Music / solosang

Les nuits d'été


Reviews (27)


MusicWeb international

2022 December

By

By

Ralph Moore (musikanmelder)

2022 December

"Les nuits d'été usually requires two different singers unless transpositions are made to suit just one but Michael Spyres here chooses to sing the orchestrated, 1856 versions of in their original, untransposed keys, meaning that the second and third songs require a lower voice than the other four. He evidently considers himself suited to the challenge of singing all six songs ... To my ears his tenor has of late acquired an increasingly constricted rather plaintive, tone which is instantly confirmed by his singing of the first song here in an account not enhanced by conductor John Nelson's inaptly lugubrious choice of tempo ... To sum up, neither of these two new versions of Berlioz masterworks matches up to previous recordings; the song cycle in particular is deeply disappointing".


Presto classical

d. 18. Nov. 2022

By

By

Katherine Cooper

d. 18. Nov. 2022

"Recording of the week: There's something about Nelson's affectionate but refreshingly clear-eyed approach to this music that often wins over those who generally find it febrile, overheated and overstuffed ... In the opening 'Villanelle', Spyres sounds every inch the classic French lyric tenor, but the transition into baritone mode for the radiant 'Spectre de la Rose' is so convincing that you'd be forgiven for thinking a second singer had taken the reins ... and in Harold Ridout always feels fully integrated into the bigger picture".


Politiken

d. 24. July 2007

By

By

Thomas Michelsen

d. 24. July 2007

"Bernarda Fink med Kent Nagano og hans gode berlinerorkester i ryggen har begået en opsigtsvækkende og nyskabende fortolkning ... Dirigenten har sin store del af fortjenesten i kraft af en partiturlæsning ... Hans [Ravel] sjældent hørte folkemelodier fra Grækenland, her i fransk oversættelse, delvis orkestreret af en Ravel-elev, er varmtklingende vokalperler. Finks skønne, mystisk betonede fortolkninger af Ravels helt ubetalelige og anderledes kendte Shérérazade-sange er rigelig grund til at købe cden".


Jyllands-posten

d. 11. Dec. 2003

By

d. 11. Dec. 2003


Jyllands-posten

d. 5. Nov. 2001

By

d. 5. Nov. 2001


Jyllands-posten

d. 19. Apr. 2004

By

d. 19. Apr. 2004


BBC music magazine

2007 August

By

By

Roger Nichols (musikanmelder)

2007 August

"The late Régine Crespin's recording of Nuits d'été and Shéhérazade, one og the most miraculous of discs, sets a high standard to aim. On some levels, Bernarda Fink offers competition ... Problems mainly lie elsewhere. Firstly, Nagano's moaning ... Much of the orchestral playing in Shéhérazade is too loud".


Klassisk

2007, nr. 6

By

By

Bo Holten

2007, nr. 6

"Fink synger disse, noget ujævne, sange ganske forrygende smukt. Det virker ikke som om hun har nogen problemer, hverken i højden eller dybden, stemmen er fuldstændig egal, og lækker i klangen. Orkesterakkompagnementet, i de langsomme sange lidt udflydende, men ellers stemningsfuldt dirigeret af amerikaneren Kent Nagano".


Diapason

2011 decembre

By

By

Gérard Condé

2011 decembre


Fono Forum

2012 Februar

By

By

Jörg Hillebrand

2012 Februar

"Was die Solisten anbelangt, hat Minkowski erstklassig gewählt".


BBC music magazine

2012 March

By

By

michael Scott Rohan

2012 March

"Vurdering: BBC music orchestral choice" - "Marc Minkowski gives an energetic, crisp, emphatic reading ... Anna Sofie von Otter, less bright than in her previous recording, has gained depth of feeling and soaring, plangent tone to become a worthy match for Janet Baker and Régine Crespin".


BBC music magazine

2013 May

By

By

Michael Scott Rohan

2013 May

"Scottish star mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, in fact, has a remarkably beautiful voice ... Ticciati's chamber forces do make a difference from the sound we're used to, without disturbing any essential balances".


