Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne
I'll admit that in 1985 I didn't know whothe New Zealand singer Kiri Te Kanawa was, but that summer I was in Richmond's classical music record store on Three Chopt Road and her recording entitled Come to the Fair: Folk Songs and Ballads was playing. The energy of the songs struck me as being so fresh and beautifully sung that I knew I had to buy it. I probably also liked the "wet look" and red sweater she was wearing, so the $9.00 seemed well spent. I replaced the LP with a CD a decade later and it is still one of my favorite collections of songs. As I found out more about her and listened to more of her recordings, one kept popping up on the radio and I know why that is: It is simply gorgeous. " Bailèro " is a song sung between a shepherd and a shepherdess, who sing to one another across the mountain pastures. It is the most famous of the roughly 30 French folk songs arranged by Marie-Joseph Canteloube de Malaret in the 1920s. Whether it be Véronique...