Felicity Volk

Dans ce disque paru en 1996 (qui est aussi l'année de son anoblissement par la reine Elisabeth II), Felicity Lott ressuscite le répertoire léger français de la première moitié du XXe siècle. “Dame Felicity’s collection of lollipop-encores, with the faithful Graham Johnson at the keyboard, is a jolly affair, not to be taken in one gulp. Any one or two of these songs and arias might be indeed often have featured at the end of their recitals. “

Britten’s dramatic cantata Phaedra is the resonant centre of this new release in EMI’s excellent British Composers series. The steely gleam at the core of Felicity Palmer’s mezzo-soprano, and the hard white light of the Endymion’s outstanding ensemble playing make for a fierce kindling of Britten’s music with Robert Lowell’s words at one exceptional moment in the work’s performing history. John Whitfield’s direction ensures that the Five French Folksongs are nicely poised between raw simplicity and elegant sophistication, while the Endymion’s incisive playing warms to the sensuousness of Jill Gomez’s Les Illuminations.