Added: 3 years ago
From: vaimusic
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  • curiously hes a baritone yet in this recording hes singing it for high voice, though sublimely.

  • Les américains adorent faire des experts... Mais Même sans eux il est beau ! Merci AV

  • Gerard Souzay's vocal and interpretative gifts are out of reach for those whose love of voice is restricted to opera. Souzay's venue was the recital stage, where he illuminated the songs of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Faure, Ravel, Debussy, etc. His was a lyric baritone ---- NOT an operatic baritone "con belto". He painted vocal music with a fine brush and shaded words and phrases with a refinement completely unknown today. This is vocal artistry par excellence.

  • Gerard Souzay is a master of French melodie from the Fin de siècle. His interpretation of this repertoire is perhaps unrivaled. I can understand why someone might not find his voice to be beautiful if that someone dislikes velvety, lyric, French baritones with impeccable phrasing and evenness of tone.

  • @fatherman73 I don't love him on everything, and I won't say every choice made at the time was perfectly researched for every period he sang. BUT he was one of the best interpreters of French melodie. A repertoire that doesn't get it's due anymore. This is truly beautiful.

  • An intimate and beautiful rendition. Souzay, completely at home in this field.

    Does not appear to have a heck of a big or robust sound but it don't matter.

    A true lyric baritone. Classy.

  • I am entranced by this performance, by the ecstasy in his face and the beauty of his voice. It is as if he were living this song, and singing directly to his lover.

  • I like him. His interpretations are flawless.

  • absolument parfait

  • What I understand about this great artist from my conversations with him and with those who knew him well was that Souzay's technique was primarily that of a natural singer. His approach was ALWAYS to be Italianate in technique and he did so while singing flawlessly in his native French and also flawlessly in German.

    I know many, many professional singers who admire Mr. Souzay and also many who admire Schwarzkopf I don't know who golden throat has been speaking to for thirty years???

  • @lorifredrics Italianate in technique?!? That is so obviously and completely wrong that I must assume that you are lying or completely without a clue.

  • Some critics, during Souzay's prime, harped on the (real or imagined) limitations of his voice instead of its strengths. Granted, the man lacked a Verdian instrument (nor did he venture into that repetoire, unlike his similarly-endowed German colleague, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau). But Souzay's voice at its best was a lovely, with more than ample technique for a wide range of song literature, plus some well-chosen operatic roles, like the Count (in La Nozze) and Mercutio -- 

  • Les Duparc avec lui, merveilleux!

  • I heard Mr. Souzay sing three measures on an Amazon sample and flipped. He has one of the most beautiful baritone voices I've ever heard, and I love baritones, so I've heard a lot! He is stylish and elegant, and in my opinion, OWNS the French art song rep. When I'm singing French I always look first to his recordings for the impeccable diction and expression.

  • Jessye Norman has great intelligence and artistry. She also has a great instrument. Souzay doesn't exactly have a large fan base....and for good reason. Souzay is one of those singers that we're "supposed" to like because they're so "artistic." I'm sorry, but I hear neither great voice or great artistry in Souzay. I hear a VERY average instrument...by professional standards...and overly precious, but certainly not artistic singing. Callas had a great but flawed voice, but SHE was an artist!

  • @goldenthroat86 Absolute and utter dribble. I have never met a professional singer who has said a word bad about Gerard Souzay's voice. He is generally accepted to be the greatest french baritone, and certainly the greatest interpreter of French songs. There is simply no challenge to that. He sang very little opera and he is younger here so he has a more tenorial sound than in his later work. Still he has a perfectly structured voice in all registers and unmatched messo di voce control.

  • @raphaelhudson My opinion of Souzay's voice and "artistry" are not unique. Those who think Souzay is wonderful are definitely in the minority. He has a VERY small fan base. True, he is regarded as the greatest French baritone, but that's not saying much. There aren't any other French baritones of note. Having the greatest number of recordings of French art song doesn't make him the best interpreter of them. I think the youtube video of you singing Erlkonig says it all. Don't quit your day job!

  • @goldenthroat86 So you recommend us Hvorostovsky and Ms Norman. Norman had a big sound and was a wonderful singer of a limited field of repertoire but she was also inclined to be woofy and diffuse. She is often drowned out by an orchestra when "smaller" voices singing at the same time cut right through. Hvorostovsky has vocally decayed far before his time, he is often woofy and insecure in the top, although he remains the best living interpreter of the Russian baritone repertoire.

