Tragédiennes 1
This fascinating recital, filled with rarities from the French Baroque/Classical period, is a series of monologues by tragic heroines: they're enraged, submissive, and everything in between. Gens is an amazingly classy singer, incapable of vulgar exclamation, but she still manages to express the full range of emotions required here. Her chest register has gained in volume and thrust and the top of her voice remains free and clear; her classical line, enunciation, and legato are flawless; her mastery of ornamentation is exquisite. Composed about 100 years apart, Lully's and Gluck'sArmidebookend the program and use the same text; the latter's version is far more manic, but the character's torment is equally clear. Gens makes the stylistic distinctions. A great find is from Leclair'sScylla et Glaucus, in which Circe sings in front of Mount Etna, demanding assistance for her horrors. Each selection is riveting. This is a veritable primer in the emotions of early French opera.--Robert Levine