Customer Reviews

Massenet: Thaïs / Sills, Milnes, Gedda; Maazel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have to admit, this is not Sill's best, but even that is a far cry better than most. Milnes is wonderful and the change from a holy man to a man in love is very clearly presented. It is the orchestra and the reading of Maazel that disappoints. Here is someone who doesn't understand the French opera idiom. This is one time where the pickiness of Bernstein would have been appreciated. The French write so every aspect of a score is important --- not just the voice.

However, for those who wish to hear the opera as Massenet wrote it, this is the only recording available that does that. Thais was written for the American Soprano Sible Sanderson. She was noted for her ease in singing notes well above the Queen of the Night's top F. This score reflects her easy top. Sill's top is easier than most, and Mary Garden's habit of removing notes uncomfortable to her ( which was basically anything above an A, and then when ventured above she only touches her higher notes )should not be used as an excuse to simply condone cut performances.

As for the idea of Rene Flemming doing this role, she could bring much to it, but an easy top is not one of the aspects she could bring.

Even with the flaws, this is by far the best available recording, and the most complete, which actually means a whole lot when listening to Massenet. He intends his works to be complete, and when complete they are incredible revelations of talent.

Late 19th-century French opera is often disparaged these days, which isn't really fair. Delibes had some beautiful melodies, and Massenet was a much better composer than many give him credit for. And although "Manon" and "Werther" may be more famous, to me, his late opera "Thais" is his masterpiece. There are three major recordings of this opera, one with Anna Moffo, Gabriel Bacquier and Jose Carreras, a recent one with Renee Fleming, Thomas Hampson and Giuseppe Sabattini, and this 1976 recording with Beverly Sills, Sherill Milnes, and Nicolai Gedda. All three versions have their strengths and weaknesses. The Moffo/Bacquier vesion, although excellent and showing Carreras in his prime, is unavailable. (I'm not sure it was ever issued in CD.) The Fleming/Hampson recording is also excellent--Fleming has a gorgeous and luscious voice, and Hampson a silky smooth baritone--but I find myself reaching for the Sills/Milnes version most often.
Sills was past her prime when she recorded this, and her high notes are a little thin and sometimes wobbly. Nevertheless, her artistry is so great that she infuses the role of the courtesan with the tremendous drama the role requires. Thais' radical change of character, from the insouciant hedonist to the redeemed penitent, is gloriously demonstrated in Sills' portrayal.
And this opera is as much about Athanael as it is Thais. Milnes, at the height of his career when he recorded this in 1976, brings tremendous power and vitality to the role of the priest, whose reverse progression from moralistic religious surety to tortured doubt parallels that of Thais, the object of his forbidden love. Nicolai Gedda's singing is, as always, stylish and graceful, and Loren Maazel's reading of the score is well paced and forceful. This recording belongs in all opera collections.

I found this recording to be the most wonderful version of this opera for a long time. There were other recordings, but they were heavily cut. This one is more complete. To some, having the complete version of an opera may not seem too important, but it is if you wish to really know what the composer was trying to achieve, and not what the managements were doing so things fit into a certain amount of time. Now with the advent of CD, we can have very long operas recorded complete, and have them available for a acceptable price (and we can skip over those dull parts that often longer operas have).

Thais has never really captured the public by storm, as really none of Massenet's operas have. Yes, we hear Manon occasionally, but it is not that commonly performed. Interestingly, Manon, Thais, and Esclarmonde were all written for the same soprano -- Sible Sanderson. For those who think that this role is very dramatic and requires the weight of a Rene Flemming (who is wonderful in the role, in my view), you are historically wrong. Sanderson was a very bright high-pitched coloratura. In fact, she auditioned for Massenet while quite young, and sang all the arias for the Queen of the Night. The easy part of her range was that part where most sopranos die. Casting Beverly Sills in this role (one which she excelled in on stage), is not a mistake. Her voice is probably closer to Sible Sanderson's than Sutherland would have been. The lower alternatives in all the above mentioned scored were written after her death (Sanderson died tragically quite young of a horrible disease that turned her entire body to leather, almost petrifying it -- Mary Garden was a close friend of hers, and talks about the entire affair in her own life story). There are many high E's written in Thais, and they all have a dramatic purpose, or represent her laughing at the morality she later would adopt. Sanderson was the toast of Paris, especially during the world's fair when Esclarmonde was premiered. Her voice was described as balls of light. Whether Sills sings quite that way is a matter of taste. It is true, she is not at the beginning of her career when recording this work, but closer to the end of it. That, however, doesn't detract from the insight she brings to the role. One thing she brings, which is so often lacking in French opera, is the command of the language. Sills is fluent in French (and Italian), so it is completely natural for her to sing it in a way that gives depth to the language as well as the notes. She would actually, in her younger days, have been a great choice for Esclarmonde, which if song as Massenet wrote it for Sanderson, would contain a whole plither of high G's above the Queen of the Night's high F. Sutherland sings none of those notes, but and only a couple of times the high D lower alternative (still her performance is riviting).

