Frederica von Stade - French Opera Arias

Hector Berlioz (Artist), Jules Massenet (Artist), Ambroise Thomas (Artist), Giacomo Meyerbeer (Artist), Charles Gounod (Artist), Jacques Offenbach (Artist), Frederica von Stade (Artist), London Philharmonic Orchestra (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 22, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000C28R
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,152 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #7 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Von Stade, Frederica

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful performance, January 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Frederica von Stade - French Opera Arias (Audio CD)

I really do not know why this CD was not released before. Here is Frederica Von Stade in peak form, singing near deffinitive versions of great French arias. Her voice is ideally fitted for the material. She has agility, range and a beautiful middle register, apart from great French diction. Highlights of the CD are "Enfin, je suis ici" from Massenet's Cendrillon, "Connais-tu le pays?" from Thomas' Mignon and the two Offenbach arias.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delight, May 25, 2000

By 

Sheila L. Beaumont (South Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frederica von Stade - French Opera Arias (Audio CD)

These French opera arias, sung by Frederica von Stade, my favorite mezzo-soprano, were recorded early in her career, and they are a delight. They may not all show quite the expressiveness she developed later, but still there's that lovely mezzo voice, unlike any other and always a pleasure to hear.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasurable recital, September 10, 2007

By 

Ralph Moore "Ralph operaphile" (Bishop's Stortford, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Frederica von Stade - French Opera Arias (Audio CD)

This is a recital to savour; Von Stade's voice was at its freshest but she was already an experienced singer and particularly at ease with the French language, having already lived in France and learned fluent French over some years. There is a special plangency and beauty to her tone and those excursions into her lower register are heart-stopping. Other reviewers remark upon a certain lack of depth in her interpretation of the text; I do not share these reservations and, in any case, the musicality, ease of production and clarity of enunciation carry the day for me. It is such a lovely, mellow, mezzo voice that one can listen to the whole recital without tiring of it, whereas sometimes over an hour of singing a soprano can become too glaring on the ear. "Flicka" is so much at home in the material and her joy in singing it is vividly communicated to the listener. The opening Berlioz aria is particularly successful and sampling that should win over any doubters. No wonder she is so beloved a singer, especially in the US - everybody's favourite mezzo in some repertoire.