The tessitura of Mauranes fine voice, with a pleasant low register and clear, fluent top notes like a tenors, places him in that splendid line of French baryton-Martin named after the early 19th-century singer Jean-Blaise Martin. More modern exponents include Pierre Bernac, creator of many songs by Poulenc, and Jacques Jansen, recently the subject of a tribute on record by Eloquence (4824603) featuring Decca recital recordings of Debussy, Chabrier, Ravel and Reynaldo Hahn. Jansens contemporary, Maurane (19112010) was an equally renowned exponent of the role of Pellas in Debussys opera for which his delicately shaded palette of timbres was ideally suited. Mauranes longevity and diligently maintained technique allowed him to continue singing well into his 70s. Throughout his career he retained his clear diction and a mode of restrained expression which had been the hallmarks of his teacher at the Conservatoire, Claire Croiza. However, his voice was in its prime when these recital recordings were made in Paris in 195455 for the then-new Philips label. As Daniele Pistone observes in a newly commissioned appreciation for the booklet, for Maurane, music was all about nuance, and with the most subtle command of nuance he would try to find the best blend of colours, heightened by the silences between the music. From the spareness of Debussys Trois ballades de Franois Villon to the clarity of Ravels Don Quichotte Dulcine, as well as the more intense expression of Duparcs songs, he is at the height of his powers; he moulds syllables, shapes ideas, and in a superbly evocative manner demonstrates the art of turning music into speech.
