Dame Janet Baker is awesome in the Strauss Letzte Lieder, she should have left the French songs alone in my (not so humble) opinion. Her voice is strong, but for the genre of French song a bit too much so. The French songs needs colouring, subtlety. I suppose even more so given the subject matter: love. Having said that, there are some real beautiful songs on this record. This is the romantic era in all its glory. This is French Sturm und Drang.
Au pays ou se fait la guerre by Théophile Gautier (wow, name!) tells about a young woman longing for her new beau. The only thing is, he is going far away, being in the army and fighting the war. She listens to the doves cooing while biding her time thinking about his kisses. Then she hears footsteps on the stairs. Is it him? Alas, it is not. She stays awake all night in eager anticipation.
This record is full of these songs. They’re just sung by the wrong singer. Good orchestra though.