Berlioz: Les Nuits d'été; et al / Crespin, Ansermet

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Here is a great French artist singing the songs of her native country in her native language, with the natural inflection and empathy of one to the manner born. Her voice is beautiful, pure throughout a huge range, focused, intense, infinitely nuanced; she can make it float ethereally or glow with a shimmering radiance, brighten and darken it and carry on two-way conversations. Identifying complete with each song, she communicates its mood, atmosphere, character, expression. She captures the pensive dreaminess, plaintive yearning, outpouring of grief and lamentation, as well as the gaiety and lighthearted teasing of Berlioz' many-faceted Les Nuits d'Été. In Ravel's Shéhérazade, her voice becomes part of the exotic, languidly oriental atmosphere created by the lush, sensuous, glittering orchestration, surging up with the sweeping buildups to thrilling climactic high Gs and B-flats, matching the tremulous flute solo in the second song. The orchestra plays wonderfully, exploiting Ravel's infinitely imaginative, vivid coloration to the utmost. Crespin evokes the secretive intimacy, dream-drugged passion and ice-bound rigidity of Debussy's Songs of Bilitis. In the Poulenc songs, the contrast between the almost tear-choked mournfulness and the frolicking humor is riveting. John Wustman's splendid partnering adds greatly to the enchantment of this delightful recording. --Edith Eisler

Tracks:

Les Nuits D'ete: Villanelle
Les Nuits D'ete: Le Spectre De La Rose
Les Nuits D'ete: Absence
Les Nuits D'ete: Sur les lagunes
Les Nuits D'ete: Au Cimetiere
Les Nuits D'ete: L'Ile Inconnue
Sheherazade: Asie
Sheherazade: La Flute enchantee
Sheherazade: L'Indiffirent
Trois Chansons De Bilitis: La Flute De Pan
Trois Chansons De Bilitis: La Chevelure
Trois Chansons De Bilitis: Le Tombeau Des Naiades
From Banalites FP: Chanson D'Orkenise
From Banalites FP: Hotel
From La Courte Paille FP: Le Carafon
From La Courte Paille FP: La Reine De Coeur
From Chansons Villageoises FP: Les Gars qQui Vont A La Fete
Deux Poemes de Louis Aragon: 'C'
Fetes Galantes

Amazon.com

Here is a great French artist singing the songs of her native country in her native language, with the natural inflection and empathy of one to the manner born. Her voice is beautiful, pure throughout a huge range, focused, intense, infinitely nuanced; she can make it float ethereally or glow with a shimmering radiance, brighten and darken it and carry on two-way conversations. Identifying complete with each song, she communicates its mood, atmosphere, character, expression. She captures the pensive dreaminess, plaintive yearning, outpouring of grief and lamentation, as well as the gaiety and lighthearted teasing of Berlioz' many-faceted Les Nuits d'Été. In Ravel's Shéhérazade, her voice becomes part of the exotic, languidly oriental atmosphere created by the lush, sensuous, glittering orchestration, surging up with the sweeping buildups to thrilling climactic high Gs and B-flats, matching the tremulous flute solo in the second song. The orchestra plays wonderfully, exploiting Ravel's infinitely imaginative, vivid coloration to the utmost. Crespin evokes the secretive intimacy, dream-drugged passion and ice-bound rigidity of Debussy's Songs of Bilitis. In the Poulenc songs, the contrast between the almost tear-choked mournfulness and the frolicking humor is riveting. John Wustman's splendid partnering adds greatly to the enchantment of this delightful recording. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Long lost friend.......2007-01-27

I bought the vinyl LP of this way back in the 1960s, and since then it has been loved almost to death -- scratches, pops, jumps...

What a delight to find it rejuvenated on CD. Regine Crespin's is surely the definitive performance.

Crespin rules still!.......2007-01-11

Régine Crespin's recording of Berlioz's Les Nuits d'été is quite simply still - after forty-plus years - the finest I've ever heard, and that includes some fifteen different recordings. Add her immaculately clear enunciation of the verbal text to the gorgeous vocal qualities of those long-held vowels, and her fantastically acute articulation and phrasing of Berlioz's musical re-imagining of Gautier poems, coupled with deeply sensitive accompaniment by Ernest Ansermet and his Suisse Romande orchestra, and we really have no need for other recordings (not that I don't welcome them, as long as they don't make Mme Crespin's go out of print). This, as Gramophone magazine recognized upon original release, is one of the really great triumphs of musical recordings, an immediate and lasting classic. You owe it to yourself to get to know this recording. The Ravel Shérézade, while a lesser composition, is of comparable performance and recording quality.

CRESPIN.......2006-11-20

I am fortunate, indeed, to have seen and heard Regine Crespin perform two of her most famous roles at the Metropolitan Opera. One was the title role in "Carmen" and, although perhaps too mature for the role, her acting was as strong as her singing...and her singing was magnificent. This was a Carmen to be reckoned with. The other role was even more impressive: The Mother Superior in Poulenc's "Dialogues of the Carmelites." First I saw her perform it in English and then at another performance in French. Her death scene was one of the most harrowing I've ever experienced on any stage. This recording will introduce everyone to the beauty, subtlety, charm and fine interpretations of Madame Crespin. And the Berlioz' "Les Nuits D'ete" is arguably the best available.

Berlioz.......2004-04-30

Regine Crespin is so clear, so subtle, you are drawn into the music and listen from within.

I recommend everything she has ever done.... many a titles but most especially "La Spectre de la Rose", which is the absolute killer.

Truly, some of the finest singing one will ever hear!.......2004-03-04

Many might argue with my view of Berlioz' "Les Nuit d'Ete." I've never warmed to the piece in the past and even Crespin's voice cannot change my mind on the matter. I can only revel in her stunningly perfect singing which is truly a pleasure. Immediately following, however, is Ravel's "Scheherazade" and it is for this striking cycle that this CD is invaluable. Crespin presents each of these three songs with effortless legato, lovely piannissimi, dramatic dynamics and endless colors. I now listen to this performance wherever I can: at home, in my car and with anyone who will take the time to enjoy it with me. At the same time, I would not want to give up my recording by another great soprano Victoria de los Angeles. The latter, while not as vocally perfect, provides an even greater degree of verbal expressiveness and variety. Even so, Crespin's performance provides different and equal rewards. Fortunately, I can have both discs in my collection. I warmly recommend them to yours.

Berlioz: Les Nuits D'Ete; Debussy: Trois Chansons De Bilitis; etc / Ansermet, Crespin, Wustman, et al

Average customer rating:

Berlioz: Les Nuits D'Ete; Debussy: Trois Chansons De Bilitis; etc / Ansermet, Crespin, Wustman, et al
Ernest Ansermet , Regine Crespin , John Wustman , and Orchestra De La Suisse-Romande
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Music Review: