Hector Berlioz's songs are certainly the most overlooked area of his output, even though they demonstrate no less color, eccentricity, or Romantic boldness than his work in other genres. Alpha Productions' Hector Berlioz: La Belle Voyageuse collects 15 of Berlioz's songs and submits them to a period treatment, or at least to a period instrument, namely an original 1836 square piano manufactured by Ignace Pleyel. In some cases Berlioz provides for optional, extra voices to complement the lead, resulting in a pseudo-part song-like texture. In such cases, bass baritone
Jerôme Correas is joined by three tenors and a second baritone to fill out the extra parts. He is also partnered by horn player
Claude Maury and cellist
Christophe Coin when additional parts for instruments are required.
Correas is a good French baritone with a nice, pear-shaped approach to vowels and a sometimes warm personality, although in a fair amount of instances he seems a bit too preoccupied with the business of singing to really project it. His main partner in this project is pianist
Arthur Schoonderwoerd, and it is his participation, rather than the music he is making, that we mostly hear. The whole recording has a weak low end, and the singer is mixed a bit too far forward, with the piano barely audible most of the time. When it can be heard, the Pleyel has a charming, tinkling sound very close to that of the pianos you hear accompanying European singers on very early phonograph recordings from around 1900. The weak bass robs the sonority of the piano in the most interesting part of its range, the lower registers. Despite the pedigree of the extra instrumentalists, the instrumental obbligati are cheesy -- it has probably been 80 years since musicians have really known how to present parlor music for voice, piano, and another instrument and not have it come off like showboating.
The concluding Chant Sacré, which calls for an added soprano and mezzo, really comes off beautifully, as the near choral texture makes it so one doesn't miss the sound of the piano. Hector Berlioz: La Belle Voyageuse, therefore, is a mixed bag with some very good things included. But it is better overall if you don't particularly like accompanists.