As I was dozing off last night, the Classic Arts Showcase channel showed a clip from a 2002 performance of Meyerbeer's Dinorah from Compèigne. Of course the only real chunk from that opera worth considering is the shadow song ("Ombre légère"). The soprano, of whom I'd never heard, was Isabelle Philippe, who seems not to have had much stage time but is nonetheless quite a wonderful singer with clean diction and almost perfectly blended registration, the evidence of which can be heard in the clarity of the vowels and the flexibility and evenness from the bottom of the voice to the top. Her above-the-staff notes are stunning—a rare thing today (primarily because the heaviness and put-on resonance of most modern sopranos disallows the gymnasticity of the throat required by the alt pitches).

Hearing her was enough to get me out from under the covers and start searching for her on the internet. Malheureusement she has no website. By this morning I had procured a full-length pirate recording of one of Compèigne's latest ventures, a grand opera by Halévy called Charles VI (April 2005). I tried listening to the whole thing but haven't finished it yet. It des get to be a little dumbdumb in places. One aria has the bass character Raymond singing "Guerre aux tyrans! Jamais en France, jamais l'Anglais ne régnera!" over and over, after which he is joined by a chorus of men singing the same. That is followed by the tenor Dauphin, who sings words and words and then the aforementioned line—joined afterward by, yes, the chorus of men driving it home. Still, this performance is well-executed, and it's a shame this opera is only just now being rediscovered; it's certainly no worse than most of French grand opera of the period.

However, I did make it to this little gem, the cabalette sung by the Reine Isabelle—sung brilliantly by, ha, Isabelle Philippe. It features all the dangly charms of mid-century French grand opera—runs, leaps, trills, the whole bit. What's really worth listening for are the top notes. She's got yer measly high E-flat. But she's also got yer damn F above high C, held out for a decent length, and not the least bit shrill or shaky. This is expert singing. I hope to hear more of her.

MP3 Isabelle Philippe - Au concert succède le bal… Nuit charmante, oû d'ivresse from Charles VI, by Jacques Fromenthal Halévy.

I was only able to get these lines, but there are few more. Who cares, right? It's just McBanquet Scene gibberish.

Au concert succède le bal;
Entre mille beautés choisissez la plus belle,
Chevaliers, cet heureux signal
Ouvre aux plaisirs une lice nouvelle.

Nuit charmante, oû d'ivresse
On change à chaque instant!
Sitôt qu'un plaisir cesse
Un autre nous attend!

By the way, you can count on mp3s' being posted in this format from now on. Just look for the little download icon ;)