Sony Masterworks
Beverly Sills - Plaisir d'Amour
$11.98
Details
- Composer
- LENOIR BIZET LISZT VAROUS
- Artist
- Beverly Sills
- Format
- CD
- Label
- Sony Masterworks
- Released
- Nov 24, 1998
- Catalog #
- SMK60576
- UPC
- 074646057629
About
In the introduction to this disc, Beverly Sills notes that her 1975 album of French song came as a "wonderful change of pace . . . from the loony ladies of Donizetti and Bellini [she] was singing so often at that time." But aside from recalling her friendship and working relationship with conductor André Kostelanetz, her memories are vague. She was apparently quite ill, but the sessions ("with the New York Philharmonic," she writes, though the orchestra is listed as the Columbia Symphony) could not be rescheduled. And she admits to having no memory of recording the three Spanish items at all. These are from 1961, with the New York Philharmonic also under Kostelanetz, and released here for the very first time. Fortunately Sills's thoroughly committed, engaging singing speaks volumes. Yes, she was past her vocal prime by the mid-70s, and the recorded acoustic for the French recital is decidedly odd, the voice seeming to float about in some sort of over reverberant chamber. But no matter. Here is an artist fluent in French, with a secure knowledge of French musical style, and a thoroughly solid musical technique, putting this largely unfamiliar program across as well as can be imagined. Sills's vocal timbre is of course instantly identifiable and communicatively personal; thus the disc also succeeds in conveying her ability to make listeners feel she was singing just for them, a trait so consistently appreciated by her audiences throughout her career. The most familiar items are Liszt's Oh, quand je dors and Poulenc's Les chemins de l'amour, the latter sung with impressively compelling restraint. And few can have given truer, more meaningful voice to Koechlin's Si tu le veux ("Unseen by anyone . . . I shall tenderly sing you a song of love . . ."). The three Spanish numbers are a welcome bonus, even if the disc's overall timing remains noticeably short. The closing number, Castellanos's La morena de mi copia ("The dark woman"), gives Sills an opportunity to kick up her heels, but Ponce's gentle Estrellita ("Little star who shines so bright in heaven . . . and sees my broken heart . . .") will linger in the mind as well.
FANFARE: Marc Mandel
FANFARE: Marc Mandel
Tracklist 13 tracks
-
1 Parlez-moi d'amour 03:16
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Parlez-moi d'amour
- Duration
- 03:16
- Composer
- Jean Lenoir
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz
-
2 Ivan IV, Act I: Ouvre ton coeur a l'amour 02:17
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Ivan IV, Act I: Ouvre ton coeur a l'amour
- Duration
- 02:17
- Composer
- Georges Bizet
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz
-
3 Oh! quand je dors, S282/1/R569 (arr. for voice and orchestra) 04:38
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Oh! quand je dors, S282/1/R569 (arr. for voice and orchestra)
- Duration
- 04:38
- Composer
- Franz Liszt
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz
-
4 Mireille, Act I: O Legere Hirondelle 01:54
- Track
- 4
- Title
- Mireille, Act I: O Legere Hirondelle
- Duration
- 01:54
- Composer
- Charles Gounod
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz
-
5 5 Melodies, Op. 5: No. 5. Si tu le veux 03:01
- Track
- 5
- Title
- 5 Melodies, Op. 5: No. 5. Si tu le veux
- Duration
- 03:01
- Composer
- Charles Koechlin
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz
-
6 Les filles de Cadix (The Maids of Cadiz) (arr. for soprano and orchestra) 05:05
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Les filles de Cadix (The Maids of Cadiz) (arr. for soprano and orchestra)
- Duration
- 05:05
- Composer
- Léo Delibes
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz
-
7 Les chemins de l'amour, FP 106 (arr. for voice and orchestra) 04:35
- Track
- 7
- Title
- Les chemins de l'amour, FP 106 (arr. for voice and orchestra)
- Duration
- 04:35
- Composer
- Francis Poulenc
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz
-
8 Plaisir d'amour (version for voice and orchestra) 03:27
- Track
- 8
- Title
- Plaisir d'amour (version for voice and orchestra)
- Duration
- 03:27
- Composer
- Jean-Paul-Égide Martini
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz
-
9 Villanelle (arr. for soprano and orchestra) 03:34
- Track
- 9
- Title
- Villanelle (arr. for soprano and orchestra)
- Duration
- 03:34
- Composer
- Eva Dell'Acqua
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz
-
10 Part I: Intermezzo 02:41
- Track
- 10
- Title
- Part I: Intermezzo
- Duration
- 02:41
- Composer
- Enrique Granados
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz
-
11 Part I: La maja y el ruisenor 07:05
- Track
- 11
- Title
- Part I: La maja y el ruisenor
- Duration
- 07:05
- Composer
- Enrique Granados
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz
-
12 Estrellita (version for voice and orchestra) 02:47
- Track
- 12
- Title
- Estrellita (version for voice and orchestra)
- Duration
- 02:47
- Composer
- Manuel María Ponce
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz
-
13 La morena de mi copla 02:49
- Track
- 13
- Title
- La morena de mi copla
- Duration
- 02:49
- Composer
- Carlos Castellanos
- Performer
- Beverly Sills
- Ensemble
- Columbia Symphony Orchestra
- Conductor
- Andre Kostelanetz