BERLIOZ - RAVEL - SAINT-SAËNS

Description

Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, with the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra and its artistic and music director Kazuki Yamada, performs the now "traditional" pairing of two sumptuous French song cycles: Berlioz's Les Nuits d'été and Ravel's Shéhérazade. A third cycle, less often heard, by another great French composer, Camille Saint-Saëns, complements them musically and thematically: his Mélodies Persanes. "From the first note to the last, Lemieux's performance of the Berlioz was exemplary...", wrote Bachtrack when she performed Les Nuits d'été in Paris. "From the depths of her lower register to her shimmering high notes, she traced a supple trajectory through the work, phrasing with breadth and missing no opportunity to paint the words."