Marianne Crebassa - Oh, Boy ! (2016)

“One of the most important voices of our time,” is how the young French mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa is described by Marc Minkowski, the distinguished conductor for her debut album, Oh, Boy! Comprising arias for young male characters who are sung by a woman – the so-called ‘trouser roles’ – it offers an alluring programme of Mozart, Chabrier, Gluck, Gounod, Hahn, Massenet, Meyerbeer, Offenbach and Thomas. Crebassa – praised by Le Monde for her “incredibly beautiful timbre and transcendent presence” – shows why she has already made an impact at the Paris Opéra, La Scala, Milan, the Berlin Staatsoper and the Salzburg Festival.

When she sang at the Salzburg Festival in 2014, the Financial Times described Crebassa as “dazzling … with doe-eyed looks, the seductive innocence of Debussy’s Mélisande and a luscious voice that seems destined for Massenet’s Charlotte.” The New York Times has hailed her as “splendidly charismatic” and Die Welt has praised her “evenly produced, shimmering timbre”. Shortly after she graduated from the Conservatory of Montpellier, not far from her hometown of Béziers in southern France, Forum Opéra described her voice as “opulent and perfectly projected,” singling her out as “an artist we are sure to hear more about.”

Tracklist:

01. Orphée et Eurydice, Wq. 41: Amour, viens rendre à mon âme
02. Lucio Silla, K. 135: Pupille amate
03. Les Huguenots: Nobles seigneurs, salut!
04. Les contes d'Hoffmann: Vois sous l'archet frémissant
05. Lucio Silla, K. 135: Dunque sperar poss'io… Il tenero momento
06. Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492: Voi che sapete
07. Psyché: Non, ne la suivons pas… Sommeil, ami des dieux
08. Roméo et Juliette, CG 9: Depuis hier… Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle
09. Cendrillon: Allez, laissez-moi seul… Coeur sans amour, printemps sans roses
10. Fantasio: Voyez dans la nuit brune
11. Faust, CG 4: Versez vos chagrins dans mon âme
12. La finta giardiniera, K. 196: Va' pure ad altri in braccio
13. L'étoile: Ô petite étoile
14. Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492: Non so più
15. Mozart: Un jour de plus… Alors, adieu donc, mon amour!
16. La clemenza di Tito, K. 621: Parto, ma tu ben mio