Features:
Description:
This charming production delivers more and less than its title implies. Evidently Felicity Lott's name is its strongest selling point, but her singing is only a small part of what is offered. She sings five exquisite and sadly unfamiliar little songs by Maurice Jaubert (1900-1940), plus Ernest Chausson's slightly more familiar "La Chanson Perpetuelle," both expertly accompanied by a superb little chamber ensemble. Jaubert, who died in World War II, is of special interest; he composed some 40 movie soundtracks, but his atmospheric, neo- romantic love songs are totally unfamiliar, at least in the United States, and well worth knowing. Lott is absent from most of the disc, which is taken up with two of the 19th century's finest works for chamber orchestra: Wagner's Siegfried-Idyll, probably the most endearing of his compositions, and the relaxed, warmly lyrical Serenade No. 1 of Johannes Brahms. Both have been arranged for this group but retain their attractions. This concert was taped (presumably for French television) in the Maisons Laffitte Castle, an environment visually appropriate for the music, and Armin Jordan conducts performances as elegant as the decor. Some viewers may be distracted by close-up shots of him mouthing the words along with the singer; others will find it charming. Personally, I was charmed, but I would have been more charmed if texts and translations had been supplied. --Joe McLellan
| 
