ABSTRACT
Doleful, dull music, a great deal of fake classicism and dissonanced Scarlatti, a general lack of rhythm and a total absence of melodic emotion: these are the characteristics of the majority of works heard in the most recent Parisian concerts. The deplorable system of the extravagant première has also given us botched concerti and useless quartets. Some rays of sunlight do, however, brighten this sad landscape. The performance of Milhaud’s Choéphores in the Poulet-Siohan concert series must be mentioned. These Choéphores are always grand and bloodthirsty, and were admirably declaimed by Madeleine Vhita. At the same concert the first performance of Milhaud’s Adages for vocal quartet and orchestra was heard: a fine, charming work, deliciously written for the voices. The spruce style – very Abandon d’Ariane – conveys perfectly the wholly oriental wisdom of the poem. The singers, Mmes Mahé and Schenneberg and MM. Cuénod and Froumenty, are worthy of great praise. Raïmi, by Mme Béclard d’Harcourt, seduced me through the exoticism of its melodies, despite an excess of rhythmic pedals.
