Ewa Podleś - Les nuits d'été: Villanelle

Ewa Podleś sings "Villanelle" from Berlioz's 'Les Nuits d'Été' in a Lanaudière Festival recital (1998), with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (conducted by Charles Dutoit).


Villanelle
Poem by Théophile Gautier

Quand viendra la saison nouvelle,
Quand auront disparu les froids,
Tous le deux nous iront, ma belle,
Pour cuellir le muguet au bois.
Sous nos pieds égranant les perles
Que lon voit au matin trembler,
Nous irons écouter les merles,
Nous irons écouter les merles
Siffler.

Le printemps est venu, ma belle,
Cest le mois des amants béni;
Et loiseau, satinant son aile,
Dit des vers au rebord du nid.
Oh! viens donc sur ce banc de mousse
Pour parler de nos beaux amours,
Et dis-moi de ta voix si douce,
Toujours!

Loin, bien loin, égarant nos courses,
Faisons fuir le lapin caché,
Et le daim, au miroir des sources,
Admirant son grand bois penché!
Puis chez nous, tout heureux, tout aises,
En paniers enlaçant nos doigts,
Revenons, rapportons des fraises
Des bois!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• opera
• podles
• contralto
• berlioz
• song
• cycle
• nuits
• ete
• dutoit
• lanaudiere
• festival
• montreal

[merizadolittle]

She's obviously a great singer with great expression. The main problem is that she and the orchestra did not practice ahead of time so she had her interpr. and the conductor had his, she wanted more liberty in the tempo for expression which is an artist's right. I think she tried to slow down and savor at the right times. She tilts her head back because she's over weight, it looks as though she feels trapped in her heavy body and wants to escape to have more air and more expression. She's good.

[avellanedam]

No sé porqué el género "chanson" le queda tan bien a las voces bajas femeninas. :)

[saturne46]

Jolie interprétation, pleine d'allant, pas du tout sur-prononcé. Merci

[zamyrabyrd]

Much too operatic for going to the woods to pick lilies and strawberries.

Incidentally, the meter is 2/4 and most of melody line is in eighth notes. Punching out every syllable like quarters is one reason this version is much too heavy. Also a third lower than written (A to F) already serves as a built-in trap, so the high notes can't "float". The over-pronunciation is a real distraction and also tilting her head backwards.