Dalton Baldwin

Accompanist Dalton Baldwin accumulated more than one hundred song-recital discs and received multiple awards for his collaborations with Elly Ameling and Gérard Souzay. French song formed the core of his reputation; he set down the complete mélodies of Debussy, Fauré, Poulenc, Ravel, and Roussel with an array of vocalists. His Schubert and Schumann readings with Ameling and Souzay likewise earned lasting esteem. Subtle shifts of tonal color, acute responsiveness to each singer, and meticulous dynamic restraint kept the piano from ever eclipsing the voice.

Born in Summit, New Jersey, on 19 December 1931, Baldwin began training at the Juilliard School of Music before completing his B.Mus. at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Further study in Paris followed with Nadia Boulanger and Madeleine Lipatti. In 1954 he formed his enduring duo with Gérard Souzay; from 1970 onward he also appeared and recorded regularly with Elly Ameling. Mid-decade brought an additional partnership, both live and on disc, with Jessye Norman. He supported Arleen Augér’s debut New York recital in 1984 and captured an award-winning album of Love Songs with her. Composers Poulenc, Sibelius, Martin, and Barber themselves coached him in the repertoire. Among the world premieres he introduced was Rorem’s War Scenes, given with Souzay in 1969. Additional singers he accompanied included Mady Mesplé, Edda Moser, Jennie Tourel, Marilyn Horne, Frederica von Stade, Nicolai Gedda, José van Dam, William Parker, and Steven Kimbrough. These associations carried him to every major music center. He lectured widely on the accompanist’s craft and served as artistic director of art-song festivals at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Until Souzay’s death the pair conducted annual master classes in Geneva for emerging professionals from many countries. Baldwin also taught at the Manhattan School of Music and at Westminster Choir College.

In 1987 the French government conferred on him the Croix de Commandant de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres. Although celebrated chiefly for vocal partnerships, he also collaborated with violinist Henryk Szeryng and cellist Pierre Fournier. Whenever possible he retreated to the Himalayas or to African wildlife reserves; after visiting temples in Myanmar, his flight diverted to China for emergency hospitalization, where he died one week before his eighty-eighth birthday.