Search results: Search results
86 results
Products
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Messager: Les P'tites Michu / Dumoussaud, Pays de la Loire National Orchestra
Bru Zane · Jan 2019CD$42.99 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Berlioz, Biarent, Gounod: La chanson du vent / van Dieren, Mizumoto
Cyprés Records · Jan 2022CD$20.99 -
-
-
Les Nuits de Paris - Dance Music from Folies Bergère to Opéra / Roth, Les Siècles
Bru Zane · Jan 2023CD$20.99 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Chausson, Faure & Sohy: Chants nostalgiques / Garnier, Bensaid, Hanson Quartet
B Records · Feb 2023CD$20.99 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Saint-Saëns: Phryné / Rougier, Valiquette, Dubois, Niquet, Rouen Opera Orchestra
Bru Zane · Feb 2022CD$39.99 -
A French Odyssey - Music for two cellos by Rameau, Barriere,
Challenge Classics · Jul 2025CD$16.99 -
-
-
-
-
-
Lecocq: La fille de Madame Angot / Rouland, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris
Bru Zane · Oct 2021CD$42.99
Bertin: Fausto / Rousset, Les talens lyriques
It was around 1825 that Louise Bertin, pupil of Reicha and friend of Berlioz, tackled the subject of Faust with all the energy and confidence of a young woman of twenty. She entirely exceeded the public’s expectations and won over the critics with her daring. Colourful orchestration, charming cantabiles, vigorous choruses – everything seemed to promise the work would enter the repertory. But the closure of the Théâtre-Italien after just three performances in 1831 decided otherwise, and the score languished in the vaults of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France for 190 years. The leading role, conceived for the mezzo-soprano Rosmunda Pisaroni, was finally created by the tenor Domenico Donzelli. In this complete recording with period instruments, Christophe Rousset presents the work in its original form, which has never been heard before, even in the composer's lifetime. Once again, Les Talens Lyriques and the Palazzetto Bru Zane join forces in an adventurous French operatic rediscovery.
REVIEW:
Limelight Magazine Recording of the Month, May 2024
“Mademoiselle Louise Bertin, the daughter of the proprietor of the Journal des Débats, and sister of its chief editor, has been remarkably successful, both in literature and music. She is one of the ablest women of our time. Her musical talent, to my mind, is rather rational than emotional; but it is a real talent notwithstanding.” That’s Berlioz in his Mémoires, responding to criticisms of his boss’ daughter’s fourth and final opera La Esmeralda (based on Notre Dame de Paris; Bertin was the only composer with whom Victor Hugo ever collaborated).
As Berlioz makes clear, she had to struggle with not just the usual prejudice against a female composer but with those who wanted to knock her powerful family connections. The result: in 1836 she abandoned opera for good. It’s often been assumed that Berlioz was being paid to be kind, but with Fausto, the latest release from Palazetto Bru Zane, we have ample proof that Bertin was a force to be reckoned with.
She was just 20, when in 1825 she began working up Goethe’s masterwork into an Italian opera semiseria. Fausto, to her own libretto, was meant to premiere in 1830, but unforeseen complications meant it didn’t reach the stage until 1831. Bad notices and the closure of the Théâtre-Italien condemned it to just three performances. Intriguingly, the title role was conceived for the mezzo-soprano Rosmunda Pisaroni but ended up being sung by the tenor Domenico Donzelli. In this recording, with period instruments, Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques present the work in its original form, and it’s an absolute cracker. Despite its Italian title, Fausto is more Weber than Rossini, although there are clear bel canto elements here and there. The orchestrations are highly original for its day – snipers in 1836 accused Berlioz of having written parts of La Esmerelda – and the dramatic effects are bold, sometimes startlingly so. Listen to the percussive wallop which kicks off the lengthy overture. Or the striking Gothic excesses as Fausto seals the pact with Mefistofele. There’s no shortage of good tunes either, with Margarita in particular getting some real charmers.
Dramaturgically, there are one or two missteps – Margarita asking the elderly Fausto to heal Catarina delays the devil’s arrival, and the final trio peters out (one suspects that Bertin might have fixed that if she’d ever had the chance). Otherwise, a good stage director could do something with the opera, not to mention singers with three meaty parts on offer.
