Canteloube Chants D'auvergne

A lot has been said about Anna Moffo's early vocal decline and mismanaged carreer but let's not forget what a lovely singer she was in her prime. This recital from the early 1970's let us hear "late Moffo" though she was not yet 40. There is a slight hoarseness and unsteadiness in the voice that was not present in earlier recordings but it is still by any means a beautiful instrument used with skill. This recital also reminds us what a verstatile artist she was - she sings arias from the italian bel canto and verismo repertoire, french lyric and also german operettas and she passes from one to the other with considerable naturalness, ease and charm..

This is a Great Classical piece for the lovers of classical, as well as the ones who may hate it. These Adagios CDs get beter and better each time there is a new release. I must warn you there some good as well as some bad ones. There is a certain Adagio flavor for everyones.

The only possible criticism of this disc would presumably be that it doesn't offer more of Canteloube's evocative, atmospheric (even if probably over-perfumed) songs of the Auvergne. If you had any doubts about the artistic merit of these songs, Victoria de los Angeles's performances with the Lamoreux Orchestra under Jean-Pierre Jacquillat should put them to rest. True, other interpreters have but more charm and innocence into this music, but no one has captured the beauty and atmosphere better……

G.D. @ Amazon.com

Popular Western Armenian music uses instruments such as oud, qanun, keman, darbouka, clarinet, mandolin, tambourine, dumbeg and the duduk which is its characteristic. The songs are in several languages: Armenian, Turkish, Greek, Kurdish or other, often a mixture of these languages ​​such as spoken in the streets. The first recordings of Ottoman-Anatolian music played and sung by Armenians, Greeks, Arabs of the Empire, between 1909-1929, were thus made in the United States, then in Europe by companies like Colombia Records, Odeon, Archalouys or other. This precious collection brings together the songs and performances of the great Armenian artists of the Sayat Nova era in the heyday of a cultural and musical reconstruction in the diaspora. It testifies respectfully to the Armenian identity, from Anatolia to the New World.