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Other Versions of La Fontaine's Fables

1991  Fables de La Fontaine.  CD.  Fables as songs by Lecocq, Offenbach, Gounod, Caplet, de Manziarly, Van Parys, and Trenet.  EMI Classics.  $17.95 from Gennady Smolyakov, Albuquerque, NM, through Amazon Marketplace, August, '15.

This CD was a revelation to me, through its 22 tracks, of the rich heritage of presentation of La Fontaine's fables as songs.  I enjoyed them!  Collaborators here are piano and four voices.  Lecocq's WL is an excellent example of contrasting wolf and lamb voices.  He also has a wonderfully dramatic finish to FC.  I found Offenbach's "Shepherd and Sea" eminently understandable.  The same goes for his GA.  Gounod has several voices, not necessarily in unison, working at once.  Caplet and de Manziarly are more "modern," that is, less predictable and "pretty."  I enjoyed particularly Caplet's WL with its great closing line and de Manziarly's OF.  I found Van Parys more easily comprehensible in his FC, including the inserted "coi, coi, coi."  Trenet's GA, among the shortest offerings, seemed to me more playful than others.  An auditory treat!

1991  Rap La Fontaine.  CD.  10 fables embedded in jazz arrangements, plus the arrangements without texts.  Musiques de Dominique bouvier et Georges Sandri.  Editions: J.L.B.E.  Studio de la Nation.  Herisson Vert/Warm-Up SA.  From P.J. Music UK through Ebay.  Extra copy from an unknown source.

This disc surprised me.  Rap turns out to be a great way to understand La Fontaine!  The rap artist presents each fable quite briskly.  Jump on the bus, because it is leaving fast and moving fast!  Each fable is given first in its mixed form, with music and text, and then only the musical part is played – perhaps so that one can oneself rap?  I could not identify what is titled "Le Grenouille Et Le Boeuf."  It seems not to be La Fontaine's "Le Grenouille qui veut se faire aussi grosse que le Boeuf." 

1993 Jean de La Fontaine: Oh! les belles fables! Albert Millaire. Musique de Alexandre Stanké. Illustrations et conception visuelle: Anne Côte. Productions: Les Éditions Stanké. Fabriqué au Québec. Participation Sodec. COF-12-CD. Coffragants. $5 from Ross Coleman, Days Creek, OR, through Ebay, August, '00.

A very nice rendition of sixteen La Fontaine fables, complete with well integrated orchestral support. Millaire has a lovely voice. See the book and cassette that were all apparently done together.

1997  Chansons de la Fontaine.  Monomotapa.  CD.  Nineteen fables rendered as songs.  Composition and arrangements of almost all: Jean Chavot.  Auvidis Jeunesse.  Studio du Palais.  Liège, Belgium: Studio S.O.S.  €3.49 from Ansali Multimedia Vertriebs GmbH through Ebay, Dec., '05.

This disc is a very pleasant surprise.  The texts of La Fontaine are presented verbatim, if not always at the same level of intensity or audibility.  But each text is encased in a true chanson, with its own rhythm and persuasion.  These chansons move!  I enjoyed the first four immensely, not least the conjunction of the third and fourth: "The Rat and the Elephant" and "The Frog Who Wanted to Be as Big as An Ox."  They are very much about the same pretentiousness.  The voices here work together wonderfully!  An accompanying little booklet with clever illustrations offers a key refrain from each song.

1999  Les Fables de La Fontaine.  CD.  Racontées par Jean-Pierre Darras.  Twenty fables and one "Le Thème des Contes."  Sony Music Entertainment (France).  ©1994 Puzzle Productions.  $1.50 from jeff-9009 through Ebay, August, '03. 

This is a lovely CD, perhaps the one I would most recommend for articulate presentation of the original French fables.  I listened to the first four of the twenty fables – FC, GA, TH, and WL – and enjoyed them thoroughly.  WL is read, for example, with a strong sense of pace that fits the fable.  There is an appropriately understated musical background and a few sound effects.  The final "Theme of the Contes" is a rather haunting instrumental piece. 

