Search - Jessye Norman :: Les Chemins De L'Amour

An Enchanting Voyage to Paris

K. T. D. Lee | London | 03/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I know, I know, we should never judge a book by its cover, but I just couldn't resist it and bought this CD because the cover photo is just so good. But I was not let down. Ms. Norman has already recorded a vast collection of lieder and it is well known how good she is in that repertoire, but she is also incredibly impressive with melodies. This material is so suited to her style. The Duparc for example, I've never heard 'La vie antérieure' sung more dramatically before, the climatic moment is simply ecstatic! The gems in this collection are definitely the title track and Satie's charming waltz 'Je te veux'.The terrible drawback is, Phillips did not supply English translation to the lyrics, which is a great shame since some of the songs obviously rely on lyrical meanings so much. But that should not deduct even a single star from the singing, which is worth all the stars shining over Montparnasse!"