Most (or all) of the selections on this CD are just about forgotten today, and I know of no other recordings of any of them. These ariettes from French operettas composed between 1897 and 1934 are light, enchanting, and filled with that certain je-ne-sais-quoi that adds sophistication and charm to what under different conditions might be mere baubles. Maybe that je-ne-sais-quoi is sex appeal: A song like “Yes”, by the unknown Maurice Yvain (at least he’s unknown to me, although the notes tell us that he wrote songs for Maurice Chevalier, among others) is suggestive and alluring in a remarkably non-lewd-but-still-sexual way. As with everything else on this disc, Susan Graham sings it perfectly, with her handsome soprano-placed mezzo ideally pitched, her French enunciation lovely and natural, and her delivery adding just the right amount of seriousness.
A songlet by Arthur Honegger, sung by one of the 365 wives of the hero of the operetta Les aventures du roi Pausole, is surprsingly moving and rich. From André Messager (responsible for seven of the 17 numbers here) there’s a song called “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”–which opera lovers immediately will recognize as Carmen’s Act 1 habanera statement. Here it’s sung by a maid to a man who keeps his wife in a wig and sunglasses to ensure her fidelity, and it’s a pip. And so it goes. Each song’s character is nicely profiled, and in the case of an excerpt from Reynaldo Hahn’s O mon bel inconnu, there’s a trio for women who have answered the same lonely-hearts ad and fallen for the same man. Graham, through the magic of over-dubbing, sings all three characters. This CD may seem fluffy to some and I certainly can’t recommend that it be listened to in one sitting, but Graham is a great artist and this music, while hardly Debussy, Duparc, or Bizet, is not throw-away.
