Lemieux,Marie-Nicole Berlioz: Nuit D'Ete Ravel: Sheherazade Saint-Saens CD

The Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo and it's Artistic and Music Director Kazuki Yamada, interprets the now 'traditional' recorded pairing of two sumptuous, escapist French song cycles: Berlioz's Les Nuits d'?t? and Ravel's Sh?h?razade. Complementing them both musically and thematically is a third, less frequently heard cycle by another great French composer, Camille Saint-Sa?ns: his M?lodies Persanes (Persian Songs). "From the first note to the last, Lemieux's interpretation of the Berlioz was exemplary..." wrote Bachtrack when she performed Les Nuits d'?t? in Paris. "From the depths of her lower register to her shimmering high notes, she traced a supple trajectory through the work, phrasing with amplitude and missing no opportunity for word-painting." Palazzetto Bru Zane's new edition of the cycle Saint-Sa?ns: M?lodies Persanes presented here, is a premiere recording, it gathers these orchestrations of the songs but restores the original piano-vocal order, repurposing two brief interludes from Nuit persane to serve as an orchestral introduction and transition.

1. Les Nuits D'?T?, Op. 7, H 81B: I. Villanelle, H 82B 2. Les Nuits D'?T?, Op. 7, H 81B: II. Le Spectre de la Rose, H 83B 3. Les Nuits D'?T?, Op. 7, H 81B: III. Sur Les Lagunes, H 84B 4. Les Nuits D'?T?, Op. 7, H 81B: IV. Absence, H 85B 5. Les Nuits D'?T?, Op. 7, H 81B: V. Au Cimeti?re, H 86B 6. Les Nuits D'?T?, Op. 7, H 81B: VI. L'?le Inconnue, H 87B 7. M?lodies Persanes, Op. 26: Pr?lude 8. M?lodies Persanes, Op. 26: No. 1, la Brise 9. M?lodies Persanes, Op. 26: No. 2, la Splendeur Vide 10. M?lodies Persanes, Op. 26: No. 3, la Solitaire 11. M?lodies Persanes, Op. 26: No. 4, Sabre en Main 12. M?lodies Persanes, Op. 26: Interlude 13. M?lodies Persanes, Op. 26: No. 5, Au Cimeti?re 14. M?lodies Persanes, Op. 26: No. 6, Tournoiement 15. Sh?h?razade, M. 41: No. 1, Asie 16. Sh?h?razade, M. 41: No. 2, la Fl?te Enchant?e 17. Sh?h?razade, M. 41: No. 3, L'indiff?rent