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Mezzo soprano Denyce Graves has not been enormously lucky in the realm of recording. Even as her star ascended through television exposure, sold-out recitals, and high-profile appearances in opera productions, for several years the compact disc front was strangely silent in representing Graves' artistry. In 1999 Graves signed an exclusive contract with BMG Classics, and since then has produced a small number of discs of very high quality, all well received by critics and public alike. Before that, all that was available of Graves outside of her appearances in Opera Galas and in recordings of complete opera productions was Héroines de l'Opera romantique Français, an obscure disc made in 1993 for the French FNAC label with Marc Soustrot and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo. This FNAC release was difficult to locate in the United States, and prohibitively expensive to buy.Virgin Classics has lately released this disc, French Opera Arias, with an attractive, up-to-date photo of Graves on the front cover, notes in three languages, and complete texts and translations. One might get the impression that this is a new release from Graves, but one would be mistaken, for this is simply the aforementioned Héroines de l'Opera romantique Français in a new package. While it is friendlier to English-speaking audiences by virtue of its English texts, someone in the engineering department at Virgin has botched the digital transfer of this disc. Whereas the original was sharp, clear, and a little on the dry side, with Graves' voice front-and-center, French Opera Arias is quiet sounding, a little distant, and Graves' voice is buried somewhere in the middle of the orchestra. Obviously in the process of bringing this low-budget, French-government-subsidized recording up to Virgin's standards, something got lost. Denyce Graves' fans who were never able to locate Héroines de l'Opera romantique Français in its original form will have reason to rejoice that Virgin Classics has now made it generally available as French Opera Arias. Yet the original issue is to be preferred, if not in terms of packaging or presentation, then in the area of sound quality.