# GRAND FINALE - Duparc's Chanson Triste - Croiza, Souzay, Crespin, Dreisig - and Maggie Teyte



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The reason Teyte was not in the competition was that I couldn't find a youtube clip that was visible to members in the US. Later @Shaughnessy found a link that would work for everyone and, as hers is my favourte version of all time, I'm giving her a bye into the finale. My competition, my rules. Crespin and Dreisig tied in the third round, which means we've ended up with five.





Claire Croiza (1882-1946)





Gérard Souzay (1918-2004) with Jacqueline Bonneau





Régine Crespin (1927-2007) with Janine Reiss





Elsa Dreisig (b.1991) with Jonathan Ware

Maggie Teyte (1888-1976) accompanied by Gerald Moore can be heard by clicking on this link Chanson Triste (Song of Sorrow); L'Heure Exquise (The Enchanted Hour); Psyche; Offrande (The Offering) : Maggie Teyte : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Of my two front runners, I prefer Souzay for the clean directness of his style. Teyte is subtler, but she uses too may falling portamenti for my taste. It sounds sentimental. I also prefer Souzay's voice purely as a voice.

I found Simoneau's the most interesting intrpretation of all the performances, but others are evidently looking for other qualities.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I keep thinking Maggie Teyte's was the first version I ever heard of this song, but, now that I come to think of it, it was probably Ian Partridge, who made a very nice LP of Fauré and Duparc songs. I think it was my singing teacher who played the Teyte version for me when I started studying the song. He had actually trained with Teyte and was a huge admirer. Anyway, I was absolutely blown away by that record and I have been a huge Maggie Teyte fan ever since, though she seems almost forgotten now, which is a shame beacuse she was a great singer with important links to the past. She studied the role of Mélisande with Debussy himself, who had chosen her to replace his first Mélisande, Mary Garden. She is also the only singer to have been accompanied on the piano in public by the composer (in a performance of his song _Beau soir_). She had an interesting career, originally studying with Jean de Reszke and making her debut in Monte Carlo at the age of 18. She sang in Amerca from 1911 - 1918 (though not in New York), returning to London in 1919. Her career was interrupted by two failed marriages and she ended up singing in music hall and variery (24 performances a week) until her 1936 recording of Debussy songs with the pianist Alfred Cortot attracted attention and revived her career. She gave her last performance at the Royal Festival Hall in 1956 at the age of 68.

If you know the score of this Duparc song, as I do, you will note that she scrupulously obeys every marking in Duparc's score and yet also sounds totally spontaneous and natural. The tempo she and Moore adopt is absolutely perfect too, with rubato subtly applied. She has a very individual sound too, with its pure, clear, bell-like top and its distinctive lower register.

If I were to put these in any order, it would be

1. Teyte
2. Croiza
3. Souzay
4. Dreisig
5. Crespin

In fact the Crespin version is the only one I don't really like. The tempo is far too slow, she more or less ignores the various dynamic markings and the effect is somewhat lugubrious and somnolent.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Of my two front runners, I prefer Souzay for the clean directness of his style. Teyte is subtler, but she uses too may falling portamenti for my taste. I sounds sentimental. I also prefer Souzay's voice purely as a voice.
> 
> I found Simoneau's the most interesting intrpretation of all the performances, but others are evidently looking for other qualities.


I actually like Teyte's portamenti. As a singer who was active in Paris while Duparc was still alive and who studied with Debussy, we can probably assume that she was adopting the style of the time.

