Customer Reviews

Véronique Gens - Nuit d'étoiles (Mélodies française)

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This is a most enjoyable release, all the more so because Veronique Gens, who is generally considered a baroque specialist on the lyric stage, may well be a torch-bearer of the elusive art of the French song in the coming decades. The voice of Gens, which is solid and well-integrated with an alluring dash of vibrancy embedded therein, is eminently suited to the repertoire represented in this new Virgin Classics release. Her secure technique (just a hint of strain in one or two high notes) also renders it possible for her to fine down her voice in the ending of phrases to a charming effect. Being a native French speaker certainly helps, too. Although hers is perhaps not the most strongly-etched of readings, she is able to inflect the text intelligently, and her subtle but heart-felt stresses on particular words not only serve to illuminate the poetic prose, but also meld beautifully with the notes that she sing.

The CD opens with songs by Faure, and while Gens may not possess the charm and naturalness of utterance of Maggie Teyte, whose recordings of Faure's songs are, in the opinion of this reviewer, unsurpassable, she can conjure up the right kind of feeling for every song as no one can. Her tempo for the popular "Apres un reve" is a trifle too laid back. Yet, she conveys to perfection the dream-like quality of the song, as well as the sense of confusion and regret at awakening. Her singing of "Le papillon et la fleur" is delightfully vivid, and her evocation of the feeling of sadness being kept in restraint in "Les berceaux" makes the performance both intimate and touching.

The Debussy group is no less impressive. Despite the innovative idiom in which most of these songs are composed, Gens is able bring them off effortlessly and stylishly. She is in total command whether in the serenity of "Beau soir", the romanticism of "Nuit d'etoiles", the rustic charm of "Fleur des bles", or the harrowing grimness of "Noel des enfants qui n'ont plus de maison", the last one composed when Debussy was being haunted by the atrocities of the Great War. In "Fetes galantes I", although the vocal and piano parts are often independent of each other, Gens's remarkable interpretation succeeds in unifying the two strands into a picturesque and colourful whole. The "3 Chansons de Bilitis", which are composed very much in the style of PELLEAS ET MELISANDE, also find an ideal interpreter in Gens where, blessed with a keen sense of rhythm, she succeeds in propelling the texts forward with musical grace and dramatic import. She would surely make a wonderful Melisande.

The Poulenc is equally fine. The young soprano is able to do full justice to the diverse moods in "Banalites", which, according to Olivier Opdebeeck, who penned the CD notes, is composed in a "part-melancholy, part-joyful tone with a barb of irony which the composer identified in the poet". The "2 Melodies de Guillaume Apollinaire" are sharply contrasted, one (Montparnasse) languid and brooding and the other (Hyde Park) gusty and piquant. Gens's singing of "Les chemins de l'amour", a cross between a Viennese waltz and a cabaret song, is loveliness itself and provides a delicious end to an enchanting recital.

The major reservation that this reviewer has involves the accompaniment of Roger Vignoles. While he is able to provide secure support for the singer, his playing is uncharacterful and even bland. Besides, the piano tone seems to be rather thin at times. Nonetheless, this should not detract one from the sensuous beauty of Gens's performance. This reviewer hopes that Virgin Classics would be encouraged by the success of this release so that they can present this most promising singer in further volumes of French songs by, say, Chausson, Ravel and Duparc.

Stendhal wrote that "the sight of anything extremely beautiful, in nature or in art, brings back the memory of what one loves, with the speed of lightning. That is, ... all that is beautiful and sublime in the world takes part in the beauty of what one loves, and this unexpected glimpse of happiness immediately fills the eyes with tears. This is how love of the beautiful and love give each other life." This is what Ms. Gens will do to you when you listen to this CD.

Not quite Lieder, not quite the American "Art Song," the French "melodie" is a unique marriage of expressionist poetry and piano music with accents that might or might not follow the flow of the French language. I cannot recommend too highly a Virgin Classics release of <Nuits d'etoiles: melodies francaises> (7423 5 45360-2) with soprano Veronique Gens and pianist Roger Vignoles.

I recall one or two of the poems from my undergraduate French classes, but I must confess that almost all of this program was new to me and I loved it. Except for the last song, a sort of cabaret waltz, very few of these songs simply repeat the same melodic line from stanza to stanza as in operettas or are glued to the AABA Tin Pan Alley requirement,in which a verse of so many bars must precede a refrain of another given number of bars, or even in the operetta "couplet" format. Here the music follows the thought--or the impression, I should say, since many of these poems set a mood. Even the one about Sleeping Beauty is enigmatically told, and the piece about Hyde Park is comparable to one or two non-vocal movements of "Pictures at an Exhibition."

This disc also gives us a chance not only to compare the "melodies" of Faure, Debussy and Poulenc, but also to compare the settings of the same text, "Claire de lune," by the first two composers. It is essential that you follow the texts carefully on first and second hearings; for without them this is merely a beautiful musical treat but lacking half of what is essential to your full enjoyment. And what more delightful way to brush up on the "modern" French poetry of Bussine, de Choudens, Prudhomme, Verlaine, Appolinaire, and the others?

