Berlioz: Les Nuits d'été; Ravel: Shéhérazade (CD) by John Wustman (piano), Régine Crespin (vocals), L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet (conductor)

CD. At her peak, French soprano Régine Crespin was universally praised by critics and the public alike. She was praised not only for her elegant technique, nuanced power, and refined but passionate expression, but also for her ability to perform the major roles in nearly every national school with complete confidence and whole-hearted compassion. But, of course, Crespin was at her best in French repertoire, and this disc combining her 1963 recording of orchestral song cycles by Berlioz and Ravel with her 1967 recording of piano accompanied song cycles and chansons by Debussy and Poulenc certainly shows Crespin at her best -- and her most characteristic. Accompanied in 1963 by the skillful Ernest Ansermet leading L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Crespin's Les Nuits d'été is lightly languorous in "Le Spectre de la rose" and slightly insouciant in "L'lle inconnue," while her Shéhérazade is highly sensuous in "Asie" and deeply indolent in "L'indifferent." Accompanied in 1967 by the sensitive John Wustman, her...

BERLIOZ: LES NUITS D'‚T‚; RAVEL: SH‚H‚RAZADE