  • @raphaelhudson Judging from your channel, I'd say that you have excellent taste in singers. I just don't care for Souzay. Very few people do. In my humble opinion there are enough fine art song singers out there to listen to someone who has beautiful voice, sound technique AND artistry. For my ear, Souzay has none of those things. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it is also in the ear of the listener.

  • @goldenthroat86 I suspect that you don't like him because he is the perfect example of a lyric baritone. It has reached the stage in America where those who do not sound like a bass baritone and don't use dark modifications on all their high notes are tenors. But if you listen to the baritones that verdi was writing for they sound nothing like that! Accordingly the reason why most of Verdi's dynamic markings are ignored by modern baritones. Why don't post a video of yourself for comment?

  • intelligence counts!!!!!its no only matter of "great instrument".And personal taste and warm comprehension,identification with what he sings.By the way,Why does so many people speak about his"mediocre"instrument?!!!!!!­i want they say he cannot sing SHOUTING?Sorry,but "artistry" can be heard.And personal appeal.

  • you'd be hard pressed to find an interpretation better than this.

  • It's always been fashionable among so-called experts to say that Souzay was soooo "musical" and such an "artist". He had a relatively minor career for the fame he garnered. His voice was small and unattractive. He had faulty technique that didn't allow him to express himself very musically. A truly mediocre instrument.

  • @goldenthroat86 It often happens that the truly great interpretaive artists do not have a "great" instrument. The prime example of this is Maria Callas. In this repertoire Souzay holds the palm. His "l'invitation au voyage" has never been surpassed.

  • @adorientem Maria Callas is my favorite singer. She had a "great" but flawed instrument. Still the greatest musical intelligence in all of opera.

    IMO, Souzay, and others like him (Schwarzkopf, for example) are quite different cases. They both had VERY mediocre instruments. As singers, we're told that we're "supposed to like them" because they're great "artists". I don't hear the "artistry". With Terfel, however, I hear great artistry. Same with Norman. I'll take them anyday!

  • @goldenthroat86 De gustibus non disputandum est! It's a good job that we all have differing perceptions of great interpretation, otherwise the recording companies would go bankrupt. I also greatly admire Schwarzkopf in the repertoire she made her own, and her instrument was definitely NOT mediocre (neither is Souzay's). Perhaps you just don't like the repertoire?

  • @adorientem I LOVE the repertoire. It's Souzay's and Schwarzkopf's VOICES that I don't like. Elizabeth was always singing the wrong repertoire for her small voice. In addition, her career was helped considerably by her connections (She married Walter Legge, a major exec.) with the record companies. It didn't hurt that she was also very beautiful. She has a big fan base, but almost none of them singers themselves. Souzay fans are VERY hard to find. He is NOT well respected by pros today.

  • @goldenthroat86 I'm a Souzay fan. Check out his Ravel, Debussy, and Faure interpretations. He has one of the smoothest, silkiest baritone voices I have heard.

  • @Rockykratter Beauty is also in the ear of the listener. I agree with the vast majority of people who listen to classical singers that DON"T like Souzay's voice. We are tired of those with less than exceptional instruments or technique automatically being labeled "musical" and "artistic". To me, he is average in those areas.

    A singer having a beautiful, technically solid voice does not preclude him from being "musical" or an "artist." Listen to Hvorostovsky sing the same stuff.

  • @goldenthroat86 I guess I don't understand your argument. Where are these technical flaws that you speak of? I think the most important part of music is connecting with the audience on an emotional level through a performance, and Souzay has done this for me. Yes, Hvorostovksy is an incredible singer and may have had a more successful career, but that isn't the deciding factor all the time.

  • @goldenthroat86 Souzay was looked down upon because he wanted to go a different direction with the music and words of the songs he performed. Even though some of these things may not fall in line with the "professional standards", I think that's a prime example of his "artistry." The fact that he didn't care about the standards, and expressed things his own way is all the more musical and artistic as someone who does it technically in line with the standarts. No his voice isn't huge, sorry.

  • @goldenthroat86 your argument loses all credibility when you bring schwarzkopf into it. "musical".... "artist".... even if she wasn't those (and she WAS), she had technique that put the vast majority of her peers to shame and pretty much everyone singing today to shame.

    seeing your comment it is obvious you just like to disagree and that is coming from someone who tends to do the same....but with CREDIBILITY

  • I have been singing classical music professionally for almost 30 yrs. Never have I met even one fellow professional singer who admired the likes of Schwarzkopf and Souzay. NOT ONE!

