COMPOSERS: Bondevllle,Chabrler,Dellbes,Gounod & Sauguet,Meyerbeer,Mllhaud,Offenbach,Poulenc,Ravel,Thomas
LABELS: EMI
ALBUM TITLE: Collection: French Opera Arias
WORKS: Arias from operas by Dellbes, Chabrler, Ravel, Meyerbeer, Bondevllle, Thomas, Mllhaud, Offenbach, Poulenc, Gounod & Sauguet
PERFORMER: Natalie Dessay; Monte Carlo PO/Patrick Fournillier
CATALOGUE NO: CDC 5 56159 2
Dessay gives a superbly enjoyable display of her dazzling coloratura soprano voice, her immense technical skills enabling her to realise the potential of this golden instrument.
Her chosen repertoire makes for an exciting programme in which we hear some welcome lollipops - by Delibes, Offenbach, Chabrier and Meyerbeer — and many less well-known arias and scenas by Thomas, Poulenc, Milhaud, Bondeville and Sauguet. Ophelia's mad scene from Thomas's Hamlet is a tour deforce and the fiendishly difficult Milhaud is exquisitely crafted. As Gounod's Mireille, Dessay weaves a delicacy and * playfulness into her creamy lines and as Delibes's Lakme' her vocal pyrotechnics spin to mesmerising effect.
There are only two slightly harsh and unfocused notes in the entire performance. This disc is an absolute treat! Elise McDougall