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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Just the Best Bang for the Buck, It's the Best, Period., November 3, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande (Audio CD)
Well, the best in stereo, anyway. Erna Spoorenberg is a memorably pointed Melisande, with a timbre somewhat like Soderstrom but less astringent. Camille Maurane is as good a Pelleas as they come, the heir to Jacques Jansen and the end of the line in the great tradition. George London is a burly, physically frightening Golaud and Guus Hoekmann is the bassiest of Arkels. Ernest Ansermet directs his Suisse Romande Orchestra with vast knowledge, love and experience, and miraculous balance and timing. Decca/London's production team keeps the drama front and center, working rarely enough in an actual opera house. There are great mono recordings of Pelleas, including Desormiere, Fournet and Ansermet's earlier version. There are fine individual things in stereo versions with Ingelbrecht, Baudo, Dutoit, Boulez, Jordan and Carewe (about in that order). There are Teutonized inflations with Karajan, Abbado and Haitink that have pleasures of their own. There is also an atrocious wipeout with Casadesus on Naxos that testifies to the death of the French performing tradition. The singing there is the worst of any Pelleas recording. This Ansermet reissue is actually sold by Amazon for less than the Naxos version, so there is no reason anymore for anyone to buy that terrible night in Lille under Casadesus. You can buy this Ansermet recording in the warm, comforting knowledge that you have paid for the cheapest commercial stereo CD set of Pelleas, and also the best at any price.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best, August 19, 2003
This review is from: Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande (Audio CD)
For me, Ansermet is the star of this recording, for, along with Desormiere, Inghelbrecht and Boulez (on his Welsh Opera production on DVD, not his sony CD) he brings out the distinctive blend of atmosphere, mystery, tension and drama of this wonderful music. By comparison, Karajan in trying to create an otherworldly altmosphere merely winds up sounding bland, and Abbado, while obtaining beautiful playing from the Vienna Philharmonic, sounds too heavy handed, thus undermining the half-lit quality of mystery that the music should convey. The quality of the singers is very fine, though I wish Camille Maurane had a bit more bloom in his voice; my main caveat is that George London as the middle-aged Golaud is too basso in sound to meaningfully contrast with the basso of the elderly Arkel. This recording is my primary recommendation for Pelleas on CD for, in addition to the foregoing, it has excellent sound and is priced at the budget level. In comparison to my two other favorites on CD, the Desormiere, being from 1941, is obviously limited sonically, and the Inghelbrecht is only available in a not widely available five CD set, which includes other music of Debussy, and is priced at nearly sixty dollars.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thank goodness for reissue of excellent recording - better than I remembered it!!!, July 1, 2003
This review is from: Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande (Audio CD)
When I started to take a serious interest in "Pelléas et Mélisande," it was with this recording that I started (even though it wasn't quite rated the best in the "Penguin Record (now CD) Guide." It got 2 out of 3 stars, with Ansermet's tempi + Spoorenberg's characterization of Mélisande both being under attack. Well, speaking for myself (having finally bought this release of the recording {thus refreshing my memory - and even revealing a slight change of taste...}, which I had earlier contrasted with those of Herbert von Karajan and Armin Jordan {the latter of which is unavailable these days} long ago), let the following stand:
While Ansermet's tempi and orchestral balances may not be quite as dramatic or riveting as Karajan's EMI/Angel recording in many respects (and yes, quite a few times Karajan has the edge here also in terms of orchestral playing and overall conception in addition to allowing the music to roar when it is best to do so, Debussy's restraint notwithstanding!), it often also best brings out the poetry of this unique opera, assisted by Decca/London's outstanding recording.
[It should be pointed out that "Pelléas et Mélisande" very possibly IMHO is not only the most subtle and atmospheric opera ever written, but also an example of how much the voice can do better in characterization with Debussy's approach than the conventional way almost everybody else uses!]
Also, while Frederica von Stade (for Karajan) frequently sounds a bit too coquettish and actively part of events, there's no question of Erna Spoorenberg being genuine in her rôle - there's a very definitive understanding of and empathy with the enigmatic and other-worldly character of Mélisande! In fact, I'll even go as far as to say that so far she for me is the perfect embodiment of this timid, coweable (even into lying) yet sympathetic, gentle woman!!! [From another source, one learns that she is the only one of the many wives of the brutal, evil Duke Bluebeard who manages to escape his reign of terror and wickedness - which can account for her being so emotionally damaged as a character...]
George London makes a truly frightening yet all-too-understandable Golaud (he well might have been more at home in the Karajan recording)! Also, on having reheard this recording, I'm pleased to upgrade my opinion about Camille Maurane: his voice doesn't sound as strangled in the upper register as it those 20 years ago struck me as being. [Still, I very strongly prefer a genuine tenor in the rôle of Pelléas - all too often given to a baritone thanks to the frequent low writing of this part!]
What stops me from giving this recording a full 5 stars is 1) how it fares in comparison overall with Herbert von Karajan's reading (especially for somebody who does enjoy things loud when appropriate - in that regard, sometimes Ansermet is truly just too held back...); 2) Rosine Brédy as Yniold sounds just too much like a boy for my tastes, while Guus Hoekman as Arkël for me is edged out for me likewise by Karajan's Ruggero Raimondi. [Admittedly, the treble Matthew Fish did get me to accept him as playing the part of Fjódor in Rostropóvich's recording of "Borís Godunóv"...]
Overall, an excellent counterweight to Karajan (especially for those who insist on Debussy being pianissimo as much as possible - though I love the Karajan recording dearly, in part precisely because he knows when the music can do with a louder level and more Wagnerian scope!). I strongly recommend buying it TOGETHER WITH EMI's product (that way, furthermore, the EMI recording will provide the libretto booklet missing here - surely not that much of an excuse to downgrade this recording so severely as somebody else does...).
[My next project will be to research a 3rd recording that in all events MUST have a genuine tenor for Pelléas - so far like Eric Tappy in Jordan's recording, and will eventually wish to check that of Boulez, not to mention seeing who else may be out there. Even then, to be honest, this piece can be open to more of a range of interpretations than perhaps one might imagine.]
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