Leoncavallo: La Nuit de mai

Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi

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Leoncavallo: La Nuit de mai Review

by Uncle Dave Lewis

It is probably not unkind to say that as Plácido Domingo is entering his seventh decade that he has reached the twilight of a singing career that has occupied all but 16 of his years. And a distinguished, remarkable career it has been, one that contains numerous milestones created on behalf of little vocal literature -- his recording of Manuel Penella's zarzuela El Gato Montés, for example -- in addition to his expected star turns in mainstream opera. One work that definitely can use some love is Ruggero Leoncavallo's symphonic poem La Nuit de mai (1895), a setting of an Alfred de Musset poem in the original French that Leoncavallo undertook through sheer love of its text, only to see its intended premiere defeated by a rift in Franco-Italian political relations. La Nuit de mai is so obscure that even Grove's mistakenly lists it as a choral work; however, it has been recorded a couple of times by undistinguished singers on European labels. By virtue of recording La Nuit de mai for Deutsche Grammophon and placing his name on the cover, Domingo has succeeded in improving the visibility of this work 1,000%. As the main work only lasts three-quarters of an hour, the disc is filled out with a selection of Leoncavallo songs and accompanist Lang Lang contributes his two most popular solo piano pieces -- "Barcarola veneziana" and "Valse mignonne" -- to round out the recital.

La Nuit de mai is certainly an interesting work; it's not at all what one would expect based on knowledge of I Pagliacci alone. The orchestration is outstanding, evocative of Berlioz and Liszt but at times nearly anticipating the approach of Mahler in particularly languid passages. The vocal writing is occasionally operatic and although the music is high-lying at points, it is a handsome match for Domingo's voice and he carries it off winningly even though the vocal solo is not continuous, nor does it necessarily dominate the proceedings. The Orchestra del Teatro di Bologna under Alberto Veronesi are not quite as sharp, colorful, and motivated as perhaps one might like, but overall it's fine -- definitely everything about this recording blows away its predecessors. The songs are recorded in the Dorothy Chandler Music Center, a venue Domingo has appeared at countless times and is performance space in which he is quite comfortable. Domingo is in fine voice; at certain points, pianist Lang Lang seems to be competing with Domingo a little bit. Gerald Moore he's not, and perhaps Lang Lang doesn't have a lot of experience accompanying singers, but he brings his usual flexibility and graciousness to the solos which well might suffer under a more seriously intended treatment. Deutsche Grammophon's La Nuit de mai makes for a nice counterpart to the collections of obscure Puccini material Domingo has also recorded, and makes clear that even this far along his path, Plácido Domingo's universe is still expanding.

Track Listing

Title/Composer Performer Time Stream
La Nuit de mai
1
1. Sostenuto assai: Poète, prends ton luth et me donne un baiser
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 04:19 SpotifyAmazon
2
2. Largamente: Comme il fait noir dans la vallée!
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 01:56 SpotifyAmazon
3
3. Vivo - Mouvement de Valse: Poète, prends ton luth; la nuit, sur la pelouse, balance le zéphyr dans son voile odorant
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 02:42 SpotifyAmazon
4
4. Assai agitato: Pourquoi mon cœur bat-il si vite?
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 02:22 SpotifyAmazon
5
5. Sostenuto: Poète, prends ton luth; le vin de la jeunesse fermente cette nuit dans les veines de Dieu
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 03:57 SpotifyAmazon
6
6. Largo tranquillo: Est-ce toi dont la voix m'appelle
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 03:36 SpotifyAmazon
7
7. Allegro con fuoco: Poète, prends ton luth; c'est moi, ton immortelle, qui t'ai vu cette nuit triste et silencieux
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 07:36 SpotifyAmazon
8
8. Assai sostenuto: Quasi adagio: S'il ne te faut, ma sœur chérie
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 03:09 SpotifyAmazon
9
9. Andante sostenuto assai: Crois-tu donc que je sois comme le vent d'automne
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 03:11 SpotifyAmazon
10
10. Andante agitato assai: Lorsque le pélican, lassé d'un long voyage
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 02:49 SpotifyAmazon
11
11. Largamente quasi recitativo: Poète, c'est ainsi que font les grands poètes
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 02:35 SpotifyAmazon
12
12. Andante mosso e solenne: Ô Muse! spectre insatiable
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 02:30 SpotifyAmazon
13
Aprille!
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 01:36 SpotifyAmazon
14
C'è nel tuo sguardo
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 02:12 SpotifyAmazon
15
Hymne à la Lyre
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 02:45 SpotifyAmazon
16
La Chanson des yeux
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 02:43 SpotifyAmazon
17
L'addio
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 02:31 SpotifyAmazon
18
Barcarola veneziana
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 02:22 SpotifyAmazon
19
Valse mignonne
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Plácido Domingo / Lang Lang / Alberto Veronesi 05:21 SpotifyAmazon
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Leoncavallo: La Nuit de mai

Plácido Domingo Discography Browser