Dalton Baldwin
Accompanist Dalton Baldwin made over 100 recordings of song recitals and won numerous prizes for his work with Elly Ameling and Gérard Souzay. He was best known for his playing of the French repertoire and recorded the complete songs of Debussy, Fauré, Poulenc, Ravel, and Roussel with various artists. His recordings of Schubert and Schumann with Ameling and Souzay are highly regarded also. His playing was characterized by subtle changes of tonal color and sensitivity to the needs of the performer. He had wonderful control of dynamics and never allowed the piano to overshadow the singer.
Baldwin was born in Summit, New Jersey, on December 19, 1931. He began his musical training at the Juilliard School of Music and then went to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he earned his B.Mus. He continued his studies in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Madeleine Lipatti, and in 1954, he began his long and successful partnership with Gérard Souzay. While maintaining his partnership with Souzay, Baldwin began to perform and record regularly with Elly Ameling in 1970. In the mid-1970s, he began an association with Jessye Norman both on stage and in the recording studio. He accompanied Arleen Augér's first New York recital in 1984 and recorded an award-winning disc of Love Songs with her. Concentrating primarily on the song repertoire, Baldwin was coached by composers Poulenc, Sibelius, Martin, and Barber. He played in many world premieres, notably of Rorem's War Scenes in 1969, with Souzay. Baldwin accompanied many other singers, including Mady Mesplé, Edda Moser, Jennie Tourel, Marilyn Horne, Frederica von Stade, Nicolai Gedda, José van Dam, William Parker, and Steven Kimbrough. Touring with these artists took Baldwin to all of the major music capitals of the world. Baldwin gave lectures on the art of the accompanist and served as artistic director for art song festivals at Westminster Choir College (Princeton, NJ), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Cleveland Institute of Music, and University of Colorado (Boulder). Before Souzay's death, he and Baldwin gave master classes in Geneva every summer for young professional singers and accompanists from around the world. Baldwin also taught at the Manhattan School of Music and Westminster Choir College in Princeton.
In 1987, he was awarded the Croix de Commandant de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French government. Although best known in partnership with singers, Baldwin also worked with violinist Henryk Szeryng and cellist Pierre Fournier.
Whenever possible, Baldwin returned to the Himalayas and the wildlife preserves of Africa to replenish his need for natural beauty. After one such visit to temples in Myanmar, his plane was forced to land in China in order to rush him to the hospital, where he died a week before his 88th birthday.
© Richard LeSueur /TiVo
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An die Musik - Schubert: Lieder (Elly Ameling – The Philips Recitals, Vol. 11)
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1983
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Mélodies
Mélodies - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 14 Sep 2016
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Winterreise & Extrakte aus Schwanengesang (Stereo Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Lieder (Elly Ameling – The Philips Recitals, Vol. 17)
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1977
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
German Romantic Songs (Elly Ameling – The Philips Recitals, Vol. 18)
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1976
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Les chemins de l'amour - Songs By Duparc, Ravel, Poulenc & Satie
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Lieder (Elly Ameling – The Philips Recitals, Vol. 10)
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1974
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Jessye Norman - Spirituals
Jessye Norman, Dalton Baldwin, Ambrosian Singers
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Lieder (Elly Ameling – The Philips Recitals, Vol. 7)
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1978
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Lieder - Songs for Gretchen, Ellen & Suleika (Elly Ameling – The Philips Recitals, Vol. 12)
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1974
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Mélodies
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 14 Sep 2016
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Goethe-Lieder (Elly Ameling – The Philips Recitals, Vol. 9)
Elly Ameling, Hermann Prey, Dalton Baldwin, Karl Engel
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1973
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann, Schubert: Lieder (Elly Ameling – The Philips Recitals, Vol. 15)
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1974
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Lieder - Ave Maria
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Complete Lieder
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
An die Musik: Schubert Lieder
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Lieder
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré: La bonne chanson & autres mélodies (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert Lieder
Elly Ameling, Rudolf Jansen, Dalton Baldwin
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
River Songs
Steven Kimbrough, Dalton Baldwin, Alma Gaudette, Maureen Kelly
Classical - Released by Centaur Records, Inc. on 6 Aug 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Lieder
Gérard Souzay, Hilde Güden, Dalton Baldwin, Friedrich Gulda
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1964
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo