Roussel Padmavati
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel
Genre:
Opera
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 9/1988
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 103
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 747891-8

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Padmâvatî |
Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Composer
Albert (Charles Paul Marie) Roussel, Composer Charles Burles, Brahmmin, Tenor Jane Berbié, Nakamti, Soprano José Van Dam, Alaouddin, Tenor Laurence Dale, Badal, Tenor Marc Vento, Gora, Baritone Marilyn Horne, Padmâvatî, Soprano Michel Plasson, Conductor Nicolai Gedda, Ratan-Sen, Tenor Orfeón Donostiarra Toulouse Capitole Orchestra |
Author:
Set in fourteenth-century Chitoor (which Roussel visited in 1909 sharing Ramsay Macdonald's elephant), Padmavati combines exotic indulgence with heroic astringency. It's what Saint-Saens tried to do in Samson et Dalila, but he lived in the age of the Grand Tune and so his work has survived in the repertoire while Roussel's web of shimmering colours and ambiguous harmonies has rarely seen the light of day since its premiere in 1923. At that performance it was given in a double-bill with L'heure espagnole, and no doubt the practical problems of staging (its in-between length and the necessity for an elaborate ballet) have also contributed to its neglect.
The dances and orchestral preludes are certainly prominent among the attractions of the score, and the playing of the Toulouse orchestra under Plasson is a great strength in the recording. The strong cast is headed by Marilyn Horne whom LS in his original review found ''altogether too masterful'': I think we disagree there, but it is unfortunately true that her voice loses firmness under pressure in the upper register. Van Dam sings with grave, treacherous nobility, Gedda with more character than beauty in the role originally taken by Paul Franz. Among the supporting singers are two of France's best lyric tenors, Burles and Dran.
The recording is clear and mostly well balanced, though CD playing-time is hardly generous, and it might have been possible to find a ten-minute fillup piece on the second disc.'
The dances and orchestral preludes are certainly prominent among the attractions of the score, and the playing of the Toulouse orchestra under Plasson is a great strength in the recording. The strong cast is headed by Marilyn Horne whom LS in his original review found ''altogether too masterful'': I think we disagree there, but it is unfortunately true that her voice loses firmness under pressure in the upper register. Van Dam sings with grave, treacherous nobility, Gedda with more character than beauty in the role originally taken by Paul Franz. Among the supporting singers are two of France's best lyric tenors, Burles and Dran.
The recording is clear and mostly well balanced, though CD playing-time is hardly generous, and it might have been possible to find a ten-minute fillup piece on the second disc.'
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