Massenet: Thaïs

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At last – a modern recording of Thaïs with a soprano who can sing the title-role. All we need is a soprano with a fabulously beautiful voice, idiomatic French, a sensuous legato, pure high notes... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Catalogue No: 4667662
Label: Decca
Series: Opera Sets
Length: 2 hours 25 minutes

Massenet: Thaïs

Work length2:25:56

$42.50

$57.50

Stefano Palatchi (bass), David Grousset (bass), Renée Fleming (soprano), Marie Devellereau (soprano), Renaud Capuçon (violin), Enkelejda Shkosa (mezzo-soprano), Olivier Schock (singer), Thomas Hampson (baritone), Giuseppe Sabbatini (tenor), José Luis Victoria (singer), Isabelle Cals (mezzo-soprano), Bernard Mansencal (singer), Bruno Moga (singer), Loïc Cassin (singer)
Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Choeur de l'Opéra de Bordeaux
Yves Abel
Recorded: 1998-05
Recording Venue: Salle Franklin, Bordeaux

Voici le pain

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Le voici! Le voici!

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Hélas! enfant encore

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Nous nous mêlons jamais, mon fils

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Vision ...Honte! Horreur!

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Toi, qui mis la pitié dans nos âmes

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Mon fils, nous nous mêlons jamais

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Prélude (Deuxième Tableau)

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Va, mendiant chercher ailleirs ta vie!

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Voilà donc la terrible cité

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"Ah! Ah! Ah!...Athanaël, c'est toi!"

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"Ah! Ah! Ah!...Je vais donc te revoir"

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Garde-toi bien! Voici ta terrible ennemie!

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C'est Thaïs, l'idole fragile

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Quel est cet étranger

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Qui te fait si sévère

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Non! Non! je hais vos fausses ivresses

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Ah! je suis seule, seule enfin!

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Dis-moi que je suis belle

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Etranger, te voilà comme tu l'avais dit

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Eh bien, fais-moi connaître tou cet amour

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Je suis Athanaël, moine d'Antinoé

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Je n'ai pas plus choisi mon sort que ma nature

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Méditation religieuse - Symphonie

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Père, Dieu m'a parlé par ta voix

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Non loin d'ici, vers l'occident

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Considère, ô mon père

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Suivez-moi tous, amis!

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Divertissement: 1. Allegro vivo

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Divertissement: 2. Mélopée orientale

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Divertissement: 3. Allegro brillante

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Divertissement: 4. Allegretto con spirito

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Divertissement: 5. Mouvement de valse

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Voilà l'incomparable!...Divertissement: 6 La Charmeuse

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Divertissement: 7. Finale

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Eh! C'est lui!...Athanaël

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Il dit vrai!

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L'ardent soleil m'écrase

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"Ah! des gouttes de sang coulent de ses pieds"

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O messager de Dieu, si bon dans ta rudesse

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Baigne d'eau mes mains et mes lèvres

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La paix du Seigneur soit avec toi

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Mon oeuvre est accomplie!

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Que le ciel est pesant!

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C'est lui qui vient!

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Qui te fait si sévère

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Thaïs va mourir!

Track length4:38

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Seigneur, ayez pitié de moi

Track length2:03

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Sois le bienvenu dans nos tabernacles

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C'est toi, mon père

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Reviews
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Reviews

2010

At last – a modern recording of Thaïs with a soprano who can sing the title-role. All we need is a soprano with a fabulously beautiful voice, idiomatic French, a sensuous legato, pure high notes up to a stratospheric top D, and the ability to leave every listener weak at the knees. Where was the problem? Renée Fleming makes it all sound so easy. Her success a couple of years ago at the Opéra Bastille in Paris with Massenet's Manon showed that she has an affinity for this composer.
As Thaïs, a role with a similar vocal profile, she proves equally well cast. Within minutes of her entrance it's clear that neither of the other sets from the last 25 years will be able to touch her.
Fleming simply has a vocal class that puts her in a different league and there's just enough individuality in her singing to give Fleming's Thaïs a personality of her own, and vocal loveliness brings a bloom to her every scene.
The Athanaël she leaves behind is Thomas Hampson, who is her match in sensitivity and roundness of tone. Their duet at the oasis in the desert is beautifully sung, every word clear, every phrase shaped with feeling. If only Hampson were equally good at getting beneath the skin of the operatic characters he plays. In the case of Athanaël there's plenty of psychological complexity down there to uncover, but Hampson seems unwilling to engage the character's dark side.
Occasionally, one regrets that Abel doesn't have the New Philharmonia at his disposal, as Maazel does, but the subtlety of colour and accent that he draws from the Orchestre National Bordeaux-Aquitaine are a world apart from Maazel's constant up-front aggression.
The famous 'Méditation', elegantly played by the young French violinist Renaud Capuçon, and featuring swoony background chorus is a dream. Add in a first-class Decca recording and it will be clear that this new Thaïs has pretty well everything going for it.

November 2000

At last — a modern recording of Thaïs with a soprano who can sing the title-role...There is just enough individuality in her singing to give Fleming's Thaïs a personality of her own, and vocal loveliness brings a bloom to her every scene...Thomas Hampson...is her match in sensitivity and roundness of tone.

2011 edition

[Thais] finds an ideal interpreter in Renee Fleming. After making the heroine's unlikely conversion to virtue totally convincing, she crowns her performance with a deeply affecting account of her death scene...[Hampson] cannot quite equal her in such total conviction but he is vocally ideal.

Good CD Guide

Within minutes of Renée Fleming's entrance it is clear that she simply has a vocal class that puts her in a different league. The famous Meditation is a dream. It is clear that this new Thaïs has pretty well everything going for it.

Massenet: Thaïs

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