La Voix Humaine

1. La voix humaine, opera, FP 171
   Composed by Francis Poulenc
   Performed by Orchestre National de France
   with Julia Migenes
   Conducted by Georges Pretre
   
   

La Voix Humaine,Francis Poulenc,Georges Prêtre,Orchestre National de France,Julia Migenes,Elektra / Wea,Classical,Classical Music,French 20th/21st Century Opera,Opera,Opera / Operetta / Oratorio

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Average customer rating: the way teens are to Britney or Madonna.... Villazon finds his niche...go French Bad diction, engineering gimmicks besot otherwise noble effort Bean sings? A fine romantic interpreter

Rolando Villazon - Gounod · Massenet Arias Rolando Villazon , Natalie Dessay , and Evelino Pido Manufacturer: EMI Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Gounod | Gounod, Charles | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Massenet | Massenet, Jules | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Arias | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: Italian Opera Arias Rolando Villazon: Opera Recital Opera Recital [Includes Bonus DVD] Gitano Verdi: La Traviata ASIN: B0006IQM5I Release Date: 2005-01-25

Tracks:

1. Ah! Tout Est Bien Fini... O Souverain
2. Enfin, Manon... En Fermant Les Yeux
3. Oui, Ce Qu'elle M'ordonne... Lorsque L'enfant Revient
4. L'amour! L'amour!... Ah! Leve-toi, Soleil
5. Source Dcieuse
6. Faiblesse De La Race Humaine!... Inspirez-moi, Race Divine
7. Voix Qui Me Remplissez D'une Ineffable Ivresse
8. Je Suis L'oiseau
9. Traduire... Pourquoi Me Riller
10. Anges Du Paradis
11. Salut, Tombeau
12. Salut, Demeure Chaste Et Pure
13. Je Suis Seul!... Ah! Fuyez, Douce Image
14. Je Vais La Voir!
15. Ah! Parais!

Amazon.com

Rolando Villazon's follow-up CD to his sensational debut recital of Italian arias is devoted to music by Gounod and Massenet: some as familiar as Faust's, Romeo's and Des Grieux's arias, some as rare as pieces from Gounod's Polyeucte and La Reine de Saba and Massenet's Roma and Le Mage. But almost more important than the interesting repertoire, familiar or otherwise, is Villazon's handling of the music. In Werther's passionate Act II outburst to God about suicide, which is almost never excerpted, Villazon manages, in four minutes, to create a complete character, with all his neuroses, mania, and desperation--and he caps it with a ringing high B natural which is as beautiful as it is heartfelt. He sings both of Des Grieux's arias with feeling and tenderness (aided in "Le reve" by Natalie Dessay!). An aria from La Reine de Saba turns out to bequite a showpiece, with a drop-dead high C at its close. As singing and as interpreting, this CD is a must-have. Villazon's dark-hued, expressive tone is always used in the service of the music, and following his career will be a joy for all lovers of great tenorizing. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

the way teens are to Britney or Madonna...........2007-01-04

Villazon brings out the teenybopper in me. I could wear the grooves out!~just as I did with my early heros at 12 and 13 years of age. Seriously, his sound, phrasing and timbre are transcendent and ethereal. May the music never end.

Villazon finds his niche...go French.......2006-02-25

Rather than beefing up his voice for the big (money-paying) Italian roles that are one size too large for him, Rolando Villazon naturally excels in these roles from Gounod and Massenet. The narrow French vowels add a needed edge and vibrancy to his voice, the placement of the music in the head tones brings out Villazon's best timbre, and he seems temperamentally suited to refined heros. In fact, it's remarkable to hear the transformaiton here when comparing him in the recent DG La Traviata, where his Alfredo was convincing but hard work. French opera is rhtorical and poetic rather than visceral and passionate. I think Villazon fits that mold, as nearly eery aria here domonstrates.

Bad diction, engineering gimmicks besot otherwise noble effort.......2006-02-02

A tenor very quickly on the rise, this is Villazon's second recital disc, one devoted to arias by Gounod and Massenet, all in sets of three, three for Massenet, and two for Gounod. While still showing great promise, some concerns that were mildly serious with the first disc are even more so, in the French repertoire, in part because diction comes up so short here.

