Description:

Régine Crespin shines in one of her greatest roles in this taut, thrilling performance, captured in Buenos Aires in 1965. The close miking does not always serve the cast particularly well (Angel Mattiello’s Albert comes off pretty weak) but Crespin and her Werther, the smoothly lyrical Albert Lance, come off by far the best. Lance spins “Pourquoi me réveiller” in a beautiful, hushed tone and does a marvelous job with the death scene. Crespin’s glory comes, of course, in the act three letter scene, which is not only gorgeously sung but is also a gripping insight into Charlotte’s repressed psyche. Jean Fournet conducts expertly and the sound is excellent, but unfortunately the last three or four minutes of the second act are missing.

OD 11161-2