Stravinsky: Le Rossignol

Sabine Devieilhe takes the title role of the Nightingale in Stravinsky’s miniature three-act opera Le Rossignol, while Francois-Xavier Roth – conducting the cast of leading French soloists, the choral singers of Ensemble Aedes, and the period instruments of his orchestra Les Siècles – evokes all the magic of the score. 

This recording was made in March 2023 when Le Rossignol was presented in a production by Olivier Py at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the city where the opera was premiered in 1914. “Sabine Devieilhe will remain unforgettable as the disconcertingly sensual Nightingale,” declared Le Figaro, also praising the other members of a sparkling cast and François-Xavier Roth’s sense for the colours of the score. Le Figaro’s reviewer found the auditorium’s acoustic ideally suited to the instruments of Les Siècles – it was, of course, in 1913 at the newly opened Théâtre des Champs-Elysées that The Rite of Spring had its sensational premiere.

Le Rossignol, based on a story by Hans Christian Andersen, tells of the Nightingale, the Fisherman, the Emperor of China, a mechanical nightingale, and the figure of Death. Act 1 dates from 1908, when Stravinsky was still in his mid-twenties, and it remains very much in the iridescent spirit of his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov. Acts 2 and 3 were composed in 1913-14, after Stravinsky had made his name in Paris with The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, and they inhabit a more sharply contoured musical world. In an interview with the New York Times in 2021, Francois-Xavier Roth commented on his ‘rediscovery’ of orchestral works from the early 20th century: “Stravinsky and Ravel, it’s already modern music. When we not only restored these instruments — I’m mainly talking about winds, percussion and brass — but started to rehearse Stravinsky and Ravel for the first time, The Firebird on gut strings, or Daphnis et Chloé, I can’t describe the shock. You understand why Stravinsky chose this combination of instruments and not another.”

Opera magazine admired the way “Sabine Devieilhe rose to Stravinsky’s demands for crystalline top notes and avian virtuosity,” also noting that “Lucile Richardot was intense and poetic as Death, Cyrille Dubois sang exquisitely as the Fisherman and  … Laurent Naouri brought distinction to the Chamberlain,” while “François-Xavier Roth and his period-instrument orchestra … certainly made their mark on the production, marrying clarity and precision with lyricism.” As Forum Opéra observed: “The Nightingale showcases the extraordinary musicality of Sabine Devieilhe, who makes child’s play of the role’s coloratura. Her precision in the very highest vocal regions is matched by the purity of her sound … carried on seemingly endless breath … Cyrille Dubois sang with the grace of a tenorial tightrope walker, balancing on a line drawn with a single stroke – supple, attentive and lively …Francois-Xavier Roth, in charge of Les Siècles, accompanied with all his customary care for authenticity.”