The cast here is outstanding. French mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes hurls herself fearlessly at Fausto’s challenging lines (the role is often high). The voice is bright and flexible, and she conveys the doctor’s mixture of ardent determination, despair and desperation. Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin may not sound the innocent victim, but her Margarita is beautifully sung and full of fire. The voice is luscious with first-rate diction. Croatian bass Ante Jerkunica is a sonorous Mefistofele with plenty of personality (though the role could use an aria or two). Nico Darmanin displays a bright, thrilling tenor as Margarita’s brother Valentino (his military aria, drums and horns popping, is a bel canto bombshell), and Marie Gautrot is ripe and characterful as the elderly Catarina. Best of all is Rousset who delivers a high-octane account of this remarkably original score. Not only does he bring it to life with judicious pacing and a winning flexibility, he draws out the unique textures of Bertin’s orchestrations with a sensitive ear for colour.
Les Talens Lyriques play like demons. Period strings are full of bite, while the individual timbres of wind, brass and percussion combine to create delicate and dramatic textures. Beautiful recording in vivid, in your face sound, and smartly documented, Fausto is more than just an intriguing rediscovery. It makes you long to hear La Esmerelda, by all accounts a more mature work and with a Victor Hugo libretto no less.
-- Limelight (Clive Paget)
Gaubert: Les Chants De Mer - Recordings 1927-1940
Philippe Gaubert: an all-round artist! The true calibre of Philippe Gaubert - a man who was a close friend of Honegger, Caplet, Lubin, Cortot, Thibaud, Paul Valéry, Barthou, Giraudoux and Tristan Bernard, to name but those - can only be fully appreciated when he is set in his historical and cultural context. His musical activities were multiple, but his teacher Paul Taffanel described him as 'the greatest flautist of his time'. The pieces presented on this recording show the ease and boldness of his playing and his wonderfully mellow tone. Of his interpretation of Madrigal, Edward Blakeman wrote: 'This is a highly individual performance with supple control of legato phrasing and changes of tempo. The warm flute tone displays an effective but very discreet use of vibrato.' Through Paul Taffanel Gaubert was engaged to stand in for musicians of the Orchestra of the Paris Opéra (violin and later, when he was only sixteen, principal flute). In 1905 Philippe Gaubert became assistant conductor to Messager at the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, and succeeded him in 1919. In 1922, he gave up playing the flute as a virtuoso because his lips were too sensitive. The recordings presented on this CD show the qualities that made him one of the great conductors of the French school. We notice, amongst other features, the perfect melodic line and admirable clarity (he guides the musicians firmly but without constraint); the absolute control (no trace of immoderation); the fine rendering of dynamics; the excellent balance between the different groups of instruments - quite a feat, considering recording conditions at that time!; and it is clear that he had a perfect overall view of each work. He also devoted a considerable part of his life to composition. Undertaking so many different activities concurrently meant that he had to be not only exceptionally healthy, but also very well organised in his working life. After winning the Second Grand Prix de Rome in 1905, he went on to compose almost eighty (unnumbered) works, including music for three films, a 'drame lyrique' (Sonia, 1912), two ballets and an 'épopée chorégraphique', chamber works, and a large quantity of orchestral music, some of which is presented on this recording. As a composer, conductor, instrumentalist and teacher, Gaubert was a fine example of the all-round artist. Indeed, specialisation was uncommon at that time. The change came about after the Second World War, with the arrival of LPs, and the subsequent glorification of conductors, Herbert von Karajan being a prime example. Exceptions, such as Leonard Bernstein or Esa Pekka-Salonen, nevertheless show that a great conductor can also be a first-rate composer. Gaubert's orchestral pieces show a perfect mastery of the instruments, fine melodic inspiration, a bold use of harmony, sparkling rhythms, and a well thought-out overall structure. It is high time that he - like many other French musicians whose reputations as composers have been eclipsed by their activities as conductors, Inghelbrecht, for example, or Martinon, to name but two - was given the credit he deserves as a composer.
Messager: Les P'tites Michu / Dumoussaud, Pays de la Loire National Orchestra
Messager was a leading figure in French operetta in the late 1800s and, as a composer of mainly stage works (opéras comiques, opérettes and ballets), is probably best known today for his ballet Les Deux Pigeons. As an admirer of French Romantic music, I am delighted to receive this newly released two CD set of Messager’s Les P'tites Michu (The Little Michus), an operetta I previously knew only by name.
