Soprano Sabine Devieilhe’s signature operatic role, Lakmé, forms the starting point for her enticing album Mirages. A collection of opera and song in French, its theme is the exotic allure of faraway – and imagined – places and people. In addition to three numbers from Delibes’s opera, it features music by Berlioz, Debussy and Stravinsky and some rarer names: Thomas, Messager, Koechlin and Delage.

Devieilhe is joined by mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa, pianist Alexandre Tharaud and the period-instrument orchestra Les Siècles under its founder, François-Xavier Roth.

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Messager - Madame Chrysantheme: Le jour sous le soleil beni
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Debussy - Pelleas et Melisande: Mes longs cheveux descendent
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Delibes - Lakme: Ou va le jeune hindoue (Air des clochettes)
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Delage - 4 Poemes hindous: Madras
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Delage - 4 Poemes hindous: Lahore
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Delage - 4 Poemes hindous: Benares
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Delage - 4 Poemes hindous: Jeypur
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Debussy - La Romance d'Ariel
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Delibes - Lakme: Viens, Mallika (Duo des fleurs)
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Stravinsky - Le Rossignol: Chanson du Rossignol
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Thomas - Hamlet: A vox jeux, mes amis
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Berlioz - La Mort d'Ophelie
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Massenet - Thais: Celle qui vient est plus belle
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Koechlin - Le Voyage
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Delibes: Lakme: Tu m'as donne le plus doux reve

Europadisc Review

Are we witnessing a new Golden Age for the French voice? Just recently we waxed lyrical about a splendid new disc of French song from mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa (Secrets, 9029576897), and now she returns in a supporting role to her compatriot, the dazzling coloratura soprano Sabine Devieilhe, whose new album Mirages is equally impressive. Since starting her career with such renowned French early music ensembles as Pygmalion, Les Arts Florissants and Le Concert Spirituel, Ms Devieilhe has made her mark with discs of Rameau and Mozart, but one of her newer signature roles is from the late nineteenth century: Delibes’ Lakmé, and it is clearly an opera to which she feels a strong attachment. Mirages takes as its theme the fascination that French composers had for Eastern and more generally ‘distant’ lands, both real and imagined, of which Lakmé is such a celebrated example. Particularly in the later nineteenth century, this fascination spawned a series of works which used the ‘otherness’ of the coloratura voice - its exceptional clarity and agility - to portray exotic, mysterious, female creatures (human or otherwise).

With Lakmé as its reference point, Sabine Devieihle’s captivating disc explores a variety of such characters, brought vividly to life by her constantly engaging artistry. The programme opens not in British India but in Japan, with a winningly tender account of ‘Le jour sous le soleil béni’ from Messager’s Butterfly-lite comédie lyrique, Madame Chrysanthéme, before moving to Debussy’s elusive northern kingdom of Allemonde for Mélisande’s ‘Mes longs cheveux’. Here, Devieihle’s beautifully understated, crystalline tones are perfectly complemented by the magical turn-of-the-century timbres of François-Xavier Roth’s period-instrument band Les Siècles. The way in which this then leads seamlessly into the vocalise that opens Lakmé’s celebrated ‘Bell Song’ is surprisingly effective. Devieilhe’s voice is at its most shimmeringly diamantine in this perennial favourite, sparkling as brightly as the orchestral percussion.

A highlight even among this embarras de richesses is Maurice Delage’s Quatre Poèmes hindous, their ensemble accompaniments miraculously evocative of real-life India (try the sitar-like pizzicati of ‘Un sapin isolé’ for a taste of South Asia). Debussy’s La Romance d’Ariel brings a further change of scale, but thanks to Alexandre Tharaud’s superbly judged piano accompaniments as much as Sabine Devieihle’s vocal skills, neither this, Berlioz’s haunting La Mort d’Ophélie nor Koechlin’s beautifully atmospheric Le Voyage are any less colourful than the operatic excerpts.

In the (in)famous Flower Duet from Lakmé, Devieihle and Crebassa manage to eclipse memories of not just latter-day pretenders like Netrebko and Garança, but even such trusted warhorses as Sutherland and Horne, so utterly refreshing is it to hear these two young, native French voices in this music.

Stravinsky’s opera Le Rossignol provides another, more modern showcase for Devieihle’s unfailing musicality in the form of the ‘Chanson du rossignol’, highlighting a rare combination of vocal control, tonal purity, brilliance and agility. Even when placed away from centre-stage, as in the trio ‘Celle qui vient’ from Massenet’s Thaïs, this is a voice that commands attention without any recourse to tonal insistence.

Lakmé’s own heartbreaking Liebstod, ‘Tu m’as donné le plus doux rêve’, provides the perfect conclusion to this superbly conceived and miraculously involving disc. But don’t let the title fool you: there’s no mirage about the voice on display here, for this is the very much the ‘real thing’. A real transport of delights, it will surely boost Sabine Devieihle’s reputation as one of the vocal wonders of the age.

Reviews

Sabine Devieihle’s voice is shown off to stunning effect as she and her colleagues bring together the (sometimes) kitschier side of eastern longings and the lingering influence of such sounds on more intriguing music. ... Devieihle’s singing lights up the good, the bad and the music of Ambroise Thomas (to misquote Saint-Saëns) with her vivid, pure tone and apparently limitless breath. Jessica Duchen (Opera Choice)

BBC Music Magazine January 2018

[The] Lakmé numbers can rarely have sounded fresher or more original, with Devieilhe joined by Marianne Crebassa in a supremely seductive account of the Flower Duet and offering some breathtaking coloratura in the Bell Song. And the latter, in particular, is heard in an entirely different light when juxtaposed with Maurice Delage’s remarkable Quatres Poèmes hindous (1912) – almost ethnographic in their attempts to capture the strange sounds of an exotic world. ... The performances themselves are terrific. François-Xavier Roth exploits the period instruments of Les Siècles to emphasise the sheer variety of orchestral colours on display (captured in excellent sound) and accompanies with sensitivity. Devieilhe, meanwhile, has a wonderfully instinctive and apparently effortless way with this music. Hugo Shirley

Gramophone December 2017

Sabine Devieilhe cements her reputation as one of the most exciting sopranos on the scene with this disc exploring how French composers of a century and more ago were fascinated by ideas of the exotic and by mysterious women – preferably both. Lakmé is her favourite operatic role, and the greatest hits of Delibes’ opera get luxuriously good performances here, including the Flower Duet, for which Devieilhe is joined by mezzo-of-the-moment Marianne Crebassa. … Devieilhe is mesmerising, sounding deliciously clear and radiant, and sings with a sensuality that seems absolutely innate. Erica Jeal

The Guardian 16 November 2017

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New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
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Condition	Description
New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
Used - Mint	Used item in excellent condition. Not usually seal-wrapped.
Used - Good	Used item with some minor signs of wear and tear. Never seal-wrapped.
Used - Acceptable	Used item with obvious scuffs or cosmetic damage to the case or booklet. Never seal-wrapped.

Sabine Devieilhe: Mirages

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