Blomstedt is still going strong 50 years later at age 94.

Dame Baker is so magnificent here. Who is this expressive? She has outshone even the French singers.

Janet Baker is one of the very rare singers to have such variety of repertoire. Here she deploys an immensely deep emotion which her voice rends very well with a superb comprehension of the French text. Her sense of phrasing and legato are of rare beauty, always towards music in one of most amazing compositions by Berlioz. With intensity and integrity she conceives music and poems as a complete entity and incorporates every possible detail. Her musical accents are so intelligent & emotional that make this performance truly exceptional, especially in due of the poor literacy poems by Gautier.

Without question one of the finest singers of the 20th c., Janet Baker excelled in whatever she sang - unfortunately I only heard her live on one occasion, Dream of Gerontius, (Elgar), but at least it was a role in which she was incomparable.

What an artist! The sheer beauty of the singing - the colours in the voice, the control, the use of the words. The complete immersion in the text - physically and emotionally. This is incredibly beautiful music, but Baker makes it something so much more. There's real pain here. Real loss. Thank you so much for posting it.

For me, this is perfection. Subtle, understated yet fully realized. Impeccable diction and musicality. And she has clearly taken real time to fully connect with these poems- she sings it like she wrote it herself! If I ever sing a Nuits d'Ete half this good, I'll be happy!

Brava, Dame Janet - exquisite and perfect; what an inspiration you are to us all: thank-you ❤️

Gorgeous in voice and character Janet Baker. I love the tempo chosen for the first melodie which sets the cycle off at a cracking pace , full of energy and joy.

Interprétation de grande classe plus une diction française parfaite pour une anglo-saxonne..!

Janet Baker c'était la noble distinction anglaise avec une grâce presque incomparable pour chanter les Nuits d'Eté de Berlioz .

Admirable ! J'ai été véritablement ému par l'interprétation des Nuits d'été par cette grande artiste . bravo !

Magnifique!!!!! c'est la meilleure version pour "les nuits d'été"... je l'adore

It certainly seems that the French comments in this posting have been admired not just for their musicality, but for the wonderful interpretation and complete mastery of the many moods of this group of songs, which to me are the perfect vehicle for any singer, but for Dame Janet, it seems that they were written for her! Thank you for putting this on youtube.

She was just so brilliant wasn't she,soaring above the orchestra with such clarity and intonation,just truly brilliant.

Beautiful!!

Qué voz, Dios mío! Era un milagro.

Dame 'Granite' at her best. Simply unrivalled.

Himmlische Musik, unvergleichlich gesungen! Vielen, vielen Dank!

Quanto era brava...e il fatto che conoscesse il bel canto e il fraseggio Monteverdiano...ma anche Donizetti e Bellini...Mozart.;( ascoltata e applaudita come un pazzo).........la rende uno Strumento....con il direttore che la insegue...in maniera empatica. ..Janet una bellissima creatura...Chapeau

It is amazing these Berlioz's sublime songs are so rarely heard. I have another language that I wish I know and hopefully learn a bit before I return to dust.

Sublime

What a truly great singer and great artist she was! Her integrity and total commitment to the contents of text and music is truly unique and so inspiring! I have a recording of this music of her, which is wonderful, but so great to see her sing these beautiful and intense songs! Thank you very much for uploading!!

beaucoup pleuré. Meilleure interprétation. bouleversant

Music for the soul. Thank you for posting. If it was on dvd, I would buy it in an instant.

direct from heaven

wonderful

Realmente una de las mejores versiones sobre Les Nuits d'ete por lo vocal, interpretativo y expresivo. Supera a la versión discográfica que tiene de la misma obra. Y por supuesto, tmb Crespin.

She is magnificent!

How wonderful this is! Thank you so much. Just witnessed the Villanelle. Janet Baker what a beautiful instrument she has, everyone's work is very good. The music itself is perfect and full of mistakes-read, "full of mistakes"

Great artist.

incredible!

Bravo!

Par excellence!

Quelle merveille que les interprétations des Nuits d'été par Janet Baker ! Je possède bien sûr ceux de Régine Crespin, mais l'image rajoute quelque chose.

Quoique créées pour une voix masculine, ce sont les dames qui ont donnée toute sa gloire á ces pages... Je vous rappelle deux autres versions magistrales, á part cette de la Baker, : celle de Victoria de los Ángeles (Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch, 1956) et celle de Régine Crespin (Orchestre Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, 1963)... Toutes deux aussi merveilleuses... À chacun de choisir sa preferée...

doku ist sehr interessant...

Nés pas la grande Regine Crespin, máis dame Baker c'est formidable!

Baker sheer perfection, orchestra and conductor on bad form and the commentary interruptions unforgivable.

Absence :16ème mesure " un poco animato " : entre nos coeurs quelle distance ! Interprété beaucoup trop lentement. Ce doit être plus rapide que le 1° tempo " Adagio " ; au moins le double . Ce passage marque la fébrilité du désir de retrouver l'être aimé ; ce qui n'a rien à voir avec la tristesse d'un enterrement. 20ème mesure " con agitatione " : ô sort amer ô dure absence ! On doit passer ici de la fébrilité précédente à la fièvre contenu qui exige un phrasé et une respiration plus tendues mais non moins rapide. 26ème mesure au point d'orgue on revient au 1° tempo.42ème mesure "un poco animato e crescendo poco a poco " : D'ici la bas, que de campagnes, Que de villes et de hameaux, (...) comme la 16ème mesure avec la tension progressive du crescendo. Personnellement, toutes les versions que j'ai écouté ne restituaient pas les indications annotées par Hector Berlioz, notamment sur cette partition "Absence ". Celles et ceux qui ont lu les mémoires de Berlioz savent combien il était un romantique fiévreux et passionné, fougueux même. Il ne supportait pas qu'un chef d'orchestre puisse changer une virgule d'une oeuvre musicale et ne tienne aucun compte des indications portées sur la partition par le compositeur, ou qu'il les modifie à sa façon. Dommage car Janet Baker a un talent fou !

However being a Swede and compatriot to the conductor and a great admirer of Janet Baker, I find this performance too rushed, harsh and without finesse and without a proper understanding and interpretation of the lyrics.