Anyone familiar only with Takemitsu's orchestral and chamber music will be astonished at the expressive landscape he shows himself to be a master of in his songs, written over the span of his career. They inhabit various "popular" worlds -- French-sounding chansons one could imagine
Edith Piaf singing, cool jazz, Piazzollan tangos, and cabaret songs -- with very few hints of Takemitsu's modernist side. Many of the songs were written for his film scores and are in Japanese, Spanish, and German, although most of the Japanese songs are sung here in English translation. It's difficult to evaluate Takemitsu's text setting since the translations are sometimes awkward, but there is no doubt whatsoever about the expertise of his idiomatic vocal and piano writing and his gift at creating distinctive moods and strong melodies. The singer is countertenor
Dominique Visse, although the listener could be forgiven for thinking he or she was listening to a French chanteuse.
Visse, whose distinguished career ranges from Renaissance to contemporary repertoire, sings great stylistic character and is as much at home in the jazzy chansons as in the bluesy ballads. Pianist
François Couturier accompanies
Visse with easy, improvisatory-sounding gracefulness. Hänssler's sound is clean and well-balanced, but a little bright for this repertoire.