“Spence, in wonderful voice here, sings with bronzed tone, a keen sense of line and a reined-in intensity that allows words and emotional shifts to register fully. There’s a telling surge of feeling at ‘Ô bien-aimée’, in ‘La lune blanche’, and a real sense of rapture in the ecstatic arching phrase in which ‘vous’ become ‘tu’ at the close of J’ai presque peur, en vérité’. The Piatti Quartet and double-bass player Tim Gibbs sound exquisite in ‘Une sainte en son auréole at the start, where the piano is silent before excitedly ushering in the new dawn of the second song, ‘Puisque l’aube grandit’. Drake is excellent, as one might expect, anchoring a fine ensemble performance in which all the players seem
to function as one….”
Tim Ashley | Gramophone (April 2025)