En Sourdine – Fauré, Debussy, Poulenc
Laurent Naouri (singer), Frédéric Loiseau (jazz guitar) (Alpha)
(scroll down for English review)
Naouri既是Dessay的丈夫，也是獨當一面的低男中音，這張以佛瑞為主的法國藝術歌曲專輯，令我喜出望外。他不單止不用鋼琴伴奏、改用結他，而是將這些歌曲用流行歌曲的唱腔去唱，爵士電結他重新編排伴奏，有些樂曲的開頭，令我即時想起五輪真弓《一葉舟》及Sting《Shape of My Heart》。
Naouri在小冊子解釋，是因為伊扶蒙丹試過將佛瑞《搖籃》（這碟的第二軌）當成流行曲（「香頌chanson」：法式流行曲）唱，又發覺Loiseau原來很喜歡佛瑞（這碟有三分二是佛瑞），令他們作此嘗試。他指出美聲唱法難以帶出耳語感覺，除此之外，我覺得此碟之所以非常順耳，是因為佛瑞的旋律不追求太大起伏，很自然地上落，於是很適合流行曲的唱法。可能就是同一原因，我覺得其餘的德布西及浦朗克歌曲的移植沒那麼成功。
我相信第一軌《這兒》就能使你覺得此碟與別不同，假如再挑兩三首推介，我會選第二軌《搖籃》、第八軌《脾》，以及不唱歌詞、用口哨吹出來的《禱告》（第15軌）。
Other than being the spouse of Natalie Dessay, Laurent Naouri is a highly-respected bass-baritone. Still this mélodie album still came as a surprise. Not only the piano was replaced by a guitar, it was a jazz electric guitar. And instead of classical singing, Laouri rendered these songs as “chanson” in the tradition of Montand or Aznavour. The jazz guitar didn’t just do simple plucking, the accompaniment was entirely redone as pop songs. Indeed one of the intros reminded me of Sting’s Shape of My Heart.
In the booklet Laouri explained he was just following the lead of Montand’s rendition of Fauré’s Les Berceaux (track 2 of this album). And that he found a kindred soul in jazz guitarist Frédéric Loiseau who adored Fauré (two-thirds of this album are his songs). Naouri said he wished to deliver the whispering effect that eludes classical singing. Other than that, I sense that Fauré’s vocal writing which eschews big leaps or intervals is a good match for laid-back pop singing. Therefore I consider the songs of Debussy and Poulenc on this album not as effective.
The opening track Ici-bas! is enough to showcase how unique this album is. I enjoy this album immensely but if I must pick a couple of highlights, Les Berceaux (track 2), Spleen (track 8) and En prière (track 15) are the ones to die for. Naouri didn’t sing in En prière, he whistled.