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Title: Actually, 3 and a half stars
Review: I dearly love this great opera, which I consider one of the pinnacles of French music. It's a tough one to pull off for many reasons, and all of the six or seven versions I've heard have weaknesses in one area or another.My benchmark for Les Troyens is the gorgeous love duet ""Nuits d'ivresse" in Act 4. The singing here is very good, but Pretre conducts it much too quickly and spoils the whole effect. The piece should flow, throbbing with both erotic ardor and erotic lassitude as it unfolds. Here it just sounds rushed. And speeds are bit bit brisk throughout. My all-time favorite for this duet is sung by Regine Crespin and Guy Chauvet on a 2-LP abridged set from the early 1960s, oddly enough also conducted by Pretre. Perhaps La Crespin fixed him with a steely glare and said "Slow down, Georges!" Nonethless there are many worthy moments in this recording, particularly when drama is required.
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