Here Gens presents extracts from Grand OpÈra, reflecting her Tragodienne series of operatic arias. Visions is a stunner, rich and so rewarding that you want to rush out and hear each opera as a whole. This might be easier said than done, for some of the operas here aren’t well known. Thus, all the more reason to get this recording because some real gems are included which you’ve almost certainly not heard done as well as they are done here. VÈronique Gens is a great pioneer of French repertoire. So intoxicating is this recording that if you come to it as a taster, you could end up addicted.
Visions — visions of ecstasy, religious or romantic, exotic dreams and horrifying nightmares, virgins, nuns and heroines, plenty of variety, yet each piece a work of theatrical imagination Alfred Bruneau’s GeneviËve (1881) for example, from the cantata the young Bruneau dedicated to Massenet. The piece begins with a dizzying evocation of a storm. If this sounds Wagnerian, the scËne lyrique that rises from it is decidedly French. “Seigneur ! Est-ce bien moi que vous avez choisi?”, for she is just a shepherdess tending a flock. But the nation needs her, and she must put her mission above herself. From CÈsar Franck’s Les BÈatitudes (1879), a moment of quietude interrupted by the fierce scream that introduces the rÈcit et air de Leonore from Louis Neidermeyer’s Stradella (1837), its rhythms influenced by Rossini, enhanced by florid vocal frills. Benjamin Godard’s Les Guelfes (1882) is represented by an orchestral prelude introducing a song describing Jeanne d’Arc’s journey to Paris, her way lit by angelic harps.
From history to fantasy, FÈlicien David’s Lalla Rookh (1862). French orientalism gloried in exotic images. This song is exquisite, its delicate perfumes warmed by the beauty of Gens’ clear, pure expression. It also evokes the aesthetic of the Belle …poque. Thus a song from Henry FÈvrier’s Gismonda (1919) a reverie with tolling bells where a solo violin shadows the voice.The protagonist is a nun, but longs, without much hope, for sensual love. Camille Saint-SaÎns’s arrangement of …tienne Marcel’s BÈatrix is altogether stronger stuff . Cello rather than violin, and mournful winds and a resolute vocal line. BÈatrix knows that the love she knew will never return. “O Beaux RÍves Èvanouis ! …spÈrances tant caressÈes!”. This song is reasonably well known, and Gens does it beautifully.
This selection from Jules Massenet’s La Vierge (1880) begins with an orchestral interlude. The Virgin Mary is about to die. The mood is subdued. But the Gates of Heaven open showing the Virgin a vision of Paradise. “RÍve infini, divine extase, l’Èther scintille et s’embrase!” Gens voice glows, illuminated by rapture. After that explosive high, we return to the relative sedate Blanche from Fromental HalÈvy’s La Magicienne (1885) who chooses the cloister, and to the prayer of Clothilde from Georges Bizet’s Clovis et Clothilde (1857). Another song whose loveliness lies in its simplicity, again ideally suited to Gens’s clear, pure timbre. .To conclude, L’archange from CÈsar Franck’s RÈdemption (1874) a vision of the End of Time. “L’homme rebelle n’obÈit pas”, and God, in anger chastises him. “Mais que faut-il pour son pardon? AprËs des siËcles d’abandon , une heure de priËre!” A rousing and rather cheerful end to a very good recording.
Anne Ozorio
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image_description=VÈronique Gens : Visions
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product_title=VÈronique Gens : Visions. dramatic arias from Bruneau, Franck, Nedermeyer, Godard, David, FÈvrier, Saint-SaÎns, Massenet, HalÈvyand Bizet.
product_by=VÈronique Gens, M¸nchener Rundfunkorchester.conducted by HervÈ Nicquet.
product_id=Alpha 279 [CD]
price=$18.99
product_url=http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=2252642