Search - Faure, Brua, Naouri :: Songs

Lovely selection of mélodies but voices not so lovely

Leo Della Rocca | Italy | 06/05/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I love Fauré's songs and will listen to any recording I can get, especially those by reputable singers.

Here we have two singers, fairly new to the recording scene, it appears, and both French. Both Brua and Naouri have made other recordings, another one I have is of Ravel's songs on the Naxos label. The diction is therefore reliable.

Vocally, I prefer Claire Brua, mezzo-soprano, firstly because she has more delicacy in shading the vocal line and a better legato, although her timbre is not always as beautiful as I would like it to be, especially in the middle range.

Naouri was the big disappointment for me. I prefer him on the Naxos Ravel Songs. Here he sounds vocally tired...and need I say more. La Bonne Chanson was the real let-down. I have other recordings of this, one of which is with Sarah Walker. There is NO comparison! Sarah's interpretation is MUCH better! If you like this music, it is truly worth listening to. Naouri just does not do justice to this music. I was very curious about his voice after hearing that he has a 3-octave range. He has been recording a lot of Baroque music too. He may have the range, but the voice certainly lacks warmth and equality throughout the registers, especially in the middle register. His is a spoken-style of singing...it lacks the cantilena...the legato which I always look for in a singer, and the pitch suffers as a consequence. But again, once you start recording, the opportunities are limitless.

The pianist, David Abramovitz accompanies both singers admirably.

So here we have a new (2003) recording of some of Fauré's songs.

You may like this recording...I was disappointed."