2000  Fables Jazz: Jean de la Fontaine.  CD.  15 fables embedded in jazz arrangements.  Chemin Faisant.  Sergent Major Company.  Unknown source.

Here is another highly creative development of La Fontaine's fables.  I listened to and enjoyed the first three: "La Montagne Qui Accouche"; OR; and "The Coach and the Fly."  The last of these was, for me, the most clearly articulated.  Because the marriage of jazz and fable is somewhat breathtaking as an endeavor, I think the producer had to make some choices.  In that third fable, "The Coach and the Fly," I believe the choice was for articulate rendering of the words of the fable.  I believe that that effort succeeded.  In a fable like "La Montagne Qui Accouche," I believe his choice was more for the mood set by the jazz.  I believe that that effort also succeeded.  At the end of OR, there is a clever repetition of "Morts."  That word sums up wonderfully the end of the arrogant oak. 

2000  Jean de La Fontaine: Fables.  Tome 2.  CD.  Narrator: Albert Millaire.  Illustrations: Anne Coté.  Musique: Alexandre Stanké.  Collection Coffragants: Alexandre Stanké.  From Patrice Julien, Quebec. 

Lively and articulate narrations of seventeen fables, separated by brief musical interludes.  This and a 1993 CD, also from Millaire and Stanké, may be the only CDs in our collection narrated by a Canadian, though I am sure I cannot tell the different in accent.  The disc is accompanied by a 48-page booklet offering the French texts of the fables with one colored and several black-and-white drawings of Anne Coté.  Our collection also includes a 1993 audio cassette of Albert Millaire reading, again for Alexandre Alexandre Stanké.  I could not establish any clear relationship between this CD and that cassette and could also not compare this CD and booklet with the CD and publication from 1993.

2001 Anthologie des Fables de La Fontaine. Choisies et lues par Michel Leeb. Illustrées par Philippe de Kemmeter. Hardbound. Paris: Éditions du Layeur. €10 from an unknown source, August, '12.

This is a curious book, with a fine CD. The unusualness starts with the book's thin, tall format: 5¾" x 9½". The unusualness continues with the twelve full-page colored illustrations. Their style is lively, primitive, spirited, creative. The French keep using their imaginations on La Fontaine, and the results are delightful for the rest of us! There is a strange thing here: many of the illustrations are separated from their texts. Since there is no table of the illustrations, I will list them here with their pages and, if they are separate, the pages of their texts. They are "The Weasel in the Granary" (17, 15); "The Stag Admiring Himself" (21, 18); UP (33, 35); "The Bulls and the Frogs" (41); TH (49, 51); "The Old Lion" (53); "The Lion and the Mosquito" (57); WC (69, 66); "The Wounded Eagle" (77); "The Angler and the Small Fish" (81, 78); and "The Fox and the Goat" (85). Let me suggest something engaging about each of three of the best among these. The weasel in the granary has eaten books, not grain! In the illustration for "The Bulls and the Frogs," one can see the frogs underwater as well as the bovine love triangle that caused their problems. In "The Wounded Eagle," colors help make clear that it is eagle feathers that have mortally wounded this eagle. FC shows up three times: on the cover, on the verso of the title-page, and on 37. The disc has little or no music but very good voices. I will keep the disc in its holder inside the end-paper at the back of the book.

2003 Les Fables de La Fontaine.  Racontées par Michel Galabru et Jean Topart.  CD.  Frémeaux & Associés.  Unknown source..

This is the former of two CD's that are apparently identical in content with the two-CD set from the same firm in 2012, which one can find elsewhere on this page.  This first disc has 22 fables, listed on the back of the packaging.  As I mention there, these CD's may be the best representation of a great reading of these, some of the best known fables of La Fontaine.  The packaging here displays many of the same notices of prizes these recordings have won!  The booklet offers the very same critique texts by Jean-Pierre Collinet as the booklet nine years later, now newly formatted, as is the packaging of the discs.  As there, one finds in the booklet plentiful Doré illustrations.

