Bizet - The Pearl Fishers, highlights [Opera in English]

disappointing - but reasonable

Super role for Simon Keenlyside! Wonderful music!

great but would prefer it sung in French

My enthusiasm for the Chandos Opera in English series is well documented and this single disc of highlights is one of the very best recordings they have produced, even if the work itself is not, dare I say it, of the very highest rank; I saw the opera a number of years ago at the Coliseum (with Valerie Masterson as Leïla) and thought it a bit of a "one trick pony", the "trick" being the celebrated tenor-baritone duet, which has been one of the most popular pieces in the operatic canon since the famous recording over half a century ago by Jussi Bjoerling and Robert Merrill. There are several other beautiful musical items (Zurga's aria, Nadir's gently lilting romance and Leïla's prayer and Cavatine, to name but three), but the work is eminently suited to a "highlights" package.The opera, which met with mixed success in the composer's lifetime, is here performed in Bizet's original 1863 version in an edition researched and compiled by the recording's excellent conductor, Brad Cohen. Set in Ceylon, the opera reflects the 19th century French taste for the exotic and, specifically, orientalism. It dramatises the friendship between Nadir and Zurga and their famous duet appears here in its original, less familiar form. The one we all know is, however, included as an appendix, the posthumously added ending reiterating the hymn-like motive which accompanies the duet; also appended is the 1893 trio, attributed to the composer Benjamin Godard.This is a very strongly cast version, with even the brief contributions (on this highlights recording at any rate) of the high priest Nourabad allocated to the distinguished bass Alastair Miles. Rebecca Evans, a singer I have long admired, is a lovely Leïla, while it is difficult to imagine the role of Zurga better sung than it is here by the baritone Simon Keenlyside. The piece of casting which will, I suspect, divide opinion is that of Barry Banks as Nadir. His light , wiry tenorino will not be to everyone's taste in this music, but I admire him greatly and have actually seen him sing the famous duet (in a concert with Alan Opie); my only regret is that he does not go up at the end of the romance (textual, rather than political correctness, no doubt!).I'm not sure that I would really want a complete "Pêcheurs de perles", but this highlights disc fits the bill splendidly; if you really must have it in French, I would go for the Dervaux version, with Nicolai Gedda and the fabulous Ernest Blanc in the title roles.