Berlioz: Les Nuits D'Ete / Ravel: Sheherazade ~ Jessye Norman
The most important thing to remember aboutLes Nuits  d'étéis that there's only one quick song and one moderate one to balance  out three long, slow ones. Although the work is not a cycle in any coherent  sense, most performers do the pieces in Berlioz's final order: the quick one  first, then the three slow ones, then the moderate one. This makes for a very  long middle. Norman's rich, dark voice might be thought a bit heavy for this  particular order, but she has another card up her sleeve: Her singing is so  gorgeous that one simply forgets about time and just drowns in the tone. Ravel's  exotic oriental song cycle provides just the right pick-me-up after the Romantic  excesses of the Berlioz.--David Hurwitz