A Progression Of French Song

A mainly French recital by soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist Gilbert Kalisch, titled Voices Of Light. The only non-French piece is a song by frequent Upshaw collaborator Osvaldo Golijov. Otherwise, songs by Messiaen are scattered throughout the disk which is centred on the three songs in Chansons de Bilitis by Debussy and the ten parts of La Chanson d'Eve by Faure. Upshaw writes a brief note in the booklet concerning her approach to this recital which began with the Messiaen and then became a search to find other pieces to fit around the songs. I won't attempt to precis the lengthy and authoritative notes by Michael Steinberg that accompany Upshaw's short explanation and explain the literary as well as musical inspirations. For me, some of the Messiaen settings jar somewhat, the writing for voice seeming to follow on the route through Faure and Debussy but the piano accompaniment belonging in the world of birdsong and angularity familiar from Messiaen's other work. For the most part though things mix well and both Upshaw and Kalisch give outstanding performances. The Golijov song is also in a style that is becoming familiar through his other longer works with Dawn Upshaw.