Premièred in November 1897 Les P'tites Michu, an opérette in three acts, quickly became a great success both at home, enjoying one hundred and fifty performances at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, and abroad notably being staged in London and on Broadway. Les P'tites Michu had been written in the wake of several embarrassing failures for Messager, particularly his humiliation with Le chevalier d'Harmental at the Opéra-Comique in 1896, where it was pulled after only six performances. As providence would have it, whilst in England Messager received an unsolicited libretto through the post for the opérette Les P'tites Michu sent by renowned librettists Albert Vanloo and Georges Duval. Messager didn’t know that the libretto had already been rejected by three composers, but clearly fully motivated, he completed the score in just three months. The plot briefly concerns the identities of two little girls, one the daughter of Marquis des Ifs and the other a daughter of Michu who runs a cheese shop. Whilst in his care, Michu mixes up the two girls whilst giving them a bath. Years later, on Blanche-Marie’s wedding day, the Marquis notices her resemblance to his late wife and realises that she must be his daughter.
This recording is taken from live performances at Théâtre Graslin, Nantes with stage direction by Rémy Barché. A fine French cast has been assembled, bringing this sun-drenched comedy to life with singing that sparkles from start to finish. My highlight is from Act Two with soprano Anne-Aurore Cochet and mezzo Violette Polchi singing Blanche-Marie’s and Marie-Blanche’s quite delightful duet Ah! Quel malheur, quel malheur (Oh, what a misfortune). From Act One, in the role of shop assistant Aristide, tenor Artavazd Sargsyan copes well with the couplets Blanche-Marie est douce et bonne (Blanche-Marie is gentle and kind). I notice André Noël (1892-1967) a tenor at the Opéra-Comique made a fascinating early recording of this piece on a collection of his operetta arias for Pathé (N° X. 90019 - N 203201 Choudens) which can be viewed on YouTube. Excelling here in the Act Three Romance a dreamy waltz Vois-tu, je m'en veux à moi-même (You see, I blame myself), Anne-Aurore Cochet is in charming voice as she laments her dreary existence and misses her boarding school. Susan Graham on her 2002 Erato album ‘French Operetta Arias’ has championed Blanche-Marie’s Romance which is a real gem. It’s also contained in her 2010 box set ‘The Art of Susan Graham’ (review). Additionally from act three is Blanche-Marie and Gaston’s attractive duet Rassurez-vous monsieur Gaston (Don’t worry, monsieur Gaston) as they capture the innocence of concealing their sorrow from each other. As the hearty army captain, the smoky tones of Philippe Estèphe contrast well with the Anne-Aurore Cochet’s girlish innocence. Directed by choir-master Xavier Ribes, the Chœur d'Angers Nantes Opéra is in fine order, singing with assurance and unity which are especially noticeable in the splendid Halles ensemble Marchandes et Marchands from Act Three. Under the baton of Pierre Dumoussaud, the Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire (using some forty-five players) performs with verve and sparkle.
Sumptuously presented, the two CDs fit inside a 176-page hard-back book which includes essays, a synopsis and French texts together with an English translation placed alongside. A slight grumble concerns the article ‘P'tites Michu, number by number’ where the pieces discussed are not linked to track numbers. Recorded live in May 2018 at Théâtre Graslin, Nantes, the overall sound has a satisfying quality and is well balanced. Not surprisingly, the recording has some minor stage noise and applause has been retained at the conclusion.
Bru Zane’s Opéra français series continues to captivate and with Messager’s opérette Les P'tites Michu grandly maintains its high standards.