"O souverain" from Le Cid continues to show Villazon's command of line and squeezed but adequately forceful upper register, so that the volume boosts from the control room are really unnecessary. Diction here is already an issue, as many `u' vowels get dipthonged, especially when Villazon's sound is placed back for added weight and volume. `La reve' from Massenet's Manon is comfortably floated, with support from Natalie Dessay as Manon enhancing the intimacy of feeling to this number. Would Villazon been able to sing the short aria by Alain (who appears to the heroine at first to perhaps be little more than an apparition - shades of Frau ohne schatten perhaps? - in almost a chamber opera), from Massenet's Griselidis (track 8), at least as softly and lightly, as both the music and dramatic situation require, this could have also been very successful. He instead turns the ABA shape of this mere chanson inside out and makes a wreck of it.

The less often excerpted "Lorsque enfant" from Werther closes out the first Massenet set, as does "Pourquoi me reveiller" the second. Villazon's identification with the distraught main character of this opera is abundantly clear in both. He capitalizes well on the quixotic emotions and dreamy tendencies of the distraught main character especially well in the first selection, and he is also less intruded upon by the producers or sound engineers there as well.

It is quite curious how the control room follows the tenor up a crescendo on a line that closes out the first section of the excerpt here from Massenet's Roi de Lahore, featuring a hero (from Hindu myth) that bound to certain stipulations, has literally returned from the dead. Not quite as ostentatious as Massenet's near remake of Lohengrin, Esclarmonde (but with female protagonist instead), it is one of Massenet's most colorful scores. It has only been recorded complete once commercially, with Joan Sutherland, Luis Lima, and appearing only ten minutes apart, James Morris, and for the part of General unfortunately eliminated from this scene here, John Tomlinson, along with one other cut to Villazon's part. It would've been more valuable to have all this complete instead of one or two other arias. He captures the incipiently worried tone of Alim well, but his coloring up the vowel sounds makes it seem that he has come from a place as remote from French culture as where the opera takes place.

Most successful of the Gounod selections are two of the three rarities. The first is Source delicieuse from Polyeucte, based on the Corneille play. It opens very well with a minute of orchestral cortege. It perhaps has only been recorded once before and well, by Roberto Alagna ten years ago; Villazon conveys the heroism of the piece somewhat well, if not as securely as Alagna. Anges du paradis from Mireille (which Mirella Freni championed and recorded complete for EMI), is third, perhaps a study for Ah leve toi, soleil (Romeo), several years down the road. The second Gounod rarity on this disc is "Inspirez-moi, race divine," said to be a Caruso favorite, from Reine de Saba. Its text indicates King Solomon's prize hired builder, Adoniram, to be a very confident, if mildly haughty chap. Villazon's interpretation seems to portray a hero that constantly has to look behind his back, with all the incipiently yet controllably vibrato ridden throb and backphrasing Villazon engages in here. The high C at the end, however, is convincing. Such device as in the above, also accents and colors most phrasing in the tomb scene from Romeo et Juliette.

"Ah! leve toi soleil" opens the first Gounod set, and is sung with the right ardor, conventionally marked by tiny captured scoops, coming off phrases. Villazon's entrance and two later lines catch for having placed so far back in the throat, and intonation gets momentarily derailed. "Salut, demeure" from Gounod's Faust quickly becomes expressively leaden and monochrome.

Recitative and the beginning of the aria, "Ah! fuyez" from Manon begin well nuanced enough, and for the aria, truly softly as a change from so much else on this disc, but all-purpose bench pressing and volume boosts intrude before long. That leaves two truly atmospheric selections from two Massenet rarities, to close this recital - first, an aria from Roma, Massenet's swan song for the lyric theater and "Ah! parais" from Le Mage, opera with plot line similar to that of Verdi's Aida, following. The melody, introduced by the cellos at the outset for the latter, somewhat takes after "Pays merveilleux" from Meyerbeer's Africaine, but in more voluptuous color, such as in Thais, and Villazon and Pido both capitalize well on its opulence. Pido's work, on numerous other numbers on this disc, seems heavy, lumbering, cloying, or just simply out of his idiom, so to speak.