I didn't like SImoneau so much, because of the way he messed around with the tempo. I thought the rubato excessive and, in his attempt to make too many points, the natural flow of the song was impeded. I thought it a little effete, if I'm honest.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

I really like Teyte here. The voice seems aged (she would have been 56?) but retains beauty and there is something effecting about that slightly reedy hint to her timbre which makes this all the more moving. Not necessarily a voice which, at this stage in her career, I’d want to here in opera, but it’s a lovely instrument with a personal sound and used thoughtfully. Her French diction, as well as her styling, is superb and coupled with that elegant, aged beauty of her sound this recording is arrestingly vivid in it’s capability to transport you back to some evening of the past, and into a little French salon where a lady sits and gently sings of love and sadness. She gets my vote.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Op.123 said:


> I really like Teyte here. The voice seems aged (she would have been 56?) but retains beauty and there is something effecting about that slightly reedy hint to her timbre which makes this all the more moving. Not necessarily a voice which, at this stage in her career, I’d want to here in opera, but it’s a lovely instrument with a personal sound and used thoughtfully. Her French diction, as well as her styling, is superb and coupled with that elegant, aged beauty of her sound this recording is arrestingly vivid in it’s capability to transport you back to some evening of the past, and into a little French salon where a lady sits and gently sings of love and sadness. She gets my vote.


Yes, you can hear, particularly in the opening measures I think, that this is no longer the voice of a young woman, but the top of the voice remains remarkably pure and firm, with absolutely no trace of wobble or excessive vibrato. She recorded Ravel's _Shèhérazade _when she was 60 and the voice still retains its absolute firmness. She must have had an excellent technique.


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## Georgieva (7 mo ago)

Teyte! What a difference!


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Well at least I will be cozy in my little warm cove of one. Just me and Elsa Driesig, rhat is.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Op.123 said:


> Her French diction, as well as her styling, is superb and coupled with that elegant, aged beauty of her sound this recording is arrestingly vivid in it’s capability to transport you back to *some evening of the past, and into a little French salon where a lady sits and gently sings of love and sadness.*


That's exactly how Teyte impresses me, and it's why I prefer Souzay. But Teyte is excellent, no question.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I actually like Teyte's portamenti. As a singer who was active in Paris while Duparc was still alive and who studied with Debussy, we can probably assume that she was adopting the style of the time.


It's my impression that French singers of that era didn't use much portamento. Certainly there was plenty of individuality in singer's styles then (as opposed to now). Teyte's little downward slides are her personal preference. I don't think it's bad or unpleasant, but for me it just smells too much of pressed violets. Like the already fragrant music of Faure in general, this song can easily support a more virile approach.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> It's my impression that French singers of that era didn't use much portamento. Certainly there was plenty of individuality in singer's styles then (as opposed to now). Teyte's little downward slides are her personal preference. I don't think it's bad or unpleasant, but for me it just smells too much of pressed violets. Like the already fragrant music of Faure in general, this song can easily support a more virile approach.


I remember, when I was learning the song with my singing teacher, I unconsciously did a portamento at some place (I can't even remember where now), and he stopped me with the words, "No portamento. No," to which I replied. "But Magge Teyte does it." 

He just said, "Well, I suppose she would know."


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I remember, when I was learning the song with my singing teacher, I unconsciously did a portamento at some place (I can't even remember where now), and he stopped me with the words, "No portamento. No," to which I replied. "But Magge Teyte does it."
> 
> He just said, "Well, I suppose she would know."


Wonderful story! Had I studied the song, chances are I'd have done a portamento too, if only to prove I knew what it was.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Is portamento a nice way of saying those swoops and scoops tthat come from the mouth of Renee Fleming too often?


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> Is portamento a nice way of saying those swoops and scoops tthat come from the mouth of Renee Fleming too often?


If badly done.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Is portamento a nice way of saying those swoops and scoops tthat come from the mouth of Renee Fleming too often?


Swoops and scoops are signs of faulty technique. They signify that the singer is having difficulty finding a note or keeping the resonance consistent as they ascend/descend etc. They sound like a slow or unsteady portamento. Portamenti, when properly done, are not a sign of poor technique and are used to expressively join two notes in a natural manner.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Op.123 said:


> Swoops and scoops are signs of faulty technique. They signify that the singer is having difficulty finding a note or keeping the resonance consistent as they ascend/descend etc. They sound like a slow or unsteady portamento. Portamenti, when properly done, are not a sign of poor technique and are used to expressively join two notes in a natural manner.


