Delibes: Lakmé / Bonynge, Opéra de Monte-Carlo

Léo Delibes (Artist), Richard Bonynge (Artist), Joan Sutherland (Artist), Gabriel Bacquier (Artist), Alain Vanzo (Artist), Jane Berbié (Artist), Emile Belcourt (Artist), Gwenyth Annear (Artist), Claud Calès (Artist), Josephte Clément (Artist), Monica Sinclair (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 23, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B0000041VR
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,150 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #7 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Sutherland, Joan
  • #16 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > Q to T

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Delibes's opera Lakmé is full of gorgeous melodies, even if you don't count the coloratura sensation, the famous "Bell Song." That aria virtually demands a soprano of Sutherland's agility and ease, and it gets it here. Even the few singers who can match her in the upper altitudes can't do it with a voice so rich and full. Sutherland's is a Lakmé beyond comparison with twittering, thin-voiced, coloratura specialists. She did make this recording at a time when her diction was mushy and her vocal lines sometimes drooped, so she's not beyond criticism. But revel in the voice; after all, Lakmé is a cardboard character, and the opera, for all its considerable charms, isn't another Ring cycle. Sutherland's colleagues are excellent, too. Vanzo was one of the finest lyric tenors of his generation and is by far the best Gérald on disc. Jane Berbié and Gabriel Bacquier are also unmatched, and Bonynge's conducting is idiomatic and flowing. Add engineering from Decca/London's golden age of recording, and here's a Lakmé to treasure. --Dan Davis

Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 21-NOV-1989

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!, May 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Delibes: Lakmé / Bonynge, Opéra de Monte-Carlo (Audio CD)

Imagine the bell song being sung by the only dramatic coloratura soprano on record. AWESOME! Listen to Lily Pons' version of the bell song, great as it was, then listen to Sutherland's, you won't believe your ears! And on top of all that wonderful coloratura, Sutherland had at the time of this recording, one of the most gorgeous, sensuous voices around. Without question the best recording of this opera! I never realize how wonderful Lakme's music is until I bought this recording!

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exotic!, September 28, 2000

By 

Cade M. Cannon (Opelika, AL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Delibes: Lakmé / Bonynge, Opéra de Monte-Carlo (Audio CD)

This is a very beautiful interpretation of such a great but terribly underrated opera. Delibes creates a very exotic and enchanting work in Lakme. Listen to the strange overture and the opening chorus. The cast is excellent. Gabriel Bacquier seems to, in every one of his recordings, put in a performance of a lifetime. His Nikalantha is incomparable. He sings great and the characterization is a perfect match to his commanding presence. Alain Vainzo's Gerard is also beautifully and distinctively lyrical, and he's not a loser like Pinkerton. Monica Sinclair is another perfectly cast Miss Benson, she is so convincing and sings with such dignity. Sutherland is obviously the star of the set. Her technique is amazing. In the bell song she sounds like a bell and she sings beautifully throughout. The Flower duet is also beautifully rendered here. I am kind of sick of the opera politics too as a previous reviewer stated. For the great service Joan Sutherland has given to the world of music, she sure seems to get a lot of petty and unwarranted criticism. She doesn't scream loud enough, she doesn't sound young enough, the burning pyre in Norma isn't hot enough, she sounds to happy, she doesnt pronounce the silent "s"'s properly, her porridge is too hot, her wine isn't Corbel, she didn't use Western Union, etc. C'mon, give her a break. Some singers are great where others are not, and vice versa. We as critics should be mindful of that

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravissima, June 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Delibes: Lakmé / Bonynge, Opéra de Monte-Carlo (Audio CD)

Sutherland's famed diction is much better in French than Italian. She is breath-taking as Lakme. What a vocal wonder! The bell song is "Inhuman", it's so awesome. Spectacular high E's shot out the diva's mouth like cannonballs, ravishing trills on high B. No one can trill like Sutherland, and she's the only soprano in history who could trill on a high D-flat. Too bad Decca chose not to re-release another of Sutherland'sincredible role "Esclamonde". Sutherland is the only Dramatic Coloratura Soprano of our time who can sing Esclamonde. A role written for a Brunhilde size voice with the agility of a Lakme. Decca, if you're listening, you must re-release Esclamonde!!!