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Track(s) taken from CDA66856

La Cigale et la Fourmi

First line:
La Cigale ayant chanté, tout l'été
composer
c1860s
author of text
Fables (Book 1 No 1)

François Le Roux (baritone), Graham Johnson (piano)
Recording details: January 1996
Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, Hampstead, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Arthur Johnson
Engineered by Antony Howell & Julian Millard
Release date: January 1997
Total duration: 1 minutes 36 seconds

Cover artwork: À l'ombres des bosquets chante un jeune poète. Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891)
Reproduced by permission of The Wallace Collection, London / Bridgeman Images
 

Other recordings available for download

Stephen Varcoe (baritone), Graham Johnson (piano)

Reviews

‘This is the most resounding blow yet to be struck for the mélodies of Saint-Saëns … Le Roux is one of the most charismatic performers of our time … this is certainly one of the best things he has done so far. A double welcome for performers and rare repertory’ (Gramophone)

‘Musical jewels surface with delightful consistency in this 27-song recital. An absorbing and revelatory disc’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘There's hardly a dud among these 30-or-so songs on this well filled, perfectly recorded disc, an ideal accompaniment to a hot summer evening’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Another immensely pleasant recital from Hyperion, both in content and performance. [François Le Roux] is establishing himself as the leading French baritone of the day’ (Classic CD)

«François Le Roux est l'interprète prédestiné. Son intelligence des mots, son sens de la juste inflexion font ici merveille» (Diapason, France)

'Apoya magnificamente al baritono, firmando entre ambos un trabajo auténticamente digno de conocerse. Sonido exemplar' (CD Compact, Spain)
It is not known when exactly this was composed, but as the listener to this disc may have already noticed, the dates of these songs are not of prime importance in understanding them. For all we know, it may come from the very beginning of the composer’s career, it may date from the 1860s, or it may just as easily be contemporary with Suzette et Suzon from the 1880s. The important thing is that it is a perfect little setting of La Fontaine, and it entirely fits the pithy and acerbic nature of the words. The schadenfreude which was so much part of Saint-Saëns’ personality is here given glorious reign with the malicious tone of the dressing-down by the ant coming straight from the composer’s heart. There are numerous felicitous details: the scurrying motif for the busy, industrious ant (Saint-Saëns himself, always prudent and hard-working); the pathetic little appoggiatura on the word ‘famine’; the little self-indulgent cantilena for the cicada, and the triumphant quotation of ‘J'ai du bon tabac’ in the accompaniment at the end.

from notes by Graham Johnson © 1997

Other albums featuring this work

La Procession
CDA66248Download only
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