Airs d'Opéras Francais-Natalie Dessay
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: (Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Emmanuel Bondeville, Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, Maurice Ravel, (Clément Philibert) Léo Delibes, Henri(-Pierre) Sauguet, (Alexis-)Emmanuel Chabrier, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Jacques Offenbach, Charles-François Gounod
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 5/1997
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 66
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 556159-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Lakmé |
(Clément Philibert) Léo Delibes, Composer
(Clément Philibert) Léo Delibes, Composer Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Natalie Dessay, Soprano Patrick Fournillier, Conductor |
| (Le) Roi malgré lui, Movement: Chanson tzigane: 'Il est un vieux chant de Bohème' |
(Alexis-)Emmanuel Chabrier, Composer
(Alexis-)Emmanuel Chabrier, Composer Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Natalie Dessay, Soprano Patrick Fournillier, Conductor |
| (L')Enfant et les sortilèges, 'Bewitched Child', Movement: Arrière! Je réchauffe les bons |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Maurice Ravel, Composer Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Natalie Dessay, Soprano Patrick Fournillier, Conductor |
| Dinorah, '(Le) pardon de Ploërmel', Movement: Ombre légère (Shadow Song) |
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Composer
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Composer Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Natalie Dessay, Soprano Patrick Fournillier, Conductor |
| (L')Ecole des maris |
Emmanuel Bondeville, Composer
Emmanuel Bondeville, Composer Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Natalie Dessay, Soprano Patrick Fournillier, Conductor |
| Hamlet |
(Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Composer
(Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Composer Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Natalie Dessay, Soprano Patrick Fournillier, Conductor |
| Medée |
Darius Milhaud, Composer
Darius Milhaud, Composer Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Natalie Dessay, Soprano Patrick Fournillier, Conductor |
| (Les) Contes d'Hoffmann, '(The) Tales of Hoffmann', Movement: Les oiseaux dans la charmille (Doll's Song) |
Jacques Offenbach, Composer
Jacques Offenbach, Composer Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Natalie Dessay, Soprano Patrick Fournillier, Conductor |
| (Les) Mamelles de Tirésias |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Charles Burles, Tenor Francis Poulenc, Composer Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Natalie Dessay, Soprano Patrick Fournillier, Conductor |
| Mireille, Movement: O légère hirondelle (Waltz Song). |
Charles-François Gounod, Composer
Charles-François Gounod, Composer Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Natalie Dessay, Soprano Patrick Fournillier, Conductor |
| (Les) Caprices de Marianne |
Henri(-Pierre) Sauguet, Composer
Henri(-Pierre) Sauguet, Composer Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Natalie Dessay, Soprano Patrick Fournillier, Conductor |
Author:
With a happy alternation of the familiar and recherche, the programme would have held our attention even if the performances had not; but these, of course, have the talents of a highly gifted young singer to commend them, and no one is likely to be disappointed.
At least two (perhaps more) of the excerpts will probably be new to most listeners. Emmanuel Bondeville (1898-1987), composer ofL’ecole des maris, does not even have an entry on the Gramophone Database, and while Henri-Pierre Sauguet (1901-89) is represented, it is by other works and there is no mention of Les caprices de Marianne. Both solos are attractive enough to arouse an interest: agreeably melodic, skilfully orchestrated and well written for the voice. Milhaud’s Medee should, one feels, stir some memory but it too appears to have no recording in current circulation; again the present extract prompts interest. With Les mamelles de Tiresias, once more the solo sets one off on a search for the complete opera which, with only the 1953 Cluytens version available (EMI, 12/95), must surely be due for a new recording before long.
In all of these, Dessay shows herself to be a resourceful artist and a reliable musician. As in her Mozart recital (EMI, 8/96) there is some feeling of a limited imagination at work. To some extent this is so in the nineteenth-century pieces as well – Ophelia’s Mad scene, for instance, is quite touching in its shy simplicity, but is never fraught, alarming or... mad. As Fire inL’enfant et les sortileges she has the brilliance, but not the menace within it. Having never heard the Ecole des maris before, one still senses that more could be made of the irony, just as in Les mamelles there needs a zest larger than life for the feminism, the balloon breasts and the sprouting moustache.
There remains plenty to enjoy. The voice is still fresh, its fluency and range both exceptional. At the end of the Mad scene she takes an F sharp in alt and at the corresponding point in the Shadow song an A flat! A real pleasure is afforded by the play of light and shade as in the opening of Lakme’s Bell song. As the Doll inLes contes d’Hoffmann she gives a more animated performance than in the complete set (Erato, 11/96), and – though this is performed only as a recital-piece – has at any rate someone ‘winding her up’ which is more than they provided when it was supposed to be part of the drama.'
At least two (perhaps more) of the excerpts will probably be new to most listeners. Emmanuel Bondeville (1898-1987), composer of
In all of these, Dessay shows herself to be a resourceful artist and a reliable musician. As in her Mozart recital (EMI, 8/96) there is some feeling of a limited imagination at work. To some extent this is so in the nineteenth-century pieces as well – Ophelia’s Mad scene, for instance, is quite touching in its shy simplicity, but is never fraught, alarming or... mad. As Fire in
There remains plenty to enjoy. The voice is still fresh, its fluency and range both exceptional. At the end of the Mad scene she takes an F sharp in alt and at the corresponding point in the Shadow song an A flat! A real pleasure is afforded by the play of light and shade as in the opening of Lakme’s Bell song. As the Doll in
Airs d'Opéras Francais-Natalie Dessay
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