Word has it that Villazon, while not having a big voice, is dramatically exciting on stage and probably more immediately engaged with the content of what he is singing. How this picked up a major award from Gramophone, for the specific problems this disc has, and over two more qualified nominations (Ciofi/Di Donato Handel Duets and a Florez album) is mystifying. So much digression here is over the very specific demands that French opera makes on singers. There's much reason for hope for this tenor, but this disc, for two-thirds of it, does little to help fulfill it.

Bean sings?.......2006-01-05

A friend lent me Villazon's debut album as an introduction to the man. I loved it - but this is the one I have bought. If, like me, you have tired of the comparisons between Villazon and others (esp Domingo) fear not, this artist is an original. I must confess that on seeing the cover I wondered if Brit comedian Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean / Black Adder - now there's a new comarison!) had strayed into the wrong studio, but a few tracks into either disc and you'll know you're listening to the real thing. True, he has baritonish notes in the lower register, and an easy reach for the upper notes but I honestly have not heard anyone quite like him before. His is a warm voice with an early maturity that should ensure he has a long career ahead of him. His diction is excellent, without the staccato enunciation or lack of French interpretation abilities that mar lesser singers' performances. Such vocal ease makes the sung word seem as natural as the spoken word is to us lesser mortals. That his song selection moves away from the 'usual suspects' of the tenor repertoire is to his great advantage; he knows what suits him and he brings each piece to new life. The overly familiar tracks of which there are thankfully few serve only to highlight through comparison to those we know Villazon's unique timbre and interpretation. This collection includes inspired music choices, incomparable renditions, marvellous orchestration and leaves the listener keenly anticipating his next release. The recording and production are impeccable (worth ***** in their category). It does not get much better than that. Atkinson may make you laugh (or not) - Villazon will make you smile and keep you feeling that way.

A fine romantic interpreter.......2005-12-20

If not quite a poet in the manner of, say, Edmond Clément, Rolando Villazón is a first rate romantic interpreter. His French is surprisingly good and he really understands how this school of writing needs to be lived and phrased, so that he doesn't summarily yell through all phrases like some "Italian" second-rater: he shades and molds the music in the elegant style of great French tenors of a bygone era: Clément, Franz, Dalmorès, Beyle, Vaguet, Scaremberg, D' Arkor, Thill...

Just like the damned record companies to give us a mere CD of Rolando Villazón's lovely art, whilst recording the above "Italian" second-rater in every complete French rôle under the sun!

Villazón's voice itself is more like a Spanish tenor's in timbre, none too pellucid, but a manly, resonant instrument of middle weight, which he never forces.

I don't know who Evelino Pido is, or how he got through school with that name, but he is a damned sight better than the much-touted Pappano (as in EMI's horrible latest Manon.) There are no metronomic run-throughs [RUIN-throughs!] on this disk.

If you adore Gounod and Massenet as I do, this CD will be very good news indeed to you.

Average customer rating:

Opéra Français: Le Récital Oublié (The Forgotten Arias Collection) Manufacturer: Bmg Int'l ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Berlioz | Berlioz, Hector | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chausson, Ernest | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Donizetti | Donizetti, Gaetano | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Gounod | Gounod, Charles | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Lalo, Edouard | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Massenet | Massenet, Jules | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Meyerbeer | Meyerbeer, Giacomo | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rameau | Rameau, Jean Philippe | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Saint-Saëns, Camille | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Thomas | Thomas, Ambroise | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Hadley, Jerry | ( H ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music Cantatas | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Arias | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B0001BFIEQ Release Date: 2004-09-28

Average customer rating: A nice overview of Caruso's legacy Unearthly If You Only Buy One Caruso . . .

