Le Spectre de la Rose

I'm having a couple of days break during my cycle ride, so I'm back in Zürich to attend to some bits and pieces. Time for a blog post.

And an accompanying piece of music that has a few resonances with both the photo and my itinerary.

Le Spectre de la Rose

I left my bike in Lausanne, and will be going onwards via Geneva into La France! So this piece of music has a decidedly French feel. The music is a setting of Gauthier by Berlioz from Les Nuits d'été - Le Spectre de la Rose. The poetry is a little sentimental, but the music and the performance are ravishing.

Recorded by French soprano Regine Crespin, with l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, based in Geneva and conducted by the longstanding founder Ernest Ansermet in 1963. This has probably never been bettered with the powerful but creamy and controlled voice at it's best. Listen to the end of the second verse.