Search - Jules Massenet, Eve Queler, Plácido Domingo :: Massenet - Le Cid / Domingo · Bumbry · Plishka · Byrne Camp Chorale · OONY · Queler

DEFINITIVE GRAND OPERA...BUMBRY AND DOMINGO ARE ELECTRIC

Rudy Avila | Lennox, Ca United States | 10/25/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For some unidentified reason, this recording is overlooked and has not been given proper credit. Grace Bumbry and Placido Domingo are both spectacular singers. Domingo is the world's greatest tenor,... Grace Bumbry is a mezzo soprano with powerful dramatic vocal ranges suited for roles such as Tosca and Aida. Massenet was a French composer and master of the grand opera in the late nineteenth century. His famous works include Manon and Thais. Le Cid is effective as a grand opera, complete with rousing choruses, a ballet (Spanish dances in this case) and beautiful duets and plenty of dramatic action. Don Rodrigue is the legendary Spanish hero they call El Cid, who vanquished the Moors in a terrific battle (which is also acted out in the opera) and won the heart of Donna Chimene, the Spanish princess, who, in the opera, is torn between feelings of vengeance for her father's death (at Rodrigue's hand) and her own unexplainable love for him. The music is superbly orchestrated and the drama is unmatched by any other grand opera, for Massenet surpassed and perfected the style that Giacomo Meyerbeer began. This is a must have and five stars well deserved. Placido Domingo is my favorite tenor and I am currently searching for recordings of him, especially his greater moments when he was at the peak of his vocal prowess."

First Rate Massenet

02/20/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The only available complete recording of the most Wagnerian Massenet's oper completed between Manon and Werther in 1885.It is carefully balanced monumental tragedy after Corneille in Lohengrin-like manner (with some Spanish dances and tunes added), more passionate and less sentimental then Hérodiade or Esclarmonde.
The 1976 Carnegie Hall performance sounds great under energic (woman's!) baton with very strong and idiomatic cast (no French!). The national Spanish hero is perfectly suited to Domingo in his golden prime and Bumbry is his magnificent tragic heroine. Bergquist as Infante, Plishka and other low voices are very good, too. Why is it not a repertory piece?
Warmly recommended - not for Massenetists only!"

Wonderful - and neglected

Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 07/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording has been around for thirty years and now that I've acquired it I wonder why I didn't do so earlier. (However, this is now available in a bargain "twofer" format with Sony Classical rather than in this more expensive set- though you have to do without a libretto. Still, the plot is uncomplicated,the synopsis adequate, and the cues clear - so if you have a bit of French to boot you won't be lost.) There isn't, to my knowledge, an alternative version, but with a performance and recording of this quality you won't need one: the three principals are in magnificent voce - especially Bumbry - and the opera is packed with stirring emotion, lovely melodies and dramatic confrontations. Some of the triumphal music is redolent of "Aida" and Massenet once again manages to do what so many French composers seem to be capable of, and inject an authentic Spanish atmosphere into his score - as he does in "Cherubin" and "Don Quichotte", for example. You would hardly guess that it was a live, concert performance - the Carnegie Hall audience is very well behaved and the soloists sing faultlessly. Both the second soprano, Eleanor Berquist, and the baritone, Arnold Voketaitis, are singers unknown to me but they are estimable artists; she, in particular, has some beautiful music and sings both powerfully and sweetly. If you love Massenet, as I do, don't hesitate - or if you simply want to hear some great singing in an unnacountably neglected opera, go for it.



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