Although I completely agree that it is a faulty technique I also believe that in the case of Fleming she is attending her days in jazz (she's not good at it BTW) and using it as a technique in opera.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Op.123 said:


> Swoops and scoops are signs of faulty technique. They signify that the singer is having difficulty finding a note or keeping the resonance consistent as they ascend/descend etc. They sound like a slow or unsteady portamento. Portamenti, when properly done, are not a sign of poor technique and are used to expressively join two notes in a natural manner.


They can also be merely a sign of poor musicianship and bad taste. Even great singers are guilty, especially tenors. Corelli and DiStefano - especially Corelli - can drive me mad, and drive me away.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Although I completely agree that it is a faulty technique I also believe that in the case of Fleming she is attending her days in jazz (she's not good at it BTW) and using it as a technique in opera.


I suspect you're right about the influence of jazz singing on Fleming. But I imagine that jazz aficionados might be as irritated by her mannerisms as we opera lovers are. Not being a jazz or pop person, I actually find some of Fleming's non-classical work interesting, though I don't go out of my way to hear it. I really liked the way she did a Joni Mitchell song.


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## ewilkros (8 mo ago)

nina foresti said:


> Is portamento a nice way of saying those swoops and scoops tthat come from the mouth of Renee Fleming too often?


For more absolutely intentional downward portamento of the period, see the very indispensible Maggie Teyte recording (1941) of Hahn's "Si mes vers avaient des ailes" -






as well as a rough cut film of Ninon Vallin doing it (~ 1936, it says) after two takes of Gounod's "Sérénade" -- the Hahn starts at 5:45 -






and here's the text - click "Eng" for translation -






Si mes vers avaient des ailes | Mes vers fuiraient, doux et frêles | LiederNet


Texts and Translations to Lieder and other classical vocal works in more than a hundred languages




www.lieder.net





(I had Google Translate still on when I did my YouTube search, by the way, and all my hits for "Si mes vers" came up with "If My Worms Had Wings". Even better than old sheet-music I once had with the singable translation "Were my songs with wings provided".


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

What recordings represent Teyte in freshest voice?


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## ewilkros (8 mo ago)

Woodduck said:


> What recordings represent Teyte in freshest voice?


Well, Teyte was born in 1888. If you mean "when was she youngest", she made a single 78 side for HMV in 1907, where the voice is recorded (or transferred) distantly, but is recognizable as the same voice it was 40 years later:



Spoiler: d'Hardelot: Because (1907)











She did 14 sides for [US] Columbia between 1913 and 1916, including Hahn's "L'Heure exquise", which I can't find on YouTube in this recording, and three Thomas Moore songs, of which this is one:



Spoiler: When Love Is Kind by Thomas Moore (1913)











and here are the words, since I like the song and wish it hadn't dropped off the horizon [Bori did it better, though]:

When Love is kind,
Cheerful and free,
Love's sure to find
Welcome from me.

But when Love brings
Heartache or pang,
Tears and such things --
Love may go hang!

If Love can sigh
For one alone,
Well pleased am I
To be that one.

But should I see
Love giv'n to rove
To two or three,
Then -- good-bye, Love!

Love must, in short,
Keep fond and true,
Through good report,
And evil too.

Else, here I swear,
Young Love may go,
For aught I care --
To Jericho.

She did some operetta sides for HMV in 1919, including four sides from Messager's _Monsieur Beaucaire_, in which she had done the premiere performance of the female lead, but I can't find them on YouTube though 4 sides were issued in the 4-LP HMV Treasury set. Then marriage and 10 years retirement. After relaunching her career she made I think 8 sides for Decca, her first electrics, including Fauré's "Après un rêve" and Hahn's "Si mes vers", but mostly operettas including Périchole and Messager's Véronique:



Spoiler: Offenbach: Périchole - Tu n'est pas beau (1932)













Spoiler: Messager: Véronique - Petite dinde! Ah! quel outrage! (1932)













Spoiler: Messager: Véronique - Ma foi! Pour venir de Provence (1932)











The breakout came with the album of Debussy songs she did with Alfred Cortot for HMV in 1935, of which this is one:



