If your taste favors cold and gaudy French opéra-comique, this is your recording. Only Chaignaud shows substantial evidence of the French tradition. Fleming's art succeeds brilliantly in Act III, but elsewhere she is vague vocally and unconvincing dramatically. Alvarez provides neither the allure of the Italians nor the grace of the French, but he does manage the notes as marked. Sénéchal steals his scenes though the voice as voice is no longer sufficient for the rôle. Conducting, chorus and orchestra are bland but adequate; it is only when one hauls out the Monteux audio of five decades earlier that one realizes how much more is in the score.

The production does not help. It is traditional but with superficial and excessive contrasts. Again, Act III contrasts with the rest offering a 'Cours-la-Reine' scene overflowing with exuberance and color, making the drab sets and staging elsewhere consistent with their loss of poetry. Indeed, this recording with its brilliant sound and color is a prose version of a poetic opera. The heart of Massenet's opera is Act II; here, it does not beat.

Related website: TDK Mediactive www.tdk-music.com

Michael Richter, 7 November 2005
mrichter@cpl.net

See also Michael Richter's Introduction to the DVD, for a list of other reviews see the DVD Project page.