Artists Of The Century - Caruso, The Greatest Tenor In The World Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Donizetti | Donizetti, Gaetano | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Goldmark | Goldmark, Karl | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Gounod | Gounod, Charles | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Handel | Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Leoncavallo | Leoncavallo, Ruggiero | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Massenet | Massenet, Jules | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Meyerbeer | Meyerbeer, Giacomo | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Ponchielli | Ponchielli, Amilcare | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Puccini | Puccini, Giacomo | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Tchaikovsky | Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Verdi | Verdi, Giuseppe | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rossini | Rossini, Gioacchino | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Requiems | Forms & Genres | Early Music | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Caruso, Enrico | ( C ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Donizetti, Gaetano | C to G | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Giordano, Umberto | C to G | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Gounod, Charles | C to G | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Handel, George Frideric | H to L | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Massenet, Jules | M to P | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Meyerbeer, Giacomo | M to P | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Ponchielli, Amilcare | M to P | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Puccini, Giacomo | M to P | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Rossini, Gioacchino | Q to T | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich | Q to T | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Vocal Works by Verdi | Verdi, Giuseppe | U to Z | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Russian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Requiems | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Great Caruso The Legendary Enrico Caruso: 21 Favorite Arias The Very Best of Beniamino Gigli Italian Songs: The Digital Recordings Match Point ASIN: B00000J913 Release Date: 1999-05-25

Tracks:

1. Act II: Amor Ti Vieta
2. Act II: Che Gelinda Manina
3. Act III: Salut Demeure Chaste Et Pure
4. Act III: Di Quella Pira
5. Act IV: Spirto Gentil, Ne' Sogni Miei (Romanza)
6. Act III: Solenne In Quest'Ora
7. Act IV: Mi Batte Il Cor...O Paradiso!
8. Act I: Un Di All'Azzurro Spazio (Improvviso)
9. Recitar!... Vesti La Giubba
10. Act I: Questa O Quella
11. Act IV: La Donna E Mobile
12. Act III: Ah Si, Ben Mio
13. Act I: Celeste Aida
14. Act I: Recondita Armonia
15. Act III: E Lucevan Le Stelle
16. Act III: Della Natal Sua Terra Il Padre... O Tu Che In Seno Agl' Angeli
17. Act II: Magiche Note
18. Act II: La Fleur Que Tu M'Avais Jetee
19. Act I: Ah, Qual Soave Vision...Bianca Al Par Di Neve
20. Act II: Cielo E Mar
21. Act II: Nell'Ore Arcane Della Sua Lussuria... Ora E Per Sempre Addio
22. Un Ballo In Maschera: Act I: Di' Tu Se Fedele
23. Act II: Una Furtiva Lagrima

Tracks:

1. Act III: Je Suis Seul... Ah, Uyez, Douce Image
2. Act II: Chi Mi Frena In Tal Momento? (Sextett)
3. Act I: O Soave Fanciulla
4. Act III: Ella Mi Fu Rapita!...Parmi Veder Le Lagrime
5. Act I: Donna Non Vidi Mai
6. Cujus Animam
7. Act II: Oh! Mostruosa Colpa!... Si, Pel Ciel
8. Act I: Libiamo, Libiamo (Brindisi)
9. Ingemisco
10. Act II: Faiblesse De La Race Humaine!... Inspirez-Moi, Race Divine
11. Act III: Ah! Tout Est Bien Fini!... O Souverain, O Juge, O Pere!
12. Act IV: O Figli, O Figli Miei... Ah, La Paterna Mano
13. Act II: Pour Moi Ce Jour Est Tout Mystere
14. Act I: A Cette Voix Quel Trouble...Je Crois Entendre Encore
15. Act IV: Bella Figlia Dell'Amore (Quartett) - Giuseppe De Luca
16. Act II: Chi Mi Frena In Tal Momento? (Sextett) - Amelita Galli-Curci
17. Act I: Frondi Tenere E Belle...Ombra Mai Fu (Largo)
18. Act I: Studenti! Udite!
19. Crucifixus

Customer Reviews:

A nice overview of Caruso's legacy.......2007-01-04

Enrico Caruso was one of the first "media stars," with his recordings selling widely in the early twentieth century; he helped popularize the recording industry. He was one of the leading tenors of his day, and is regarded as one of the tops of the twentieth century (although he began serious singing in the late 19th century).

This CD features some of his "greatest hits," among which are his well reputed version of "Vesti la giubba" (from I Pagliacci, one of his signature operas); arias from Verdi's Rigoletto, including the bold "Questa o quella" and "La donna e mobile"; some of his most popular recordings from Puccini, including "E lucevan le stelle," "Recondita armonia," and "Che gelida manina." Nice additions to the CD are wonderful ensemble pieces, such as the sextet from Lucia di Lammermoor (including the voice of Luisa Tetrazzini) and the quartet from Rigoletto (with Amelita Galli-Curci).