This recording is not perfect. The singers, though wonderful, are a little past the youthfulness that the score implies (except maybe Milnes, one never sees his character as young), but each brings depth and polish to their very difficult music. One thing about Massenet, he seems so easy to sing, the melodies are not overrun with coloratura, or anything like that, so we often think it takes very little to just sing beautifully. He is horribly difficult to sing, for he requires a perfect legato, but in the French manner, not the Italian. It is smooth, but not portamento based. Diction is a must in French opera, even more important than it often is in Italian opera. Poise and retraint are the hallmarks of French opera, never hotheaded emotionalism. One thing that must be said is all the singers in this recording understand the French style.

The conductor understands the style as well, but he is a bit drab at times, a bit leaden in his tempi. He does conduct the orchestra with a clean, clear, balanced sound, which is wonderful. He just is slightly "self-conscious" when it comes to the tempi to achieve that clarity.

This recording is excellent, and I would still recommend it first, before any other. The Flemming recording is wonderful, but the French style is not understood well by all the cast, and not by the conductor. The French diction is wanting most of the time. The voices in the Flemming recording are fresher, more as we would think these characters would be. Still, even with that, this recording with Sills, Gedda, and Milnes is still the best of this opera, and well worth the money.

This is a very good recording of the great Massenet opera with gorgeous melodies and wonderful, lush orchestration. Maazel is quite dramatic and moves the opera along with richness and thrust. His playing of the famous Meditation that closes the first CD is marvelous! Listen to the pianissimos that sound so soft yet so large and luscious!
Sills is one of my two favorite sopranos and despite her being past her best, she gives a heart felt and vivacious characterization of the sexy Thais. One might wish for the rounder, more beautiful tone of Sutherland, but Sills makes so much of the character and sings with such deep commitment that one forgives the unsteadiness of her singing. It's better to be dramatically involved with less voice than bland with full voice.
Milnes is in very fine voice throughout, singing with dramatic strength and richness of tone. The final scene, when Thais lays dying, is an incredible achievement for both Sills and Milnes. Massenet's score is full of high, dramatic writing requiring spinto tone from both principals. Thais' ascent to the top D's at the end are cruel, but wonderfully relished by Sills. Very moving, indeed!
Gedda is fine, in my opinion, singing tastefully, as usual. The role is small and it luxury casting to have this great tenor sing the part at all.
Explore more Massenet! He's awesome! Try Joan Sutherland's recording of Esclarmonde, if you can find it. You won't regret it!

After having heard hundreds of opera recordings. After having heard every opera in the standard repertoire and more. This recording of this opera stands above all others. Forget overblown reputations of other operas and opera stars. Massanet was never the darling of the critics and Thais places the tenor in a supporting role. Thus Thais is not recognized for the absolute masterpiece it is.
The extreme demands of the title role also have worked against most recordings. But not this one. Sills is ideal in every way. Her voice has the size and the range and her singing has the commitment to bring Thais to heartrending life. With singing such as this, it is no surprise that Milnes' equally splendid Athanel is willing to forsake all for her love. Renee Fleming and Thomas Hampson's new recording takes a distant back seat to this, the crown jewel of French opera recordings. It deserves a place among the best of the best.

