"And then he sang Bleuet and I just died"

Jean-Philippe Lazure sang a perfect, perfect delivery of Poulenc's Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon. This pair of songs is so immediate in message, so unashamed to talk about the squalor of war, that it always floors me with its beauty. Jean-Philippe risked so much in C; he got angry, he got sad, he hung that beautiful note on "délaissé---e". It was so beautiful. "Fêtes galantes" was wicked. Jean-Philippe had an obvious advantage with all that French set at warp speed, but there was so much detail in every single line of that ugly poem that it was mesmerizing. And then he sang Bleuet and I just died. That song, plus Jean-Philippe's commitment to it, was the total package.

Published: Jan 23rd, 2015

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