2004 Les Fables de La Fontaine, Vol. 2.  Racontées par Michel Galabru et Jean Topart.  CD.  Frémeaux & Associés.  Unknown source..

This is the latter of two CD's that are apparently identical in content with the two-CD set from the same firm in 2012, which one can find elsewhere on this page.  This second disc has 17 fables, listed on the back of the packaging.  As I mention there, these CD's may be the best representation of a great reading of these, some of the best known fables of La Fontaine.  The outer cellophane packaging here displayed many of the same notices of prizes these recordings have won!  The booklet offers the very same critique texts by Jean-Pierre Collinet as the booklet nine years later, now newly formatted, as is the packaging of the discs.  As there, one finds in the booklet plentiful Doré illustrations.  Did the first disc do so well that  they made a second disc a year later?  The first disc curiously shows no "Volume 1" to correspond to the "Volume 2" here.

2004 Les Fables de La Fontaine. Isabelle Aboulker. Paris: Gallimard Jeunesse Musique. €18.01 from amazon.fr, Sept., '11

"1 Livre + 1 CD Audio." This high-class CD comes inside the front-cover of a large-format book of the same name published by Gallimard Jeunesse in 2008. The book offers at its back a musical passage from each of the fifteen fables. The fables are rendered in highly complex music involving a number of instruments and several voices. This book and CD bring together a significant collection of songs, texts, facts, and art objects! The CD has imprinted on i

2005 La Fontaine and Le Gaucher.  La Fontaine and Le Gaucher.  Pierrejean Gaucher.  Paris: Nocturne.  £2.45 from ianscdstore, Liverpool, through eBay, August, '11. 

Here is a 50-minute compact disc featuring sixteen fables musically rendered.  Fourteen are in French, with one Italian version of OF and one English version of GA.  Guitars, pianos, accordion, trombone, saxophone, flute, counterbass, and percussion all contribute.  Pierrejean Gaucher did the composition and arrangements of the music.  A few bars of taps for the exploded frog in the Italian version of OF is a nice touch!  FC and WC have multiple parts.  TMCM is wonderfully frantic music, well matched to the lively colored cartoon work!  Overall, the disc shows a strong integration of poetry and music. 

2005  Les Fables de La Fontaine pour les petits, Volume 1.  CD.  Avec la partcipation [sic] de Jean-Pierre Darras.  MCSA Entertainment.  Vente exclusivement réservé à la Belgique.  $.01 from music-n-dvds through Ebay, Dec., '06.

Several things are remarkable about this disc.  First is the price for which I was able to obtain it.  It could not be lower!  Next is that a goodly portion of the disc seems to repeat, from Puzzle Productions, readings of four fables by Jean-Pierre Darras from a disc we have, produced in 1999.  The third remarkable thing is that the other five presentations are as different as could be from Darras' readings.  They are a kind of "children's radio theater" presentation of the fables, complete with giggles, sirens, the sound of pouring lemonade, and church bells.  These are dramatizations of La Fontaine, sometimes – only sometimes, as far as I can perceive – using La Fontaine's words.  I suspect the voices of, for example, the town and country mice are sped up human voices.  TMCM seems to include several broken glasses or dishes and also a phone call to the town mouse.  I find the grouping of these presentations with Darras' readings jarring.  For the price, I guess I cannot complain.  We do not have the second volume, and I will not be seeking it zealously.

 

2006  Fables de La Fontaine.  CD.  Louis de Funès, Gérard Philipe, François Perier, Fernandel, and others.  GoHit, Ltd.  €7.

