnes (soprano)