Search - Reynaldo Hahn, Susan Graham, Roger Vignoles :: Susan Graham - La Belle Époque (The Songs of Reynaldo Hahn)

DON'T WAIT -- RUN TO GET THIS ALBUM

SF RAGE | San Francisco, CA USA | 04/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes hyperbole can ruin the very thing it seeks to enhance, but I find it difficult to come up with enough words of praise for this astonishing album and the two artists who perform on it. Susan Graham is one of the top five opera singers in the world today -- her artistry and sensitivity to the music and text of what she sings is simply unmatched. That's why such an album as this is so extraordinary. Hahn was once a jealously guarded secret by those "in the know" -- he's a delight, and, now that he's becoming more well known, to have an artist of Graham's stature share these pieces is a special event. Listen to the first cut, "A Chloris"; if your heart doesn't melt into goo instantly, then it could be you're a deaf space alien. The whole disc is this lovely. I can't imagine that anyone listening won't be thrilled that they purchased it."

Graham's Artistry Makes for Compelling Listening in a Collec

Terry Serres | Minneapolis, MN United States | 02/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was only Graham's second solo outing, and for many listeners it confirmed the promise of her début recording of "Les Nuits d'été" -- an unusual accomplishment for a relatively minor project.



I know the songs of Reynaldo Hahn from a number of worthy recordings from other artists -- Rachel Yakar, Martyn Hill, Bruno Laplante, Mady Mesplé, Graham Johnson & Co. (the Hyperion French Song Edition), one-offs on Elly Ameling albums, not to mention vintage recordings by Hahn himself. All the same, this recording was a complete revelation. Her beauty of tone, her ease with the French language (surpassing, I daresay, the much-vaunted Francophony of Felicity Lott), her canny selection of songs, Vignoles's sensitive accompaniment, they all add up. But there's that (ahem) je-ne-sais-quoi that makes something a classic, and this album has it. It captures an era, it creates a time and place that come wafting out of your speakers.



My favorite song on this record is "Si la nuit n'est pas étoilée" -- it is a rapturous melody to a quintessential Victor Hugo text. But there is nary a false note on the entire album. I do recommend, if you can find it, the Ameling album "Serenata," which includes two Hahn songs I haven't encountered elsewhere, "L'amitié" with its faint melancholy and "La vie est belle" with its French élan.



As we know, Graham has gone on to much bigger things, but she retains her commitment to the art of song and to breathing fresh life into French rarities (as in her delightful operetta album). In terms of tone, timbre, and intonation, for my money she has the most beautiful voice in opera today. My only hope is that she doesn't go the way of Ren?e Fleming and become The Voice Beautiful ... she veered a bit in that direction with her recent Chausson record, and I hope she gets back to business and gets her vivid personality back in action in her song performances."

Very Proust , Very Peche Melba, very "exquise"

B. K. Elmore | 11/15/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A fabulous elegant period piece sensitively performed and produced. Buy it."