Spoiler: Debussy: Claire de lune, with Cortot (1936)












Fêtes galantes, L. 86, Book 1: III. Clair de lune (Second Version)


Provided to YouTube by Warner ClassicsFêtes galantes, L. 86, Book 1: III. Clair de lune (Second Version) · Maggie Teyte · Alfred CortotDebussy: His First Per...




www.youtube.com








She did Massenet's Manon, in English, with Heddle Nash as Des Grieux, for the BBC in 1939. Maybe 30 years ago they rebroadcast it, but though Act I is I think complete, somebody had walked off the the 78 rpm discs with her big numbers + whatever happened to be on the flipside, so it's a frustrating listen. Here's what's left, from YouTube, though I remember the voices being much more forward from my old tape of the broadcast:



Spoiler: Manon (1939)












Manon (Massenet) complete, 1939 with Maggie Teyte (in english)


Manon 1939 complete (in english) with Maggie Teyte.the cast:Manon: Maggie TeyteDes Grieux: Heddle NashDe Bretigny: Roy HendersonLescaut: Dennis NobleCount De...




www.youtube.com








Then in 1940 came more Debussy, this time with Gerald Moore, on a special-products commission from the Gramophone Shop in NYC, then throughout the 1940's an explosion of song recordings, largely French, from HMV, plus several Telephone Hours from US radio, all or nearly all of which survive in listenable-to-good sound, as well as I'm-not-so-sure-how-much from the BBC.

Steane has the theory that the explosion occurred because during WWII classical vocal music in German or Italian was off-limits, either by practice or decree. He doesn't seem to like the Debussy songs much -- under-interpreted, he says, and perhaps he is also a little turned off by the degree to which they've always been considered _de rigeur_. "But basically the point about Maggie Teyte is the very simple one, that her singing is so good: that is, her voice is so clear, its production so even, its emission so steady, its intonation so faultless, its movement in big upward intervals so clean and athletic, and its excellence was so well preserved for so long." I concur, but add that I find her emotional communication wonderful, and in the end the overriding characteristic of her singing. You can really choose just about anything of hers by how much you like the piece itself.

The voice really did up hold extraordinarily well. Those who find Licia Albanese as perpetually "grandmother-like" might find the same with Teyte; but if so, I can only congratulate them on their grandmothers.

The 4-LP HMV Treasury set really was very good, including maybe 2/3 of her HMV output, with some editorial taste involved in the omitted material. It's astounding that she never got her "Icons" CD box with everybody else; when may we expect it? The 2-CD Naxos set looks like they have used material from Decca, HMV, and RCA, probably not the acoustic material.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

@ewilkros Thank you so much for this wonderful post. I think I pretty much have everything she recorded from 1932 onwards, but I hadn't heard the early tracks and look forward to hearing them. Teyte is one of my favourite singers and I wish we had more of her. Her operatic repertoire is not especially well represented. 

Many of the recordings are quite late. Even the Deccas were recorded when she was in her 40s, but though the voice is no longer that of a young woman it doesn't have any of the tell-tale signs of aging that many voices do. It remained firm without any trace of wobble or excessive vibrato until her final recordings, made whe she was 60.

Another interesting disc is this one 










She was 60 at the time and sings excerpts from *Pelléas et Mélisande *with piano, singing _all_ the roles! She also sings a piano accompanied version of Britten's _Les Illuminations_.

The disc also includes privately recorded excerpts from Strauss’s *Salome* with piano, from when Teyte was preparing the role for Covent Garden about fifteen years earlier, a project that unfortunately never came to fruition. Her bright, slivery soprano might just have been the voice Strauss imagined.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

With reference to @ewilkros's excellent post above, I hadn't heard the early stuff before. She would only have been 19 in 1907, but the voice sounds virtually the same as it does all those years later.

I hadn't heard the *Manon* before. How frustrating that her so much is missing! At least we get her touching farewell to her little table. The top B in the recitative before it is a stunner! 

I'd just mention that everyone's English diction is a great deal better than we usually here nowadays.


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