If you’re at all familiar with Joseph Kosma’s work, you probably know this disc’s title track (a.k.a. “Autumn Leaves”) and perhaps one or two of his film scores (which include such treasures as Renoir’s La Grande Illusion and Prévert’s Les Enfants du paradis). The Jewish, Hungarian-born composer who fled to Paris in 1933 explored numerous genres–writing ballets, operas, cantatas, and assorted instrumental pieces as well as songs and film scores–but Decca has chosen to focus on his songs for this installment in its ongoing “Entartete Musik” effort (which, as the label says gingerly, explores music by composers either “suppressed or displaced during the political troubles of the 1930s and ’40s”).
Baritone François Le Roux (who previously has recorded music of Poulenc and Chausson for Decca) presents a collection of some of Kosma’s most musically sophisticated songs. The singer’s mix of world-weariness and vocal smoothness suits the by turns sardonic, yearning, and overtly political lyrics. The fine accompanying musicians capture the electric charge of music that swirls between the currents of France, Germany, Hungary, and Eastern Europe. The sound mimics the closeness of a live cabaret performance, but the instruments never overwhelm the singer.