Beverly Sills was way beyond her prime when she essayed this role for the Metropolitan and the San Francisco Opera, and though it is far and away the most complete recording of this opera her wobbly notes in the lovely "l'amour est une vertu rare" are nothing short of painful. She does do a great hysterical laugh (which dissolves into hysterical sobs) to conclude the first Act, but although Thais has usually been sung by "singing actresses" (like Mary Garden) the role deserves to be performed on disc by a Renee Fleming in her prime.

Fortunately, the rest of the cast is in fine voice: Sherrill Milnes does a nice job with Athanael (particularly in the dramatic "Alexandrie" aria), and Nicolai Gedda is a charming Nicias.

To my ears, Thais is a beautiful opera. I can't understand why it is not firmly established in the standard repertoire. Nevertheless, this fine recording is available for those who wish to savor the voluptuous charms of this operatic gem. Beverly Sills is quite simply my favorite soprano and, despite caveats regarding her voice which other reviewers may have, I find her performance here quite beautiful. Sherril Milnes was one of the finest baritones of the past fifty years and his performance here is outstanding. I'm somewhat less enthusiastic about Gedda, but he does not detract in any way from the beauties which this recording presents. If you like lush, melodic opera with great singing please give Thais -- and this outstanding performance of it -- a try. An opera collection without it would be seriously lacking.

I am amazed that every reviewer of anything by Sills wants to repeat the age old opinion that the voice was in shreds by the time of her retirement from the stage. This is just not true. I bought and listened to a compilation of live performances called Sillsiana which includes extended excerpts from Lucrizia Borgia, her very last new role at City Center. I was amazed how good the singing really was. Yes the role may have been a bit heavy for how light Sill's voice really was, but heck how many lyric sopranos insist on singing Butterfly or Tosca.

I recently re listened to this recording which was pretty much damned with faint praise when it was first released. Flemming is a wonderful singer, careful in everything she does. Her's is a lyric instrument which gives a nice weight to this role and she sings it beautifully. Sill's voice was perhaps a little light for Thais, but she wanted to sing it with every fiber of her being, and she tears into it, and wow if I were not gay, I sure might give up everything I have to be with this woman. She is sexually alluring, voluptuous of voice and she just draws you in.

Sills could have made a nice, if not particularly exciting career singing Donna Anna, Costanza (ocasionally), Susanna and other soubrette roles. Sills, the person was a strong woman who wanted more, and she shared it with us. We had 20 years leading up to Julius Ceasar and then 15 more very exciting years of Beverly singing whatever she wanted. I was fortunate to have gotten to see many of those roles live, and they were not to be forgotten. Ok, you shortened your career to reach just a little beyond yourself. Thank you for that.

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BUY LATE RECORDINGS BY SILLS. The voice was only in shreds compared to the exalted standards of earlier Sills and Sutherland who was active at the same time.

This 1976 recording of Thais is my favorite of the two recordings I have - the other being the Fleming/Hampson. Sills' vibrato is a little more pronounced here than it was a few years earlier, but it doesn't bother me. She still has a gorgeous voice and brings this conflicted character vividly to life. Having studied with the likes of Mary Garden as a young singer, Sills has an innate understanding of the French style, and uses her voice with much imagination and flair. Also, the character of Thais is not supposed to be a young girl - an aging courtesan of 30ish or so... Sherrill Milnes, in a departure from his usual Italian repertoire, sings a most impassiaoned Athaneal - the voice full and resonant, the character's obessiveness wonderfully realized. I think he never did anything better on disc. Nicolai Gedda is a little past his best here, but like Sills understands the French style and delivers the vocal goods as required. Maazel conducts an exciting performance (even playing the solo violin in the Meditation himself) and the sound is excellent. The Fleming/Hampson set is beautifully sung, but I feel the drama of the story is not fully realized somehow - hard to put my finger on what's missing there. This Thais is one of my favorite French opera recordings - recommended highly.

I have this recording on LP from the 70's but I had forgotten what beautiful music is in this opera.I was stunned when I heard the CD here. There is little not to like, especially the wonderful singing of Miss Sills and Mr. Milnes. One wonders why Miss Sills did not sing this role more in her career as she had been coached in the role by the best. The voice yes, is some what darker but still in fine shape. All 3 principals seem very much at home in this repetiore. The orchestra is very fine. Great all around to my ears.