Hugues Cuenod tenor b 1902

And while I am on the subject of performances which do everything wrong but yet musically are absolutely right I can't help but note the passing of the great Hugues Cuenod, who of course died a few days ago at the age of 108.


This is the famous recording of Chiome D'oro from the Monteverdi Madrigals directed by Nadia Boulanger from the 1930s.




I first heard this piece at school where two of the singers in the 6th form did this as a party piece at several concerts.

When I heard this recording at University I was very sniffy about it because - horror of horrors - it has a piano accompaniment.      Completely beyond the pale to a right thinking young musicologist.  

Yet of course, like the Deller, taken on its own terms it is masterly.  Indeed this is one of the best examples of pure joy in music that I know - listening to it always brings me out in a smile.   I find many more modern performances of this try too hard - Boulanger knew exactly how to make the music seems as fresh and natural as it had been composed the previous day.