Ernest Ansermet 、 Orchestre De La Suisse Romande 、 Suzanne Danco 、 Gerard Souzay - Faure: Requiem / 'Pelléas et Mélisande' / Prelude to 'Penelope' / Suite 'Mask and Bergamasque' (remastered 2024) - Japan SACD Hybrid Limited Edition

Credits:

Ernest Ansermet 、 Orchestre De La Suisse Romande 、 Suzanne Danco 、 Gerard Souzay

Description:

A historical masterpiece of early stereo recordings by DECCA. The latest reissue of one of the most famous performances of this piece, with its pious and simple sound. The world's first SA-CD release! The "Requiem" is a classic masterpiece by Anselme, featuring two of the leading French-speaking singers of the time as soloists. There have been many masterpieces by French-speaking performers from the same period onward, and this is certainly one of the most representative recordings of Fauré's "Requiem". For the 55th anniversary of Anselme's death, we have reissued this recording using a new analog master tape from his home country and the latest DSD conversion to achieve the final form of the package. The sound quality is crisp and clear with a strong sense of reality, making it a must-hear. In the original recording, "Requiem" and the three tracks after the second track were recorded on different albums, but since the CD era, these four tracks, which are highly complete in terms of coupling, are now also on one disc. This is the first SA-CD release.This "Requiem" is first and foremost appealing because it is sung by two of the greatest singers of the time, Danko and Széhé. Suzanne Danko (1911-2000) was 45 years old at the time of recording, and Gérard Szée (1918-2004) was 37. Born in Brussels, Danko distinguished herself in Mozart operas and was named the best Mozart singer of the 20th century as a soprano. Although there are not many recordings of Danko, there are several monaural recordings on DECCA, including operatic arias and German works. Among them, works by Debussy and Fauré are outstanding, and Anselme conducted her in her first opera recording, "Pelléas et Mélisande" in 1952. He also worked with Anselme on Ravel's "Scheherazade," recorded in Paris in 1947. Danko's sublime voice in this Faure also adds greatly to the dignity of this recording together with Szée. On the other hand, Suzeh, who was praised for his velvety voice, is a superb singer, including his musicianship, and has a reputation not only in his own country but also in the Austro-German repertoire, especially Schubert and Schumann, but above all, his French works are very highly regarded.The richness of his interpretations, which is the result of his extensive repertoire and his extensive language skills, is also an attraction of Suzeh, and he has made many recordings of his music. In 1945, at the beginning of his performing career, he sang the "Requiem" at a concert in England celebrating the 100th anniversary of Fauré's birth. As for the choir, there is some controversy, but it could be said that Anselme's intentions for this recording were at work. In any case, Anselme's crisp conducting is also attractive. (1/2)