Interesting tidbits include his first recording, from 1902, and his last, from 1920.

All in all, this is a very nice representation of his work. I'm not sure that it compares with the old LP (with him in clown outfit) that includes Rossini's nearly unsingable "La danza," among other items. But it is a terrific introduction to the art of Caruso. Anyone who has not listened to this tenor's works before would be well advised to use this as their entree to his oeuvre.

Unearthly.......2002-12-23

Forget toiling for a BMW, enjoy finer things in life.One of my personal favorites is ''Le pecheurs de perles'', but the offer is overwhelming.

If You Only Buy One Caruso . . ........2001-01-03

let this be it! Wonderful, generous selection of his singles for Victor, most of them solos, but a few duets, quartets, quintets, and a sextet. The accompanying booklet makes a great deal of including his first and last recordings, but by far the most important here is Caruso's 1907 recording of Vesti la giubba, the first classical recording to sell over a million copies in the United States. If you listen to it, you'll know why--it's every bit as melodramatic as the minstrel show singles with which it shared the top of the early twentieth-century charts.

Average customer rating:

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Average customer rating:

La Voix Humaine Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Poulenc | Poulenc, Francis | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music Similar Items: Bizet: The Pearl Fishers (Complete opera); Hendricks, Aler, Plasson, Capitole de Toulouse ASIN: B000005E7R Release Date: 1991-10-11

Tracks:

1. Introduction
2. 'Allo... Ah! Cheri, c'est toi? On a vait coupe'
3. 'Voila deux jours qu'il ne quitte pas la chambre'

Average customer rating: Disturbing opera, but overall a strange package.

Poulenc: La voix humaine / Le bel indifférent Manufacturer: Angel Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Poulenc | Poulenc, Francis | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: Menotti - The Telephone / Poulenc - La Voix Humaine ASIN: B000025EOP Release Date: 2001-03-06

Tracks:

1. La Voix Humaine - Denise Duval
2. Le Bel Indifferent - Edith Piaf

Customer Reviews:

Disturbing opera, but overall a strange package........2001-03-15

Anyone expecting a slice of impish whimsey from a Poulenc/Cocteau collaboration should be warned that this 1959 work is deeply harrowing, an unremitting one-act opera monologue, featuring an abandoned lover (sung by Daniele Duval) painfully breaking down over the telephone.

the music, which faithfully serves the text, captures every quicksilver emotion of its heroine, from fear to wild hope to despair, with a mixture of spare underpinning and Hollywood lushness. Unfortunately, no libretto is included; unless you have pretty good French, the interplay between music and text will be lost - the music is not self-sufficient enough to enjoy on its own.

But at least there is music. 'La Voix Humaine' is followed by another Cocteau monologue about another jilted lover volubly breaking down, this time played by Edith Piaf. this has nothing to do with Poulenc; it is a piece of recorded theatre, with only fragments of background gramophone music to soften the general austerity; Piaf closes her half-hour harangue with a very welcome chanson. Cocteau's simple French and Piaf's clear enunciation are easy enough to follow, but it seems a bizarre filler to offer an English-speaking classical music audience.

Average customer rating: They all agree: magnifique!

Poulenc - La Voix humaine · La Dame de Monte-Carlo / Felicity Lott · Suisse Romande · Jordan Francis Poulenc , Armin Jordan , Felicity Lott , and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr. ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Poulenc | Poulenc, Francis | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Poulenc - La Voix Humaine / Anne Sophie Schmidt, Jean-Luc Tingaud, Compiegne Opera La Voix Humaine: Vocal Score Poulenc: Figure humaine Menotti - The Telephone / Poulenc - La Voix Humaine Béla Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle ASIN: B00005QZE8 Release Date: 2001-12-11

Customer Reviews:

They all agree: magnifique!.......2001-12-29

Surreally no doubt, thanks to some intellectual Swiss friends, the very first opera I knew was Poulenc's surreal Les Mamelles de Tiresias, in Cluytens' great 50s recording starring Denise Duval. As a teenager learning French, I devoured it and so, to this day, have been able to roll off pat the French terms for a combine harvester, an incubator or a fortune-teller. What I didn't know at the time but learned later was Denise Duval's very special status as a performer of Poulenc's works: the composer's own choice, a woman with great acting skills, beauty, glamour, charm, humour, charisma... and French.