Gens is a marvel. I can say no more.

This ranks as one of the very best recordings of French 'melodies' that I have yet heard. Unlike most other singers, Gens gives the words drama and meaning. Too many singers perform these works in a detached 'artistic' manner that often makes them all sound almost alike. I say this not to belittle Gens' voice (which is superb), but to indicate that this disk will take you beyond the 'standard' interpretations of these works. I had a chance to compare one of the melodies with another recent recording by Schafer, another singer whom I respect Both were being featured in a local record store. It was hard to realize they were actually singing the same piece. I recently saw Gens perform much of the same program at a recital in NYC. This was the best recital I had heard in a very long time (I go to many). The disk is almost as good. It suffers a bit from a very unnatural recorded sound: the microphone is much too close to the singer and the piano is much too forward. Also the accompaniest in NYC was clearly better. Nevertheless, it would be hard to find a better recorded performance. The more I listen to the disk, the less I notice these drawbacks. The choice of repetoire is also well done. I particularly liked the Debussy 'Trois chansons de Bilitis.' She ends with 'Les chemins de l'amour' which Poulenc wrote for Jean Anouilh's play 'Leaocadia'. This has become very popular outside the normal recital circuit. If you get only one disk of French melodies, this is the one to get.

Not being a professional, but loving the genre of French melodies I'll avoid technical commentary; I have become a collector of these in recent years and find this one extremely satifying and appreciate the variety this CD presents.

This ranks as one of the very best recordings of French 'melodies' that I have yet heard. Unlike most other singers, Gens gives the words drama and meaning. Too many singers perform these works in a detached 'artistic' manner that often makes them all sound almost alike. I say this not to belittle Gens' voice (which is superb), but to indicate that this disk will take you beyond the 'standard' interpretations of these works. I had a chance to compare one of the melodies with another recent recording by Schafer, another singer whom I respect Both were being featured in a local record store. It was hard to realize they were actually singing the same piece. I recently saw Gens perform much of the same program at a recital in NYC. This was the best recital I had heard in a very long time (I go to many). The disk is almost as good. It suffers a bit from a very unnatural recorded sound: the microphone is much too close to the singer and the piano is much too forward. Also the accompaniest in NYC was clearly better. Nevertheless, it would be hard to find a better recorded performance. The more I listen to the disk, the less I notice these drawbacks. The choice of repetoire is also well done. I particularly liked the Debussy 'Trois chansons de Bilitis.' She ends with 'Les chemins de l'amour' which Poulenc wrote for Jean Anouilh's play 'Leaocadia'. This has become very popular outside the normal recital circuit. If you get only one disk of French melodies, this is the one to get.

I recommend this to any art-song lover, and really, anybody at all. Gens does an excellent performance of a great collection of beautiful French songs. Her voice is enjoyable all the way, she has great expression, and a convincing mastery of the genre.

Veronique Gens is associated with an elegant, composed interpretation of French songs, which she combines with absolutely stunning technique. I very much enjoyed her Berlioz disc, where Gens shed some of the pathos and emotionalism of other performances in a sleeker, faster "Nuits d'ete". This considered and coherent approach was combined with Gens' phenomenal technique to produce a disc that represented a truly original rendition of that beautiful Berlioz cycle while at the same time being maybe the best technical piece of singing I have ever heard. The current disc meets those standards and is both a beautiful introduction to French song as well as one that cultists of the melodie will absolutely want to have.

The disc is divided into three parts, covering Gabriel Faure, Claude Debussy and Francis Poulenc. Gens and her very well-known accompanist, Roger Vignoles, do 8 Faure songs, with pretty swift pacing and very clear articulation of the melody. Gens' crystal-like voice is in perfect form. The recording in a way reminds of American mezzo Frederica von Stade's excellent EMI recording of Faure, but done with less sentimentality. While Gens and Vignoles take quite fast tempi, it is only in "Lydie" (track 4) which seems underexpressive. Their speed does not prevent expression from coming through elsewhere, although it is done in a buttoned-down manner typical of so many French performers.

The sequence of Debussy songs that follows is remarkable. Gens does the "Chansons de Billitis" from 1898, a three-song Pastoral mini-cycle which I thought was owned by the great Regine Crespin. Well, I feel like an apostate, but Gens' swift, understated approach made the songs simultaneously more structurally coherent and more expressive. This disc would be a winner just for these three tracks. Gens also does the first set of Fetes Galantes (make sure to check out the incredible third song, "Claire de Lune"), some earlier and attractive songs from 1880s, when the composer was just beginning his career, concluding with Debussy's last vocal work, "The Christmas of the Homeless Children" (track 19). That song is new to me and is quite a discovery. As is her style, Gens takes it quickly but without sacrificing the song's pathos.

Gens also performs a nice collection of some of Francis Poulenc's best-known songs, including the waltz "Les chemins d'amour."

This disc should have been longer. There - I located a flaw I could point out - there isn't enough of it.