Visions Illumin¿¿es

by Mary Bevan, 12 Ensemble, Ruisi Quartet, Joseph Middleton

Overview

There are several attractive features to this collection of French songs by soprano Mary Bevan. Start with the voice itself; Bevan's warm tone, rich without being thick, is wonderful right from the first note in Gabriel Faure's Clair de lune, Op. 46, No. 2, and, in general, she has never sounded better. Her phrasing is confident and relaxes as she draws the listener on her own terms into the short Britten songs of Les Illuminations, Op. 18. Those songs point to a second positive feature: Bevan assembles a group of songs for the fairly unusual forces of soprano and string group, either the Ruisi Quartet or the full dodecatet of the 12 Ensemble in the Britten and several other pieces. This, too, works to Bevan's advantage; the 12 Ensemble is, in effect, conducted from the music stand by the singer (there is no conductor), and the show is all hers, although her usual fine accompanist, Joseph Middleton, is also present and careful. Some of the songs were arranged for these forces, either by their composers or by Robin Holloway, and a couple of these arrangements are world premieres. The program itself is also strong, with the aphoristic Britten pieces giving way to an atmosphere of almost unrelieved gloom in works by Ravel, Duparc, Chabrier, Chausson, and Debussy before lightening pleasantly in the songs by Augusta Holmes, an underrated composer, at the end. There are few complaints here, although Signum Classics gets the accent mark wrong on Holmes name, and the label's church acoustic washes out some of the finer distinctions in the string orchestra and string quartet settings. In general, a splendid outing from Bevan. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	03/03/2023
Label:	Signum Classics
UPC:	0635212073520
Rank:	152619

Tracks

1. Clair de Lune, Op. 46 No. 2
2. Les Illuminations, Op. 18~I. Fanfare
3. Les Illuminations, Op. 18~II. Villes
4. Les Illuminations, Op. 18~IIIa. Phrase
5. Les Illuminations, Op. 18~IIIb. Antique
6. Les Illuminations, Op. 18~IV. Royaut¿¿
7. Les Illuminations, Op. 18~V. Marine
8. Les Illuminations, Op. 18~VI. Interlude
9. Les Illuminations, Op. 18~VII. Being beauteous
10. Les Illuminations, Op. 18~VIII. Parade
11. Les Illuminations, Op. 18~IX. D¿¿part
12. Les grands vents venus d'outre-mer
13. Un grand sommeil noir
14. Si morne
15. Chanson triste
16. Tes yeux bleus
17. Chanson perp¿¿tuelle, Op. 37
18. Quatre M¿¿lodies de Verlaine~La mer est plus belle
19. Quatre M¿¿lodies de Verlaine: Mandoline
20. Quatre M¿¿lodies de Verlaine~Le son du cor s'afflige
21. Quatre M¿¿lodies de Verlaine~L'¿¿chelonnement des haies
22. S¿¿r¿¿nades~S¿¿r¿¿nade printani¿¿re
23. S¿¿r¿¿nades~S¿¿r¿¿nade d'¿¿t¿¿
24. S¿¿r¿¿nades~S¿¿r¿¿nade d'Automne
25. S¿¿r¿¿nades~S¿¿r¿¿nade d'Hiver
26. S¿¿r¿¿nades~S¿¿r¿¿nade de toujours

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Mary Bevan   Primary Artist,Soprano (Vocal)
12 Ensemble   Primary Artist,Ensemble
Ruisi Quartet   Primary Artist,String Quartet
Joseph Middleton   Primary Artist,Piano

Technical Credits

Augusta Holmes   Text,Arranger,Composer
Raphael Neal   Photography
Victoria Cadisch   Cover Image,Photography
Sophie Watson   Assistant Engineer
Helen Abbott   Liner Notes,Language Advisor,Repertoire Consultant
Paul Verlaine   Text
Mike Hatch   Engineer
Arthur Rimbaud   Text
Gabriel Faure   Composer
Claude Debussy   Composer
Benjamin Britten   Composer
Maurice Ravel   Composer
Marco Borggreve   Photography
Ernest Chausson   Composer
Henri Duparc   Composer
Emmanuel Chabrier   Arranger,Composer
Raphael Mouterde   Editing,Producer
Emile Verhaeren   Text
Mary Bevan   Liner Notes
Richard Stokes   Text Translation
Robin Holloway   Arranger
Charles Cros   Text
Henri de Regnier   Text
Henri Cazalis   Text
Jean Lahor   Text
Maurice Rollinat   Text