Berlioz: Les Nuits d’Été
Ravel: Shéhérazade
Saint-Saëns: Mélodies Persanes

The Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo and its Artistic and Music Director Kazuki Yamada, interprets the now ‘traditional’ recorded pairing of two sumptuous, escapist French song cycles: Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été and Ravel’s Shéhérazade. Complementing them both musically and thematically is a third, less frequently heard cycle by another great French composer, Camille Saint-Saëns: his Mélodies Persanes (Persian Songs). “From the first note to the last, Lemieux’s interpretation of the Berlioz was exemplary …” wrote Bachtrack when she performed Les Nuits d’été in Paris. “From the depths of her lower register to her shimmering high notes, she traced a supple trajectory through the work, phrasing with amplitude and missing no opportunity for word-painting.”

Musical director -Kazuki Yamada

Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto

Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo

Berlioz: Les Nuits d’Été, Op.7

1. Villanelle
2. Le Spectre de la Rose
3. Sur les lagunes
4. Absence
5. Au cimetière
6. L’île inconnue

Saint-Saëns: Mélodies Persanes

7. Prélude
8. No 1, La brise
9. No 2, La splendeur vide
10. No 3, La solitaire
11. No 4, Sabre en main
12. Interlude
13. No 5, Au cimetière
14. No 6, Tournoiement

Ravel: Shéhérazade

15. No 1, Asie
16. No 2, La flûte enchantée
17. No 3, L’indifférent

International release date: September 29th, 2023 by Warner Classics