Any singer, especially a non-French one, who takes on Poulenc takes on, willingly or not, the Duval legend and will face stern scrutiny in France, where the "exception culturelle" is fairly fiercely guarded - and Duval's recordings of Poulenc remain benchmarks. Although it was clear to me that Dame Felicity Lott's new recording was first rate, I was still surprised when a French friend told me he thought it surpassed Denise Duval; and even more surprised to find the same opinion in the French press. Opinion here and in the UK seems indeed to be unanimous: "magnifique," as the reviewer in French magazine Opera International felt he had to say, twice. The disc immediately received a "Choc" award from Le Monde de la Musique (not a chocolate medal: pronounce it "shock") and a "10" from Repertoire.

UK magazine Opera Now, wondering "whether she has done anything finer on disc," congratulates Felicity Lott for "persuading us that she is actually French." The amazing thing is that she has succeeded in persuading the French themselves, confirming, with this CD, her pre-eminence in French song: she is, it seems, the leading French soprano of the day.

Both works, typical both of Cocteau and of Poulenc in the depiction of genteel tragedy, a nostalgia far more bitter than sweet with the sharp shock of unsuspected private pain behind the chic facade, are well suited to Felicity Lott's own stage persona, in line with her performances of Rosenkavalier and Capriccio - even if, like Duval, when necessary she can carry off to perfection the comic idiom, as her recent Belle Helene shows. And as ever - especially where French works are concerned, not just a detail - the pronunciation and diction are perfect, making this, incidentally, a perfect CD for anyone who loves or is learning French today, as I did thanks in part to Denise Duval some 30 years ago. But in any case, an essential disc for anyone interested in Poulenc, Cocteau, French song or opera. La Dame de Monte Carlo, just 7 minutes long, is, by the way, a gem.

Average customer rating:

Louis-Nicolas Clerambault: Les Deux Suites Manufacturer: Calliope Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Clérambault,Louis-Nicolas | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Fugues | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music | Baroque | Classical | General | Modern & 20th Century | Romantic | Sinfonia | Sinfonia Concertante General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B00000IL4M Release Date: 1999-04-13

Tracks:

1. Ste Du Premier Ton: Grand Plein Jeu
2. Ste Du Premier Ton: Fugue
3. Ste Du Premier Ton: Duo
4. Ste Du Premier Ton: Trio
5. Ste Du Premier Ton: Basse Et Dessus De Tpt
6. Ste Du Premier Ton: Recit De Cromorne
7. Ste Du Premier Ton: Dialogue Sur Les Grands Jeux
8. Ste Du Deuxieme Ton: Plein Jeu
9. Ste Du Deuxieme Ton: Duo
10. Ste Du Deuxieme Ton: Trio
11. Ste Du Deuxieme Ton: Basse De Cromorne
12. Ste Du Deuxieme Ton: Fls
13. Ste Du Deuxieme Ton: Recit De Nazard
14. Ste Du Deuxieme Ton: Caprice Sur Les Grands Jeux
15. Dialogue De Voix Humaine
16. Dessus De Tierce Par Accords
17. Dialogue A Deux Chors
18. Premier Livre D'orgue: Plein Jeu
19. Premier Livre D'orgue: Fugue
20. Premier Livre D'orgue: Trio
21. Premier Livre D'orgue: Tierce En Taille
22. Premier Livre D'orgue: Basse De Tpt
23. Premier Livre D'orgue: Recit
24. Premier Livre D'orgue: Duo
25. Premier Livre D'orgue: Grand Jeu
26. Livre D'orgue (Extraits): Plein Jeu Du Premier Ton
27. Livre D'orgue (Extraits): Fugue Sur L'Ave Maris Stella
28. Livre D'orgue (Extraits): Basse Et Dessus De Tpt
29. Livre D'orgue (Extraits): Muzete
30. Livre D'orgue (Extraits): Offertoire
31. Livre D'orgue (Extraits): Duo En Cor De Chasse

Average customer rating:

La Voix Humaine-Complete Opera Manufacturer: Phoenix USA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Poulenc | Poulenc, Francis | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music ASIN: B00005YXZZ Release Date: 1997-05-27