Fono Forum

2013 August

By

By

Thomas Schulz (f. 1960)

2013 August

" ... deren transparentes Klangbild von Ticciati und dem Orchester hervoragend eingefangen wird ... Karen Cargills ... ungemein klare und schlanke Stimme ... gehört zu den grossen Momenten dieser Einspielung".


Diapason

2023 janvier

By

By

François Laurent

2023 janvier


Fono Forum

2023 Februar

By

By

Manuel Brug

2023 Februar

"Der Amerikaner Michael Spyres, ein vokales Wundertier mit höchsten, voll wie fein abgemischtem Falsett genommenen Höhen, der aber auch im brustige Tiefen herabzusteigen vermag, hat sich längst als Baritenor etabliert ... Hier aber singt er sogar, ohne zu transponieren, in originale Bassregionen hinunter. Das ist so erstklassig wie einmalig ... Als CD-füller dieser packend dichten halben Liedstunde ... "Harold en Italie" nach Lord Byrons Versepos. Das saitentänzelt ... Timothy Ridout so souverän wie melodiensaftig".


BBC music magazine

2022 Christmas

By

By

Christopher Dingle

2022 Christmas

"This is special. Two extraordinary masterpieces ... Two outstanding soloists thoroughly immersed in Berlioz's music, partnered by an orchestra and conductor with an unsurpassed pedigree in the composer ... The storytelling viola concerto 'Harold en Italie' ... finds a supreme advocate in TImothy RIdout. Rarely has the principal theme had such ardent, glowing warmth ... Spyres is exceptional in keeping the original keys [Les nuits d'été] ... It is not just his remarkably wide range, but his security of expression with no sense of pushing ... Nelson ensuring beautifully fluid accompaniment throughout".


The gramophone

2007 September

By

By

John Warrack

2007 September

"Bernarda Fink's strong, flexible voice is well matched to all that Ravel asks of her ... There are too many other outstanding recordings of the cycle for this to be first choice".


High fidelity (Kbh.)

Årg. 37, nr. 8 (2004)

By

Årg. 37, nr. 8 (2004)


Berlingske tidende

d. 9. Jan. 2002

By

d. 9. Jan. 2002


The gramophone

2012 February

By

By

Geoffrey Norris

2012 February

"Berlioz's Harold en Italie lends itself well to the period-instrument treatment offered to it by Les Musiciens du Louvre ... The coupling of Les nuits d'été is similarly well judged, Anne Sofie von Otter's mature insight into the music'd spectrum of feeling matched by the orchestra's eloquent, atmospheric, limpid support".


International record review

2012 February

By

By

Ian Julier

2012 February

"The winning subtlety of the vocal items readily transports the disc into the must-hear category".


Berlingske tidende

d. 20. Apr. 2004

By

d. 20. Apr. 2004


Klassisk musik

2004, nr. 6

By

2004, nr. 6


International record review

2013 July/August

By

By

Mark Pullinger

2013 July/August

"[Cargill's] ravishing account of Les nuits d'ete ranks up there with the best of them ... Cargill's French diction is superb ... [In the second song] she is aided by Ticciati's fleet tempos and the almost period-instrument clarity he draws from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra ... This is a disc to which I'll be returning soon and often".


The gramophone

2013 June

By

By

Geoffrey Norris

2013 June

"Vurdering: Gramophone choice - Vurdering: Recording of the month" - "One of the striking facets of Ticciati's conducting and the SCO's playing in Les nuits d'ete is the clarity and details that spring from the score ... The SCO's collaboration with the mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill is also an entirely felicitous one ... This is a performance of Les nuits d'ete that is all of a piece".


Jyllands-posten

d. 5. Oct. 1999

By

d. 5. Oct. 1999


The gramophone

2023 January

By

By

Mark Pullinger

2023 January

"It's rare for male singers to record 'Les nuits d'été' ... Spyres's baritone can withstand the competition. His deft phrasing and attention to text is outstanding ... [He] is mellifluous in both registers and this is an excellent rendition ... The soloist [in Harold en Italie] is Timothy Ridout, whose warm, silky chestnut tone is beautifully polished ... Indeed, the Strasbourg woodwinds are a delight throughout".