FRENCH SONGS (RAVEL, CHAUSSON, DELAGE) - JANET BAKER, MELOS ENSEMBLE

French Songs

Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano)

Melos Ensemble of London

An intriguing, evocative and exotic recital in which Janet Baker joined The Melos Ensemble for a journey through some of the twentieth century's most alluring French compositions for voice and chamber ensemble.

"A most beautiful recital... in (Chausson's Chanson perpetuelle) Baker expands and exultingly finds herself most at home. It's a strong, highly effective performance and marks a measure of the extraordinary way in which she has mastered the always rather special art of singing in French... The contributions by members of the Melos Ensemble - the Hurwitz Quartet, the flutes of Richard Adeney and William Bennett, Gervase de Peyer and Stephen Trier playing clarinet, Lamar Crowson (piano) and, very important, the harp playing of Osian Ellis - are of superlative quality." Gramophone.

A classic disc if ever there was one. This beautiful recital was made in 1966 and sounds as fresh today as the day it was made...This may be placed among Janet Baker's most outstanding recordings. --PENGUIN GUIDE TO RECORDINGS