Olivier Py directed a production of Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol at the Théâtre des Champs Élysées in 2023 and a live recording was made for CD.  The Nightingale is sung by soprano Sabine Devieilhe and she is very good indeed.  She has pretty much the perfect voice for this role with its coloratura sections and very high tessitura.  Her voice sounds suitably sweet all the way up and her coloratura is very precise.  She’s very well backed up by an all French cast featuring the excellent tenor Cyrille Dubois as the Fisherman and the unmistakable Laurent Naouri as the Chamberlain.  Jean-Sébastien Bou also impresses as a suitably tremulous Emperor and there’s a nice cameo from Chantal Santon Jeffery as the Cook.  The minor roles are all well sung and French diction is notably good across the board.

The chorus is Ensemble Aedes and the orchestra is Les Siècles, who are apparently playing “early 20th century French instruments”.  François-Xavier Roth conducts.  Now I don’t claim to know how that differs from a modern orchestra but the orchestral sound is clear, transparent and well articulated and there’s a very good balance between pit and stage so someone is doing something right.  It’s a very natural sounding recording.  One of the best opera CDs I’ve come across in a while.

It’s only available as a physical CD and will be released on 14th February 2025.

Catalogue information: Warner Classics 5419762404