T'as Beau Pas Etre Beau [Import]

1. T'As Beau Pasêtre Beau

2. Ver de Terre

3. Demain

4. Chacun Chacune

5. Je Chante Dans Les Transistors

6. Je Marche Dans Les Rues de Paris

7. Belle

8. King Kong

9. Vive Nous

10. Fille Que J'Aime

11. Vade Retro Satanas

12. Hold-Up

Customer Reviews:

Fine reissue of a classic set.......2006-05-24

Think about the stupidest, most formulaic Hollywood movies you can think of: cheesy action pictures, fluffy, unfunny comedies, big but stiff epics. Now imagine that one of the greatest living composers was working in Hollywood, turning out astonishing, hauntingly beautiful and stirring musical scores for these throwaway movies. That's what you get with this set: music Henry Purcell composed for some two dozen often utterly forgettable plays (trust me--I've read a number of them!) Occasionally, when he teams up with a playwright worthy of his stature, such as John Dryden, Aphra Behn, or William Congreve, the results are even better, but for the most part you can enjoy the music here without knowing anything about the original plays.

This set originally appeared as separate LPs in the 70s and 80s, and has been long out of print. That's a pity, since Purcell spent a good deal of his short professional life in the theatre, either writing the incidental music contained on these CDs, or the music for his larger works, the semi-operas (King Arthur, The Fairy Queen, and the like). Almost all of these works are enjoyable gems; certainly, they represent a pinnacle of English 17th century music. Purcell had a genius for spinning musical gold out of the most leaden lyrics (check out his Odes and Welcome Songs on Hyperion if you don't believe me), and he does the same with the song texts in these plays.

Hogwood and the AAM offer clean, listenable performances, and the sound on these old analog discs has been cleaned up and brightened--although they were pretty good, even in the late 70s. As with most Hogwood, emotional extremes are kept to a minimum, so the "otherworldly" nature of late 17th century music, so often emphasised in more recent Baroque performances, doesn't come across here. It would be interesting to see what a group like The King's Consort would do with this music, but this set fills the major gap in the Purcell canon quite nicely.

My only beef with the reissue, as with many reissues, is that the liner notes are rather thin for a 6-cd set--the lyrics to the songs, for example, are especially missed. Still, it's a worthwhile set, and a must for fans of Purcell, English Baroque music, or anyone who just wants to experience a taste of the last days of the Restoration stage.

Average customer rating:

Not representative Teyte
Joy and melancholy

Maggie Teyte

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Musical Theater | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
ASIN: B00005NY7B
Release Date: 2002-01-15

Tracks:

La Perichole: Tu N'es Pas Beau... Je T'adore
Veronique: Petite Dinde! Ah! Quel Outrage!
Veronique: Ma Foi! Pour Venir De Provence
Apres Un Reve
Si Mes Vers Avaient Des Ailes
Humoresque, Op.101 No.7: Christina's Lament
Songs My Mother Taught Me, Op.55 No.4
Sir Roger De Coverley: Sweet Mistress Prue
Sir Roger De Coverley: Carefree
The Student Prince: Deep In My Heart Dear
The Lilac Domino: What Is Done You Never Can Undo
Conversation Piece: I'll Follow My Secret Heart
Conversation Piece: Nevermore
Der Nussbaum, Op.25 No.3 (Myrten)
Auftrage, Op.77 No.5
Die Mainacht, Op.43 No.2
An Die Nachtigall, Op.46 No.4
Meine Liebe Ist Grun, Op.63 No.5
Now Sleeps The Crimson Petal
Indian Love Song
The Fields Are Full Of Summer Still
E'en As A Lovely Flower
The Nightingale Sings To His Mate In The Tree
Wander-thrist

Customer Reviews:

Not representative Teyte.......2005-08-29

Maggie Teyte is known, for the most part, for her French Art Song recordings. This Decca 'Singers' edition, while entertaining, is not representative of her best, or indeed, her most iconic work. For that, you'll need to turn to her EMI recordings. All that said, these recordings show her in marvellous voice, and a couple of the performances, the Hahn and the Dvorak 'Songs my mother taught me' are very special.

Joy and melancholy.......2002-02-07

I wonder how many English singers, born as long ago as 1888, have been resurrected on CD in the year 2001. Dame Maggie Teyte can claim two CDs! This one forms part of the series "The Singers". All the recordings on this CD date from the 1930s. That those years were "lean years" for British singers, is also to Maggie Teyte's credit. Beggars cannot be choosers, of course, and what is here is not necessarily always her best work. The first three tracks show her at her best; elsewhere there are some quaint and queer items. In "Sweet Mistress Prue" you will hear "the sky is blue" and "how I love you" and every possible rhyming line ad nauseum. Eleven of the tracks derive from 1937 broadcasts she gave with the accompanist Rita Mackay. One of them is issued here for the first time, replacing another - a song by Hugo Wolf - that was included in a first issue of this collection on LP in the 1970s.

The singer puts her stamp on everything, conveying a sense of joy mixed with a tinge of wistful melancholy. Her admirers will welcome this CD with joy. That her voice never recorded well, and that these recordings were never the best of their day, might induce a slight feeling of melancholy.

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