''Shéhérazade'' is a 40-minute studio album of art songs by

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

performed by

Frederica von Stade Frederica von Stade OAL (born June 1, 1945) is a semi-retired American opera singer. Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970, she has performed in operas, musicals, concerts and recitals in venues throughout the world, including La Scala, th ...

. In the ''

Chansons madécasses ' (''Madagascan Songs'') is a set of three exotic art songs by Maurice Ravel written in 1925 and 1926 to words from the poetry collection of the same name by Évariste de Parny. Structure Scored for mezzo-soprano or baritone, flute, cello and pi ...

'', she is accompanied by the flautist Doriot Anthony Dwyer, the cellist

Jules Eskin Jules Louis Eskin (October 20, 1931 – November 15, 2016) was an American cellist who was the principal cellist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He was born in Philadelphia. With conductor Seiji Ozawa, he is known for solo performances of wel ...

and the pianist Martin Katz. In two of the ''Cinq mélodies populaires grecques'', the ''Deux mélodies hébraïques'' and '' Shéhérazade'' itself, she is accompanied by the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

under the direction of

Seiji Ozawa Seiji (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or in hiragana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese ski jumper *, Japanese racing driver *, Japanese politician *, Japanese film directo ...

. The album was released in 1981.''Frederica von Stade: The Complete Columbia Recital Albums'', Sony CD, 88875183412, 2016

Recording

The album was recorded digitally in Symphony Hall, Boston on 8 October 1979 (tracks 1-3) and on 8 April 1980 (tracks 4-7), and in the CBS 30th Street Studio, New York City on 10 November 1979 (tracks 8-10). It was recorded and edited with a Sony system, and mastered with CBS's DisComputer system. The recording of ''Shéhérazade'' followed live performances of the cycle that von Stade, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Ozawa gave in Symphony Hall on 4, 5 and 6 October 1979.

Cover art

The cover of the album was designed by Christopher Austopchuk under the art direction of Henrietta Condak, and features a photograph of von Stade taken by Valerie Clement.

Critical reception

Reviews

Alan Blyth reviewed the album on LP in ''

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

'' in July 1981, comparing von Stade's performance of ''Chansons madécasses'' with a version sung by

Janet Baker Dame Janet Abbott Baker (born 21 August 1933) is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.Blyth, Alan, "Baker, Dame Janet (Abbott)" in Sadie, Stanley, ed.; John Tyrell; exec. ed. (2001). ''New Grove Dictionar ...

, and comparing her performance of ''Shéhérazade'' with versions sung by Baker,

Régine Crespin Régine Crespin (23 February 1927 – 5 July 2007) was a French singer who had a major international career in opera and on the concert stage between 1950 and 1989. She started her career singing roles in the dramatic soprano and spinto soprano ...

and Jessye Norman.Berlioz, Hector and Ravel, Maurice: ''Les nuits d'èté'' and ''Shéhérazade'', with Jessye Norman and the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, conducted by Sir

Colin Davis Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom h ...

, Philips LP, 9500-783, 1980 Blyth, Alan: ''

'', July 1981, p. 186 ''Shéhérazade'', he wrote, was usually sung by a

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

, but, like Baker before her, Frederica von Stade had demonstrated that the cycle could be successfully performed by a

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

too. The only point at which the work's ''tessitura'' had challenged her was the climax of "Asie", where her tone had blanched at Ravel's taxing high B flat. Technically, her reading was notable for her prodigious breath control, which allowed her to eschew the breaks of phrase perpetrated by some of her predecessors. Her diction, moreover, was now better than it had been on some of her earlier recordings. Interpretatively, her performance "catches to perfection the languorous, sultry feeling" of both Ravel's music and Tristan Klingsor's poetry. Conducting, Seiji Ozawa was wise in his choice of tempos, avoiding the "stodgy" pacing that had to some extent compromised Norman's performance of the cycle under Sir

Indeed, in "L'indifférent", Ozawa outpaced not just Davis but also Crespin's Ernest Ansermet, but without detracting from the "lazy seductiveness of this glorious song". Crespin's LP had stood at the pinnacle of the ''Shéhérazade'' discography for many years, but von Stade's was close to supplanting it. Baker's, Crespin's and Norman's discs of the cycle had all coupled it with

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

's ''

Les nuits d'été ''Les nuits d'été'' (''Summer Nights''), Opus number, Op. 7, is a song cycle by the French composer Hector Berlioz. It is a setting of six poems by Théophile Gautier. The cycle, completed in 1841, was originally for soloist and piano accompanim ...

''. Von Stade had followed an arguably more intelligent path and programmed other music by Ravel instead. She sang his Greek folk melodies with a happy insouciance and his Hebrew songs with an appropriate focused intensity, but her outstanding performances in her filler items were in the ''Chansons madécasses'', "which still have the power to shock even fifty-five years after they were written". Her readings were remarkable for their "accomplishment in mood-painting and word definition". Baker had sung these evocations of Madagascar sensuously, but von Stade had marginally surpassed her, with "a timbre just a little better suited to their earthy voluptuousness". The playing of the Boston Symphony Orchestra was first class. "Altogether this is a well compiled, imaginatively executed digital disc of some music that should be in every respectable collection".

