Human wickedness has exceeded that of the Devil himself! It is this dark observation which is at the root of all the spice and comedy in the operetta Le Diable à Paris (The Devil in Paris). Premiering in 1927, it was unearthed by Les Frivolités Parisiennes ensemble, which has partnered with B Records fruitfully to make an album recording of a frolicsome version of this unusual work at the crossroads of art music and jazz. In 2012, musicians Benjamin El Arbi and Mathieu Franot formed “Les Frivolités Parisiennes” opera company. It promotes the French light opera repertoire of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, which combines singing, drama and dance, from comic-opera to music-hall. Formed with a chamber orchestra, Les Frivolités Parisiennes regularly calls on singers, conductors, directors and specialised musicologists. Every season, Les Frivolités Parisiennes produces premieres and original recreations, makes recordings, trains young singers in the performance of the repertoire and undertakes educational activities for the young.Les Frivolités Parisiennes company is associate artist of the Singer-Polignac Foundationand resident at the Compiègne Imperial Theater.

For the seventieth anniversary of Olivier Greif’s birth, B Records and the Deauville Festival invite you to discover his remarkable works, some of which have never been released before. They were composed at dazzling speed, nurtured by Early Music, literature and the composer’s obsession with death and mysticism. Two symphonic works are interpreted for us by passionate, young musicians and have been recorded live so that you can experience on album the ‘dangers’ and delights of reverie, and an archive recording from the Festival de Pâques (Easter Festival) with Olivier Greif himself on the piano.

A new season at the Orsay-Royaumont Academy draws to a close. For one year, four duos of young pianists and singers, supervised by eminent masters, have had an opportunity to immerse themselves in the life of the Musée d’Orsay, soak up its collections, and ‘connect’ with them during master classes, recitals and musical promenades. Focusing on the genre of art song and Lied, which are emblematic of the era covered by the Orsay collections, this wonderful partnership between the two institutions at the crossroads of music, painting and poetry is unmatched in the realm of French museums. Once again, B Records makes the most of this trans-disciplinary competitive spirit to provide us with an exquisite, poetic record- a divine journey through some little masterpieces of chamber music.

We know that Brahms was a great enthusiast of the keyboard and yet he composed few works exclusively for piano. Accordingly, the Variations on a Theme by Haydn and Sonata for Two Pianos are all the more precious with their scores containing the full harmonic complexity and tonal diversity of his music, made sublime by the nimble fingers of Éric Le Sage and Théo Fouchenneret. This is a pivotal milestone in the huge endeavor of producing the Complete Works of Brahms undertaken by B Records since 2017.

No dusk: although both Sonates op.120 may be some of the last pieces written by Johannes Brahms, they still sound with the great vigor and sensitivity that belong to the great Viennese composer. B Records continues to explore his whole chamber music, with an addition of two treasures. This is a program that vibrates very close to the sometimes delicate, sometimes furious chords of the great artist. The ensemble writes: “One crazy day, a few of us decided to embark on a project which, at the time, some people deemed impossible to achieve: to perform all of Brahms’s chamber music within only a few months. Every concert would be recorded with our sights set on an unprecedented, magical objective – the complete chamber works of that great Viennese composer performed by the same musicians… We are now a company, as in the theatre, bonded by an unstoppable urge, a definite notion of boldness, a shared perception of chamber music and a love for the repertoire. We know to a T our individual playing characteristics: one player’s touch, another’s bow stroke, each other’s breathing, and so on. After hours of rehearsals and discussions, we honed our vision of the repertoire which ensured that the project is coming together nicely. This is a two-phase endeavor – the concert and the album. There are two options open to the audience: a seat at some of the finest auditoria in Europe which are part of the Belle Saison network; or a sofa in any home, where people can hear the outstanding music of Johannes Brahms… The album which you now hold in your hands is a small fraction of a large sound space which is opening up to you for the very first time.”

For Johannes Brahms, the essence and defining feature of chamber music resided in the string quartet, and the form commanded so much respect and rigor from him that he burnt dozens of his first attempts at the genre. This shows how much the three quartets brought together here, and added to quite naturally by the sublime piano quintet, represent the quintessence of that great resident of Vienna. It is a magical climax to this outstanding collection of Brahms’s complete chamber music works released by B Records, still under the auspices of La Belle Saison.

Twenty years separate Johannes Brahms’s two sonatas for cello and piano – a nice interlude allowing us to hear the evolution and scope of his compositional style: dramatic, unconventional and sweeping in the first sonata, intimate and melancholic in the second. This new installment in the amazing adventures of the complete chamber music works of that great resident of Vienna continues ‘under the bow’ of François Salque and the fingers of Éric Le Sage, enthusiastically escorted by B Records. François Salque is recognised as one of the most stunning cellists of his generation. His profound musical thinking and phenomenal technique have earned him many prestigious awards: François is a prize-winner at such international competitions as Lausanne (Unanimous First Prize), Geneva (2nd Prize), ARD Munich, Tchaikovsky in Moscow... He was each time given the highest distinctions ever awarded to a French cellist in the histories of these competitions.

If you have two loves – swing and Paris – if you want to dance to the rhythm of the beguine; if you love not only Beethoven but also Cole Porter, then go and visit Frivol’s Club! The ensemble Les Frivolités Parisiennes is a master in the art of blending musical genres. So, B Records invites you to join in and enjoy this tumultuous program which will immerse you in the vibrant atmosphere of the Roaring Twenties. Established in 2012 by the musicians Benjamin El Arbi and Mathieu Franot, Les Frivolités Parisiennes was created out of a desire to recover French Light Music of the 19th and 20th centuries, comic opera, opera buffa and musical comedy. With this in mind, the company annually produces new productions or revivals, of which a number have been recorded by Naxos. The chamber orchestra of Les Frivolités Parisiennes, the spiritual heir to the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique that was disbanded in the 1960s, can comprise from 14 to 40 players according to a work’s requirements.

The project to record the complete chamber music works of Brahms arose quite naturally from working on and discussing his music. A veritable journey ensued which was necessary and almost compulsory for any avid chamber musician. This is because Brahms’s extremely flowery and prolific work so glorified the musical language of that era, from the duet to the sextet. It was at the crossroads of classical rigour and romantic impulse. Pierre Fouchenneret, Lise Berthaud, François Salque and Éric Le Sage invited their closest friends and partners to join this project which some deemed unachievable at the time. This was to play and record in concert all Brahms’s chamber music with the same group of musicians, using the network of La Belle Saison’s auditoria with their ideally suited acoustics. All these artists are soloists, quartet members, chamber musicians and also work in orchestras. They are enthused by the same keenness for the music of Brahms, who so loved and provided for chamber music formations, writing for them his entire life, always striving to compliment the instrument. Furthermore, they all have their heart set on recording complete works, as was the case with the four musicians who initiated the project for Ravel, Fauré, Poulenc, Beethoven and Schumann. Each separate concert was recorded by the crew of B Records working towards making this ambitious complete set which you are now holding in your hands.