Caballé and Wyn Morris in Debussy, Chausson

I transferred this unusual record as the result of a request on one of the classical music newsgroups, and thought some of you might be interested in it, although it falls outside the usual time frame of this blog.

It is one of the few issues on producer Isabella Wallich's Symphonica label of the late 1970s. As usual with her productions of this time, it featured the talented but tempestuous conductor Wyn Morris, the so-called "Welsh Furtwängler," this time in French music rather than his usual Germanic repertoire.

Unusually for the fledgling company, the record starred soprano Montserrat Caballé at the peak of her fame. The diva's representative had proposed recording the Debussy to EMI, but the firm was not interested. Symphonica stepped in, proposing a coupling of Chausson's gorgeous "Poème de l'Amour et La Mer."

Wyn Morris, Montserrat Caballé, Isabella Wallich

In her autobiography, Recording My Life, Wallich says the results were "neither the happiest nor the most successful sessions I ever undertook," citing problems with getting the scores from France, utilizing an unfamiliar hall and engineer, and working around Caballé's operatic commitments in London. For her part the soprano was "unfamiliar" with the Chausson and "somewhat unfamiliar" with the Debussy, per Wallich, although she does praise Caballé's vocal skill and professionalism.

All that aside, the record is decidedly successful. It is well recorded and nicely performed, with Morris seemingly at home in what may be the only French music he recorded, and Caballé in fine voice.

The Debussy is an early work, when he was under the influence of Wagner and the Pre-Raphaelites. "La Demoiselle Elue" is a setting in translation of Dante Gabriel Rosetti's poem "The Blessed Damozel," also the subject of Rosetti's later painting, a detail of which is shown on the record cover. The work by Debussy's older colleague, Chausson, is from the school of Franck.

The recording was laid down in All Saints Church, Tooting, in June 1977. This transfer is from my copy of the subsequent vinyl issue, which has not, as far as I can tell, been reissued. I was a Wyn Morris enthusiast back in the day, and acquired several of his records as they came out. As usual, the download contains hi-res scans of the covers, some related materials and the audio files in Apple lossless format.