– MusicWeb International (Michael Cookson)
Verlaine et Rimbaud - Poemes dits par Jean-louis Barrault, R
Meditation: Gregorian Chant
CHANSONS PERDUES 1950-53
Berlioz, Biarent, Gounod: La chanson du vent / van Dieren, Mizumoto
Les Nuits de Paris - Dance Music from Folies Bergère to Opéra / Roth, Les Siècles
The dance permeated every layer of Romantic society. From popular dance halls to courtly salons, people showed their public face, enjoyed themselves and met one another in waltz time or to the rhythms of the quadrille or the polka. At the same time, ballet gained unprecedented fame on the stage of the Paris Opéra. The music that accompanied this frantic round in France has long been neglected, whereas the Viennese have never ceased to celebrate their waltzes. Under the expert baton of François-Xavier Roth, the orchestra Les Siècles has set out to rediscover this French repertory using historical instruments. Their album explores the output of both established composers – Camille Saint-Saëns, Ambroise Thomas, Charles Gounod, Jules Massenet – and their colleagues who specialized in Terpsichorean entertainment, including Philippe Musard, Isaac Strauss, Émile Waldteufel and Hervé.
REVIEWS:
Beautifully recorded and with Bru Zane’s customary excellent booklet notes, this is a disc to delight Francophiles, especially sweet-toothed ones like myself.
-- Gramophone
There is a blowsy joie de vivre in these performances by Roth’s French Orchestra Les Siecles that is hard to resist.
-- The Sunday Times (UK)
It’s all very French, and presented with great flair and warmth by Roth and his orchestra.
-- The Guardian (UK)
Clérambault: Cantates Françoises
Chansonnettes frisquettes, joliettes & godinettes
POULENC: LA VOIX HUMAINE FIANCAILLES POUR RIRE
Chansons 1957-1962 - Scoubidou, Personnalites, Mon beau chap
Caron: Masses & Chansons / The Sound And The Fury
CARON Masses and Chansons • The Sound and the Fury • FRA BERNARDO 1207302 (3 CDs: 190:22)
Next to nothing is known of more than a few composers from the early Renaissance. Who is “Hyett,” that survives in a single work found in the Gyffard Partbooks? Who was the Trecento composer known only as “Maestro Piero,” of whom eight works (six madrigals, two examples of caccia ) remain?
It’s fairly safe to single out Firminus (in the Latin; or Fermin, or Fremin—popular names in Amiens at the time) Caron from that ghostly lot as the most illustrious in his day. Compère, no minor judge in matters musical, referred to Busnois, Dussart, and Caron as magister cantilenarum . Tinctorus wrote of Ockeghem, Busnois, Regis, and Caron as composing the most outstanding music he’d ever heard. (He also named Caron among several composers that were reported to him as poorly educated, as Tinctorus like his contemporaries set great store by a completed university education. But this was probably out of date when it was written, since in that same year, 1473, Caron is mentioned in a legal document as maistre , or Master of Arts.) Others among his contemporaries, as well as scholars of succeeding generations, continued to place Caron among the leading musicians of his time. The manuscript trading trails across Europe (their time’s equivalent of our group emails) that constituted the surest way of circulating sacred and secular music saw Caron’s works turning up repeatedly in Italy. He was popular, and a good thing, too, since although new and doctored texts by unknown hands not infrequently were added to extant works in transmission—editor Jaap van Benthem’s liner notes suggest this occurred to more than half Caron’s chansons—it helped save a good many of his compositions when the French Revolution went on a rampage through the cathedrals of France.
Yet little enough is known today of Caron’s life. Thanks to recently discovered source documents, a possible birth date has been suggested in the late 1430s, in Amiens. He may have come from a well-to-do middle class background, judging from a loan he regularly received payment on later in life, and the registered sale of a house with attachments owned by the man who was probably his deceased father: a well-to-do shoemaker with apprentices and servants. Beyond this lies that shadowy land named vague conjecture. He may have been trained at Cambrai, or in Amiens; may have worked in proximity to Busnois (“Accueilly m’a la belle” suggests the strong influence of the latter), and possibly known Dufay; may have served Charles the Bold in Burgundy—or at least, spent some time in some form of musical service there, accounting for his poor showing in the chansonniers compiled around 1470 in Loire Valley, part of the kingdom of France. His music begins turning up in fewer manuscripts in the mid-1470s, suggesting a possible terminus, but it’s more accurate to simply state that sources for any music he may have written at that time or later, assuming he lived that long, had dried up. Compared to the larger-than-life Busnois, Caron’s personality remains that of a shade.
It is the chansons that history repeatedly praises to us, but only seven are included here, and they comprise just two-thirds of one of the three discs on this new recording. As if to lower our expectations of them further, The Sound and the Fury (or at least their recording company, Fra Bernardo) has left out all texts and translations. I could wish they had done otherwise, as the entire lot collectively comprises a highlight of the set. Caron was innovative for his period, as Montagna notes in his “Caron, Hayne, Compère: a Transmission Reassessment,” for his imitative entrances, though he didn’t stop there. Those imitative textures are apt to occur flexibly, within a carefully varied texture that includes homophony, free movement, staggered, irregular contrapuntal entries (“Helas m’amour”) and the interplay of voices in quick exchange or diverse groups (“Mort du mercy”). The clarity of his parts at all times must be mentioned as well, along with the naturalness with which, at least in some of the of chansons heard here, Caron’s melodic line follows the phrasing of traditional French folksong (the short but charming “Du tout ainsi”). Geneviève Thibault, in her Grove I article on Caron, is just as enthusiastic while pointing out that his superius parts “have a beautiful melodic curve” that does not end with each verse line; and that’s certainly true of “Cuidez vous” and “S’il est ainsy.”
The five Masses supplied in this set ( L’Homme arme, Jesus autem, Accueilly m’a a la belle, Sanguis sanctorum, Clemens et benigna ) are in the five standard movements for their time and place: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. They all survive only in Italian sources, with the already mentioned caveat about text substitution applying. (As well as other caveats to accurate recreation: aging, ink corrosion, editorial transmission errors, and the crude, destructive cutting out of illuminated details have all played their part in rendering the results less than fully satisfactory.) The Sound and The Fury consists of five singers—a countertenor, two tenors, and two basses, along with a lutenist for “Du tout ainsi”—so there’s no doubling. This reinforces to our ears both Caron’s almost obsessively varied textures, and his preference for fragmenting the cantus firmus . Here, too, he was ahead of his time. In turn, Alan Atlas in his Renaissance Music takes evident delight in the way Caron incorporates an Italian song (“Madonna par la torno”), a French chanson (“Hélas, mestresse, m’amie”), and Johannes Joye’s chanson “Mercy mon duiel” into the Marian Mass, Clemens et benigna , in such a way as to make both textual and musical additions function as glosses.
Contrary to the norm in such matters, The Sound and the Fury isn’t a concertizing group. Aside from the very occasional recital, they gather solely for recording purposes, though they clearly spend much time in rehearsals. (You couldn’t get through this music with any semblance of dignity if you didn’t.) The Anglo-German ensemble focuses on the Franco-Flemish school and, if comments in the liner notes are any judge, they take the “sweet” side of the debate in matters of musica ficta . Their sound is tight and disciplined, with excellent enunciation and pitch control, though there are some moments (more in the chansons than in the Masses, oddly enough) where a few notes are split for breath’s sake. The engineering is among the best I’ve heard of sacred choral music of the period, being spacious and very forward, with a slight reverberance.
The texts would definitely help with the chansons, and the photographer responsible for the box’s artwork (the upper torso of some late teen looking out sternly, trying to impress us as he makes what he apparently figures is a karate chop with one hand) needs a courteous reminder of the music’s subject. But in all other respects I’m delighted with this set.
FANFARE: Barry Brenesal
Pax - Gregorian Chants / Les Moines De L'abbaye De St. Benoit
Here we have a recording made originally in 1996. Interestingly, though the monastic community dates from 1912 the buildings are more recent. The church was only built a few years before this recording.
The title of the disc is Pax and peace seems to be the general theme of the texts. It open with the antiphon In viam pacis and continues with a selection of introits whose theme is peace, ranging from Give peace, o Lord, to the familiar Christmas passage about the Prince of Peace.
The disc is structured very roughly around the mass, but with individual elements multiplied up so a group of introits are followed by the Gloria; then three graduals and then three alleluias, Agnus Dei and communion; with finally a selection of hymns and responses. The CD booklet sets out a short but illuminating discussion about how the individual items fit into the theological journey which the monks have constructed. And it is in theological terms rather than purely musical ones that this disc should be seen. The chant here is not sung as a concert, but to evoke an act of worship with the music being purely a vehicle for the theological expression of the text.
Rather frustratingly the CD booklet includes little detailed information about when exactly in the church year individual items would be sung. And there are no printed texts, which makes following the theological argument difficult unless one happens to possess a missal or a gradual.
And what of the singing? Well, it is certainly characterful. The monks choir does not sound exceptionally large and the solo voices are distinctive and individually expressive. This is a sincere reflection of the music of a community, rather than new age background music.
You will find this music better sung elsewhere, but what this disc does convey is a reflection of a community who sing this music every day.
-- Robert Hugill, MusicWeb International
Chausson, Faure & Sohy: Chants nostalgiques / Garnier, Bensaid, Hanson Quartet
Marie-Laure Garnier, Célia Oneto Bensaid and the Hanson Quartet have imagined a program based on the theme of nostalgic love. Starting with Ernest Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer arranged for voice, string quartet and piano, they draw the thread of passion both joyful and melancholic in Gabriel Fauré’s La Bonne Chanson and Charlotte Sohy’s Les Chants nostalgiques, recorded for the first time in this formation. They give their name to this new b•records album placed under the sign of symbolism, grace and emotion.
LES CHANTS DE TAOS AMROUCHE -
Mon amant de Saint-Jean / d'Oustrac, Dumestre, Le Poème Harmonique
Fascinated by the interplay of echoes from one past to another, Vincent Dumestre and Stéphanie d’Oustrac found an affinity in the project Mon Amant de Saint-Jean, their very first collaboration, and aimed to make it a unique musical adventure: a recital in which the atmosphere of the chansons of the Années Folles infuses early music with its sweet madness. In 1904, the great cabaret singer Yvette Guilbert was invited to the home of the Casadesus family, the founders of the Société des Instruments Anciens (Early instrument society): the Baroque fraternised with the café-concert. Around the same time, in the revue Paris qui chante, an aria by Scarlatti rubbed shoulders with the coarse language of Aristide Bruant and Paulin, while Gaston Dumestre, a singer at the cabaret Le Chat Noir (and one of Vincent’s ancestors!), sang chansons réalistes while accompanying himself on the theorbo presented to him by Oscar II of Sweden: ‘It is in language that we must seek the common driving force. These cabaret singers relished a very special flavour, a vigour, a raciness in the words of the Baroque era’, concludes Vincent Dumestre.
Saint-Saëns: Phryné / Rougier, Valiquette, Dubois, Niquet, Rouen Opera Orchestra
To mark the centenary of the death of Camille Saint-Saëns, the Palazzetto Bru Zane offers a chance to discover one of his most performed and admired operas in his lifetime, presented here in a rare version. Completed in 1893 and premiered the same year at the Opéra-Comique, the piece amusingly recounts the love affair between Nicias and Phryné, who dupes the old archon Dicephilus in order to avenge his cruelty. Its witty melodies and delightful orchestration made the opera an immediate success in Paris and then throughout France. It was enriched with recitatives composed by André Messager in 1896 to promote its career in theatres abroad.
Hervé Niquet’s dashing interpretation brings out to the full the qualities of the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Normandie and the Chœur du Concert Spirituel, thus providing a sparkling backdrop for the virtuosic soprano voice of Florie Valiquette, the refined lyricism of the tenor Cyrille Dubois and the vocal authority of Thomas Dolié’s baritone.
REVIEWS:
Undoubtedly, Saint-Saëns’ lesser-known operas have featured heavily in Bru Zane’s CD-book series with releases of La princesse jaune, Le Timbre d’argent, Proserpine, Les Barbares and his Cantatas of the Prix de Rome. Bru Zane’s interest in neglected Saint-Saëns opera continues with this new release of Phryné, an hour-long opéra-comique in two acts. This is the world premiere recording of the André Messager version of 1896.
Bru Zane has assembled a talented cast of mainly first-language French speakers. Young soprano Florie Valiquette has had success as Barberine (Le nozze di Figaro), Madeleine/Madame de Latour (Le Postillon de Lonjumeau) and Gabrielle (La Vie Parisienne) this year. She sings the eponymous role here with fresh voice and no shortage of enthusiasm. In Phryné’s Act Two air Un soir, j’errais sur le rivage where she implores Aphrodite the goddess of love to safeguard her love for Nicias, she characterises well and is in splendid voice, light and attractive with a pleasing tenderness and purity.
Hervé Niquet conducts the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen Normandie and the combination is a successful one. I’ve not encountered this Rouen orchestra too often; its playing has commitment, energy and, when required, a pleasing level of sensitivity. The well trained Choeur du Concert Spirituel makes a valuable contribution.
This world premiere recording was satisfyingly recorded in 2021 under studio conditions in the Opéra de Rouen Normandie. A high-end product, Bru Zane’s CD-book series of bilingual editions in French and English maintains its high standards with Phryné and contains a synopsis, five helpful essays and, most importantly the full libretto.
-- MusicWeb International
A French Odyssey - Music for two cellos by Rameau, Barriere,
Messiaen - Songs & Vocal Chamber Music / Hannigan, Sy, Frang, Chamayou
Soprano Barbara Hannigan and pianist Bertrand Chamayou unite to record the vocal music of Olivier Messiaen, presenting his two major song cycles from the 1930's. Existing in both the sensual and sacred realms, the Poèmes pour Mi are inspired by the precious relationship of Messiaen and “Mi” - the nickname of his first wife; violinist and composer Claire Delbos. Chants de terre et de ciel also emerges from Messiaen's marriage to Delbos, written just after the birth of their son, Pascal. Both cycles oscillate between hypnotic meditation and ecstatic songs of love, supported by Messiaen's intense spiritual faith. Inspired by Messiaen's words, "It is a glistening music we seek...", Hannigan and Chamayou delve into the composer's complex language to reveal a natural and flowing music, whose roots extend from the earth upwards to a shimmering realm. As a final work on the album, Hannigan and Chamayou included a rarely performed "scena" of Messiaen: La Mort du nombre (1929) is a dialogue between two souls, in which they are joined by the Canadian tenor Charles Sy and the Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang.
Lecocq: La fille de Madame Angot / Rouland, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris
La Fille de Madame Angot, an opéra-comique in three acts, was premiered at the Théâtre des Fantaisies-Parisiennes in Brussels on 4 December 1872 before scoring a similar triumph in France on 21 February 1873. In the Paris of the Directory period, Clairette Angot, an orphan raised by the people of Les Halles market, falls in love with the songwriter Ange Pitou. But, after many amorous and political plot twists, she resigns herself to marrying the wigmaker Pomponnet. Lecocq’s score, with its succession of hit numbers, created such enthusiasm that it enjoyed a run of more than four hundred performances at the Folies-Dramatiques, before conquering the French provinces and then the whole world in various translations. The work is still a relatively popular staple of the light operatic repertory even today. The Palazzetto Bru Zane here presents the first recording of the original version, with its unusual orchestration and several numbers that have fallen into oblivion.
REVIEWS:
La Fille de Mme Angot is a delightful show; and this new recording, which includes some changes from other recordings, is outstanding. It has been recorded before, but the earlier recordings were edited or shortened. Bru Zane’s new recording is the first of the original 1872 Brussels version using the operetta’s original orchestrations and contents.
The libretto (by Charles Clairville, Paul Siraudin, and Victor Konig) is set in the regime of post-revolutionary France, in the period before Napoleon and after Danton and Robespierre. Those intervening years were nostalgic for the 1872 audience, and the action was far enough in the past for a comic operetta. There are some allusions to this political tension when some of the characters support opposing sides. This is all lightened by LeCocq’s ingratiating score, and the proceedings are kept buoyant. The operetta was extremely popular and had almost 1000 performances in Brussels and Paris in its initial runs. Eventually it proved to be the most popular operetta of late-19th Century French theatre.
The new recording is simply delightful, the singing and playing effervescent. The cast is exceptional. Standouts include Veronique Gens as Mlle Lange and Anne-Catherine Gillet as Clairette. These ladies carry the show and their acting and singing is first-rate. The men are just as fine, with Mathias Vidal’s ripe tenor as the fickle Pitou, Artavazd Sargsyan as the fussy Pomponnet, and Matthieu Lecroart as the deceived Larivaudiere. Conductor Rouland leads the spritely orchestra, and the chorus is lively.
Bru Zane’s luxurious bound-in book includes a complete French and English libretto, track listings, notes, photos, drawings, and commentary. I would suggest purchasing this outstanding recording as soon as possible. My review copy is number 2426 of a limited edition of 4500.
-- American Record Guide