George Jellinek George Jellinek (December 22, 1919 – January 16, 2010) was the Hungarian-born host of ''The Vocal Scene'', a weekly syndicated radio feature produced by WQXR radio of New York City. Over three decades, from 1969 to 2004, he steadily interv ...

reviewed the album on LP in '' Stereo Review'' in September 1981. It offered more of Ravel's songs than were commonly found on a single disc, he wrote, and there was much about it to like. Its components were balanced meticulously, Frederica von Stade's colleagues played their instruments well and her own performances were characterized by "her musicianship, tonal purity and idiomatic handling of the texts". Jellinek, George: '' Stereo Review'', September 1981, p. 100 Ravel Pierre Petit

This said, her interpretations had their disappointments. The timbre of her voice and the volume and feeling of her singing were all insufficiently variegated. Her reading of the Hebrew songs lacked "earthiness", and although she conveyed some of the "primitive elements" in the ''Chansons madécasses'', she failed "to hint at the fierceness in such a song as 'Aoua!'". It was true that a lot of her singing was so lovely as to verge on the hypnotic. ("Ravel's exquisite sonorities tend to dull the senses".) But she should have offered "more angularity, or, perhaps, more spontaneity". Columbia's audio quality was wonderful.

J. B. Steane John Barry Steane (12 April 1928 – 17 March 2011) was an English music critic, musicologist, literary scholar and teacher, with a particular interest in singing and the human voice. His 36-year career as a schoolmaster overlapped with his caree ...

reviewed the album in ''Gramophone'' in January 1982. In ''Shéhérazade'', he wrote, Jessye Norman's reading had "a more sensuous luxury of gorgeous tone", von Stade's "more tang, more appetite, more liveliness". Von Stade's singing of the ''Chansons madécasses'' was beautifully expressive too, "with the evening stillness and relaxation of the last song marvellously well caught". Steane returned to the album in ''Gramophone'' in January 1998, reviewing a compilation CD which coupled von Stade's ''Shéhérazade'' with her later recordings of Berlioz's ''Les nuits d'été'' and

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

's '' La damoiselle élue''. He had become fond of von Stade's singing, he wrote, because she "brought to everything, but especially the French repertoire, a personal touch which was partly a matter of timbre, partly of style, partly a fusion of both, evoking a kind of affectionate sadness, exactly the mood for 'L'indifférent'". There was no denying that when she sang a passage that was particularly high or particularly loud, her voice no longer sounded as fresh as it had done in her youth. But for the most part, her ''Shéhérazade'' was fine, exemplified in "L'indifférent" by "the caress (an exquisitely gentle portamento) in the 'séduisante' and the forlornly wistful invitation 'Entre'". Patrick O'Connor reviewed the album in ''Gramophone'' in June 2004 in a survey of the ''Shéhérazade'' discography. "Von Stade", he wrote, "sounds almost too nice and friendly, like Cherubino embarking on a prank" David Shengold mentioned the album in ''

Opera News ''Opera News'' is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to engender the appreciation of opera and also support ...

'' in December 2016 when reviewing a box set of von Stade's Columbia recordings in which it had been included. "The capable all-Ravel recording", he wrote, "... generically led by Ozawa, offers a superb 'Kaddisch'."

Accolade

The album was nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

award for the best classical solo vocal performance of 1981.

CD track listing

(1875-1937) '' Shéhérazade'' (1903), with texts by Tristan Klingsor (1874-1966) * 1 (9:29) "Asie" * 2 (2:57) "La flûte enchantée" * 3 (3:37) "L'indifférent" ''Cinq mélodies populaires grecques'' (1904-1906), with traditional texts translated by Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi (1877-1944) * 4 (1:40) No. 1: "Chanson de la mariée" * 5 (0:58) No. 5: "Tout gai!" ''Deux mélodies hébraïques'' (1914), with traditional texts * 6 (4:38) "Kaddisch" * 7 (1:46) "L'énigme éternelle" ''

'' (1925-1926), with texts by Évariste Desiré de Forges, vicomte de Parny (1753-1814) * 8 (5:51) "Nahandove, ô belle Nahandove" * 9 (4:43) "Aoua! Méfiez-vous des blancs" *10 (4:16) "Il est doux de se coucher"

Personnel

Musical

(b. 1945), mezzo-soprano *

, (tracks 1-7) *

(b. 1935), conductor (tracks 1-7) * Doriot Anthony Dwyer (b. 1922), flute (tracks 8-10) *

(1931–2016), cello (tracks 8-10) * Martin Katz (b. 1944), piano (tracks 8-10)

Other

Paul Walter Myers Paul Walter Myers (17 July 1932 – 1 May 2015) was a classical record producer who worked for CBS, Decca Records and Naxos. He worked with conductor George Szell of the Cleveland Orchestra, the pianist Glenn Gould, and the guitarist John Williams. ...

(1932-2015), producer * Budd Graham, engineer * Martin Greenblatt, engineer * Milton Cherin, engineer

Release history

In February 1981, Columbia released the album on LP (catalogue numbers M-36665 in Britain, IM-36665 in the US), with sleeve notes by Arbie Orenstein, Alain Feron (in French) and Uwe Kraemer (in German), and an insert with texts and translations. The album was also issued on cassette (catalogue numbers 40-36665 in Britain, HMT-36665 in the US). Although excerpts from the album were made available on compilation CDs, it was not released in its entirety on CD until 2016, when it appeared (in a miniature replica of its original LP sleeve) with a 52-page booklet in Sony's 18-CD collection ''Frederica von Stade: The Complete Columbia Recital Albums'' (catalogue number 88875183412).

Sequel

The album was followed by a second album of French art songs performed by von Stade, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa: '' Nuits d'été & La damoiselle élue'', a 1984 release featuring works by

and

.''Frederica von Stade: Nuits d'été & La damoiselle élue'', Sony CD, MK 39098, 1984

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheherazade (Frederica von Stade recording) Frederica von Stade albums 1980s classical albums 1981 albums Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio