Times are great for fans of mezzos and contraltos, especially ones who perform song recitals as well as opera and oratorio roles. And among today’s several young stars, Quebec-born Marie-Nicole Lemieux has the versatility, technique, artistic instincts, and of course, the voice to ensure a long and illustrious career. Most impressively here, she shows how a sizable instrument can adapt perfectly to impart the most subtle nuance, gentle lyricism, and simmering sensuality inherent in these late-19th/early-20th century French mélodies. And when she does open up, there’s never a sign of the fleshy, throaty quality or tendency to scoop that many less technically assured mezzos exhibit. And her diction is marvelously unaffected, as natural as sung French can be. Her operatic flair comes into play in several songs, most notably Georges Enesco’s playful, humorous, and characterful “Changeons propos…” (Let’s change the subject, that’s enough singing of love) and Reynaldo Hahn’s “Fêtes galantes”.
The majority of the songs belong to Hahn, the majority of the texts to Paul Verlaine, although Victor Hugo, Alphonse Daudet, Clément Marot, and even Robert Louis Stevenson make appearances. Enesco’s Sept Chansons de Clément Marot Op. 15 are alone worth hearing in Lemieux’s stylish, confident performances. She’s not just singing pretty music; like all great singers she’s inside it, and she gives the impression that it’s inside her, that she owns and understands it.
The Hahn songs are among the finest in the repertoire, highlighted by the disc’s title work, “L’heure exquise”, which Lemieux delivers with truly exquisite control and just the right amount of understatement at its climactic moment. But Hahn’s Debussy-like “Offrande” and surprisingly Brahmsian “Puisque j’ai mis ma lèvre” are equally compelling, as are the oft-performed Debussy Fêtes galantes. If there’s a weak point, it’s Hahn’s Cinq petites chansons (five little songs) set to poems by Robert Louis Stevenson, whose English parlor-song demeanor doesn’t really fit the mood and sophistication of the rest of the program. No matter. This is a first-rate recital by a truly extraordinary singer. Accompanist Daniel Blumenthal is a perfect partner, as you never notice a note or dynamic or aspect of phrasing out of sync with Lemieux. Solo singing rarely if ever gets better than this, and the quality of the recording matches the high standard of the performances. [Incidentally, if you’re a fan of French song, you should also try soprano Dawn Upshaw’s excellent recital on Erato, titled Hommage À Jane Bathori and recorded live in 1999, featuring different repertoire and equally superb singing (type Q1310 in Search Reviews).] [10/26/2005]