This is a disappointing CD.  Although it offers a variety of reciters, each of whom uses a variety of voices supported by orchestral music and sound effects, there are two serious drawbacks.  First, the sound quality is not the highest.  Secondly, while the jewel case advertises 24 fables, there are 17 tracks, and the last fable and a half are cut off at the end.  A good example of the various voices provided by one reciter is WL.  Similarly a peculiar voice for the fox in FC includes in his final putdown a good deal of laughing.  Louis de Funès recites the first ten fables.  There is an accompanying12-page booklet with photos of de Funès and Fernandel, but only some of the fable texts are provided.

2009 Fables de La Fontaine. Composition, direction musicale et réalization: Pierre-Gérard Verny. For use with the book Fables de La Fontaine sur des airs de jazz. Paris: Flammarion: Père Castor. €19.81 for the book, including the CD, from Amazon.fr, Oct., '11.

Of the twenty-eight fables in the book, twelve are selected for presentation in a jazz mode here. The titles for the music are clever, e.g., "Le blues de la Cigale," "La fugue du Renard," and "La marche de la Tortue." The disc runs some 79 minutes. The final piece puts together two stories of the "smaller," LM and AD, in "Le medley des plus petits." The musical score for "La marche de la Tortue" is at the end of the book.

2010 Fables de Jean de La Fontaine Lues par Gérard Philipe et ses Compères. Illustrations by Bruno Vacaro. Hardbound. Vandrezanne: Le Chant du Monde. €19.90 from L'Écume des Pages, Paris, July, '12.

This is a fine book with an excellent compact disc. Twenty fables appear, with at least one fine, detailed, full-page colored illustration per fable. The best among these illustrations may be for "The Coach and the Fly" (5), as the mosquito stands sweating after the coach can start downhill; for "The Small Fish and the Angler" (11); for GA (21); for "The Wolves and the Sheep" (32), where wolf and sheep bump fists to clinch their deal; and for OF (34). The illustrations are lively. There is a T of C on the back cover. The actors on the disc come from Le Théâtre Français. The tracks feature only voices, but they are excellent and nicely varied voices. The French keep on presenting their La Fontaine with distinction!

2011  Les Fables de La Fontaine.  Raconté par Gérard Philipe et ses Amis.  CD.  MVS.  €3.50 from "Aux Arts Majeures," Paris.

This disc largely repeats the 2010 disc of La Fontaine fables "Lue par Gérard Philipe et ses compères." That disc accompanied a book with illustrations by Bruno Vacaro, published by Le Chant Du Monde.  Our listing of it is on this same webpage.  The back cover of the present jewel case recognizes this earlier publication.  Three selections from that earlier disc are here dropped out – UP, LS, and "The Bat and the Two Weasels" – and two are added at the end: MM and "The Lapdog and the Ass."

2012 Les Fables de La Fontaine.  Interpretées par Michel Galabru et Jean Topart.  Frémeaux & Associés.  Coffret 2 CDs.  $22 from classmusicsuperstore through Ebay, April, '18.

The two CD's here offer 22 and 16 fables, respectively.  These CD's may be the best representation of a great reading of these best known fables.  Notice by the cover how many prizes these recordings have won!  The booklet offers insightful critique but not texts of the fables presented.  There are also plentiful Doré illustrations.

2015  Les Fables de la Fontaine transcribed in music by Nicolas Clérambault.  CD.  Performed by Ensemble Almazis with harpsichordist Iakovos Pappas.  Magnetone.  Duplitechnologies.  $20 from Fishpond, Commerce, CA. 

Here is something new.  Clérambault in the eighteenth century created children's music out of fables, set to vaudeville tunes and simple arias.  The texts by an unknown author are simpler than La Fontaine's.  They match well the catchy tunes to which they are put.  The result is delightful, not least when OF ends with a vocal sound like a balloon bursting.  The disc has twenty such fables and then six instrumental-only tracks for family karaoke.  With the disc is a 20-page leaflet including English translations of the prose descriptions and eight strong illustrations of fables by Thomas Carrere. 

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