Tracks:

1. La Voix Humaine

Album Description

Jean Cocteau used the simplest of plots and minimal theatrical elements to dwell upon a deep, wide range of unspoken human emotions. The old story of the abandoned young woman desperately but unsuccessfully trying to regain her lover, who has decided to marry another woman in two days, has been transformed by Cocteau in a theatrical tour-de-force full of drama, tension and anguish. For 50 minutes, this "elegant young woman" pleads with her lost lover, cries, reminisces incoherently, lies, suffers and loses reality, slowly but inexorably falling into a state of depression and irreparable sadness. She seems, finally, calm and reconciled, but as she protests for the last time her eternal love and devotion to her ex-lover, she strangles herself with the telephone cord.

The play was premiered at the Paris Comedie-Francaise by Berthe Bovy in 1932, but the Poulenc version only came to life in 1959 at the Opera Comique, with Denise Duval. Cocteau was enchanted. He wrote to Poulenc: "My dear Francis, you have found the only way to say my text." Indeed, Cocteau had avoided the long poetic flights, using instead interrupted, almost staggered prose to communicate this woman's anguish. Poulenc seems to have captured every nuance, avoiding the easy flowing melodies, and concentrating on the expressive elements of the human voice, whispers, sighs, sobbing phrases. The theatrical tour-de-force became a real concerto for soprano, with great musical difficulties added to the challenge of supporting a long winding monologue. On the almost bare stage there is no action to speak of, just a young woman on a couch, and a telephone and, like in Wagner, the drama unfolds inside the character, while it is depicted in the music. Unlike Wagner, Poulenc has avoided the heated lyricism, following instead a pattern of broken prosaic sentences, and a drastic, almost hysterical change of moods.

The obvious precedent would be Schoenberg's Erwartung, also a dramatic monodrama for solo soprano. However, there are hardly two more different works. Schoenberg's lyric, expressionist work is worlds apart from Poulenc's transparent, realistic vision. The common factor is the enormous difficulty for a single actress-singer to support the lone drama on an empty stage.

Average customer rating:

Poulenc: La Voix humaine Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Poulenc | Poulenc, Francis | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B0000007IT Release Date: 1997-09-09

Tracks:

1. Allo, Allo... Mais Non Madame, Nous Sommes Plusieurs Sur La Ligne
2. Quelle Comedie?... Allo... Qui?
3. Je Ne Sais Pas Encore...
4. Moi, Mechante?... Alo... Alo Cheri... Ou Es-Tu?
5. Cheri... Cheri... Il Etait Quatre Heures Du Matin
6. Pardonne-Moi. Je Sais Que Cette Scene Est Intolerable
7. Allo, Allo... Madame, Retirez-Vous
8. Je Sais Bien Qu'il Le Faut, Mais C'est Atroce...

Meditation Music:

1. Mondonville: Titon et l'Aurore
2. Mozart Arias
3. Mozart: Bastien und Bastienne
4. Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
5. Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
6. Mozart: Die Zauberflöte / Janowitz, Gedda, Popp, Berry, Frick, Schwarzkopf, Ludwig; Klemperer
7. Mozart: Don Giovanni
8. Mozart: Don Giovanni / Allen, Vaness, M. Ewing, Gale, Lewis, Van Allen; Haitink
9. Mozart - La finta giardiniera / Conwell · di Cesare · T. Moser · Sukis · Fassbaender · Ihloff · McDaniel · Orch Mozarteum Salzburg · L. Hager
10. Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro, Highlights/Mitridate, K. 87/La Finta Giardiniera, K. 196

Meditation Music

meditation music

Meditation Music

One More Try: An Anthology

Mozart Debussy Mendelssohn

Music Review: 17th Century German Harpsichord Music: The Stylus Phantasticus

Music: My Big Hero

ICU Session, Vol. 6

Gia

Live at Slim's Y-Ki-Ki [Live]

Looking For Lucky

Let Me Go Pt.1 [CD-single] [Enhanced] [Import]

Live Magic [Import] [Live] [Original recording remastered]

Gettin' Back to Swing [Import]

O Coracao Chora [Import]

Let Me Be the One [CD-single]

Reflections

Two for the Show