Poulenc's 1957 opera has proved perhaps the most enduring lyric stage work of the past half-century, though recordings of it are hardly plentiful. So it's a pleasure to welcome one that captures the work's many concerns--f... more »aith and courage, among others, conveyed through beleaguered Carmelite nuns during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. The opera focuses on Blanche, whose private fears are overcome by martyrdom. The chilling closing scene has the nuns singing the Salve Regina, their numbers reduced with each terrifying thwack of the guillotine. In this 1980 French radio concert broadcast, Jean-Pierre Marty conducts a flowing, dramatic performance of Poulenc's beautiful score, highlighted by Felicity Lott's vulnerable, yet stubborn, Blanche and Regine Crespin's chilling Old Prioress. The rest of the cast shines, despite some acidic soprano high notes, perhaps an artifact of the recording, which is otherwise fresh-sounding, with wide dynamics and good stereo comparable to studio recordings of the time. Pierre Dervaux's premier recording on EMI boasts an incomparable Blanche in Denise Duval, but it's in somewhat boxy mono sound; Kent Nagano on Virgin may be the best bet, but you won't go wrong with this one either. --Dan Davis« less
Poulenc's 1957 opera has proved perhaps the most enduring lyric stage work of the past half-century, though recordings of it are hardly plentiful. So it's a pleasure to welcome one that captures the work's many concerns--faith and courage, among others, conveyed through beleaguered Carmelite nuns during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. The opera focuses on Blanche, whose private fears are overcome by martyrdom. The chilling closing scene has the nuns singing the Salve Regina, their numbers reduced with each terrifying thwack of the guillotine. In this 1980 French radio concert broadcast, Jean-Pierre Marty conducts a flowing, dramatic performance of Poulenc's beautiful score, highlighted by Felicity Lott's vulnerable, yet stubborn, Blanche and Regine Crespin's chilling Old Prioress. The rest of the cast shines, despite some acidic soprano high notes, perhaps an artifact of the recording, which is otherwise fresh-sounding, with wide dynamics and good stereo comparable to studio recordings of the time. Pierre Dervaux's premier recording on EMI boasts an incomparable Blanche in Denise Duval, but it's in somewhat boxy mono sound; Kent Nagano on Virgin may be the best bet, but you won't go wrong with this one either. --Dan Davis
CD Reviews
If the EMI-Dervaux set is hard to get...
09/09/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"People buying the Carmelites for the first time will usually and rightly go for the EMI set with Dervaux conducting and the irreplaceable Denise Duval as Blanche. But if, as Amazon.com suggests, the EMI set is now unavailable, this 1980 French radio recording is a very fine alternative - and an absolute must for lovers of Regine Crespin's distinctive timbre. Crespin, as the prioress, and the young Felicity Lott as Blanche, are outstanding. Diction is of course key in French opera: with Crespin, superb diction goes without saying, and Lott shows that her astonishing (to the French) mastery of French text is not a recent phenomenon. If you understand French, you won't need the libretto (fortunately, as with this set you don't get it). They are surrounded by a solid French cast in a live performance (Theatre des Champs Elysees as part of French radio's lyric season) with the extra buzz of excitement that comes from playing to an audience and which the Carmelites, a potentialy static score, need. Sound is, however, excellent, and the Paris public is, in spite of some coughing, for once in fairly good health - maybe that April there wasn't too much consumption around - and on good behaviour. One quibble from a French friend: "the guillotine's better on the EMI set." Well, only a Frenchman could know. ..."
Track Listings (27) - Disc #1