    Just because someone tells you that these singers are "artistic" doesn't make it true. Listen with your ears...Don't be made deaf by a famous name. My opinion about these two is not exactly in the minority, by the way.

  • @goldenthroat86 Probably why we have heard of them and you are sitting in comfortable anonymity. The man is a wonderful singer.

  • @Aalanone As soon as some people hear a big name in music, they turn off their hearing. Some of the finest performances I've heard in my life were from singers I'd never heard of. But if you don't have the ear, you only admire those who you have been told they are "great artists."

  • @goldenthroat86 d'accord! But I sing myself, I have many friends who are musical and whom I admire. This guy is a great singer....... You may not like his voice - I dont like Bob Dylans voice, but dont question his talent. And dont tell me my ear is as deaf as yours

  • @goldenthroat86 I'm not sure why you take issue with this -- it's a very good performance!

  • it is like a dream!

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  • saw this post for future use. Shall be back soon.

  • Wonderful! Sorry I haven't heard of him sooner!

  • This is gorgeous - what a polished, refined and expressive artist this singer was!

  • One of the many great things about this wonderful artist is that you can understand every word. When he sang, he savored both the text as well as the music, and that allowed his listeners to do likewise. Souzay once said, "I can only offer my emotions when I sing".

  • My voice teacher coached with Souzay. He told me the great French baritone was charming, witty and extremely knowledgeable about myriad fine points in the melodie literature. AND he communicated his knowledge precisely in a language (English) that wasn't his first --

  • he is the finest, warmest and most unpretentious artist - it's as if he were expressing his own thoughts. I wish I could have heard him live.

  • I was lucky to hear M. Souzay in NY about 30 yrs ago, and it was one of the most captivating recitals I ever attended, and I did attend quite a few. A friend had a recording I used to listen to, but I haven't been able to hear this magnificent talent for decades. I just love youtube.

  • oh my god!!! I am in heaven!!!

  • My response was for goldenthroat86

  • No one sings melodie better than Souzay. I heard three measures of his singing - by accident - and went crazy.

  • Always using gimmicks to cover up for technical shortcomings does not make one musical.

  • If all you can hear in music is tecqnique, you are just one of those educated idots!

  • Please name aforementioned "technical shortcomings". You're obviously not a singer, or if you are, you're the typically American singer entrenched in his own technical prowess (debatable) and have no soul.

  • He is much more tenorial here than when he is older

  • C' est magnifique!!

  • musicale littéraire sensibles, beaucoup de souvenir pour l'avoir entendu en 80 à salle Pleyel, merci pour le meilleur de YouTube

  • anybody have souzay singing plaisir d'amour?

  • Marvellous. Souzay was my introduction to Duparc and I've never heard anyone sing it better.

  • Absolutely amazing singing here......he is truly a master!

  • amazing diction and phrasing... beautiful~ effortless~ and lovely!!

  • Dans ton coeur dort un clair de lune,

    Un doux clair de lune d'été,

    Et pour fuir la vie importune,

    Je me noierai dans ta clarté.

    J'oublierai les douleurs passées,

    Mon amour, quand tu berceras

    Mon triste coeur et mes pensées

    Dans le calme aimant de tes bras.

  • Tu prendras ma tête malade,

    Oh! quelquefois, sur tes genoux,

    Et lui diras une ballade

    Qui semblera parler de nous;

    Et dans tes yeux pleins de tristesse,

    Dans tes yeux alors je boirai

    Tant de baisers et de tendresse[s]

    Que peut-être je guérirai.

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  • Utterly exquisite. No words for this, really....

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  • Quelle voix splendide et quelle maitrise! que du bonheur!

  • Un tres beau baryton martin, et une des plus belles mélodies de Duparc. Simplement magnifique

  • I must echoe bud21s's comments. This is truly an example of musical perfection.

  • Exquisite ! The subtle tone , yet full support ! Truly a master , bravo !!

  • maravillosa interpretacion,and such a grand allure!!!!!!!!

  • I had completely forgotten about this masterful singer--how fleeting is fame (and one's memory!) Thank you for reminding me of this so very important artist and voice.

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