Search - Simon Keenlyside, Georges Bizet, Brad Cohen :: Georges Bizet: The Pearl Fishers [Highlights]

A beautifully performed set of extended highlights of the or

Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 10/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have never been fully convinced of the necessity of translating operas and performing them English, especially if the original is in French, which, owing to its stress patterns and vowels, is a particularly intractable and problematic language both to fit successfully to music and even more so to translate into English. I do speak French, but even if I didn't I would prefer to have a libretto to hand and hear "Oui, c'est elle; c'est la deesse" launching the famous tune in the duet rather than "Yes, a goddess; truly a goddess" (here without the "inauthentic" repeat of that same celebrated melody) and there are too many syllabically clumsy renderings (such as Nadir's opening arioso where the word "jungle" is crushed into the melodic line). An English libretto is generously supplied, so this performance could just as easily have been in French, but there's no point in complaining; this is, after all, part of the Chandos "Operas in English" ongoing project, so we know what we are getting and this whole series has an honourable history, going back to such gems as Valerie Masterson's "Traviata" (see my review).



The performance is truly lovely. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, expertly and sensitively directed by Brad Cohen, is alive to every nuance of this delicate score, at times energised, at others restrained. Barry Banks' lyrical Nadir is not the epitome of the heroic sound; his is a very light tenor with a hint of bleat - but he phrases meltingly and his Romance is particularly touching, even though I cannot help but wish that he had followed tradition by taking the high C at the end with the clarinet instead of the more harmonically tasteful low E. Rebecaa Evans is very musical if not ideally light, sweet and silvery as Barbara Hendricks is in the 1989 EMI set conducted by Plasson (my favourite version) and Simon Keenlyside uses his beautiful, virile baritone tastefully in a role ideally suited to his voice - not too heavy but still very dramatic, in contrast to the predominately lyrical mode of this opera.



This is a piece which lends itself well to extended highlights as it is not perhaps uniformly inspired throughout, but it has much lovely music in the "exotic" vein and has been inevitably overshadowed by its big sister, "Carmen". For those who cannot reconcile themselves to novelty and are wedded to the traditional version of the famous duet with the repeat of the "big tune", an appendix provides a rousing performance. The recording quality is unimpeachably crystalline and if you want a very reasonably priced selection of the finest music with these particular artists, I recommend this disc, especially as it reflects the latest scholarship and uses the newest edition of Bizet's 1863 score, constructed by the conductor himself. Otherwise, go for the Plasson full version"

Baby out with the bathwater

S. J McKenna | San Francisco, CA USA | 10/25/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To Theater "Don"....Your one-star review threw the baby out with the bathwater and was unfair to the performances...and after all, it was your boo-boo. Chandos has a very well know "Opera in English" series and many would know that without BOLD PRINT. And as you point out, "English" is shown on the cover of the CD set. This is a beautifully sung often thrilling performance, that fact deserves to be fairly reflected. Many folks use the number of stars to even consider a purchase...they assume they reflect the performances themselves. My 5-stars will help remedy that."