This
is the second instalment of Véronique Gens's Tragédiennes series, which
examines how francophone composers from the 18th and early 19th
centuries dealt with the heroines of classical tragedy. Classical, in
this context, means Racine as well as Greek and Roman drama, though Gens
contentiously widens the definition even further at one point to
include a chunk of Sacchini's Renaud, based on Tasso's Renaissance epic
Gerusalemme Liberata. The programme is variable, with giants such as
Gluck and Berlioz placed alongside also-rans such as Piccinni and
Grétry. All of it, however, requires the ability to sing words as well
as phrases, and Gens's immaculate way with a text is often as
mesmerising as her ability to sustain the long sculpted lines that are a
common stylistic feature among her chosen composers. There are some
surprises: she sings Cassandra's music from Berlioz's Les Troyens, where
we might expect to hear her as Dido; when she turns to Cherubini's
Medea, for what is probably the greatest track on the disc, it is to
play the sorrowing maid Neris, rather than the pathological heroine. Her
accompanists are Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques, a bit
lightweight in Berlioz, but startling and effective elsewhere. (Tim Ashley / The Guardian)This
is the second instalment of Véronique Gens's Tragédiennes series, which
examines how francophone composers from the 18th and early 19th
centuries dealt with the heroines of classical tragedy. Classical, in
this context, means Racine as well as Greek and Roman drama, though Gens
contentiously widens the definition even further at one point to
include a chunk of Sacchini's Renaud, based on Tasso's Renaissance epic
Gerusalemme Liberata. The programme is variable, with giants such as
Gluck and Berlioz placed alongside also-rans such as Piccinni and
Grétry. All of it, however, requires the ability to sing words as well
as phrases, and Gens's immaculate way with a text is often as
mesmerising as her ability to sustain the long sculpted lines that are a
common stylistic feature among her chosen composers. There are some
surprises: she sings Cassandra's music from Berlioz's Les Troyens, where
we might expect to hear her as Dido; when she turns to Cherubini's
Medea, for what is probably the greatest track on the disc, it is to
play the sorrowing maid Neris, rather than the pathological heroine. Her
accompanists are Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques, a bit
lightweight in Berlioz, but startling and effective elsewhere. (Tim Ashley / The Guardian)
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