(3-CD box set) Jacqueline Pagnol reads the classic story "Bonjour Tristesse," written by Francoise Sagan and touted by some as the French "Catcher In The Rye." "Bonjour Tristesse" is the story of a spoiled teenager who acts with a high-society sophistication beyond her years. The girl plots to end the relationship of her playboy father's new love interest with equal parts conniving ruthlessness and juvenile prankishness, too self-absorbed to even consider the brutal results of her actions.
Castor et Pollux is Rameau's third opera and is packed with arias that show off the soloists to their best advantage: Tristes apprêts for Telaire, Nature, Amour for Pollux, Sejour de l'eternelle paix for Castor, and Soulevons tous les dieux for Phebe. In this new recording Judith van Wanroij, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Tassis Christoyannis and Veronique Gens are the outstanding performers, alongside the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra conducted by Gyorgy Vashegyi, in a new edition of Rameau's work prepared under the aegis of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles. Research that was begun several years ago on questions of performance practice has now been complemented by their intensive work on the score and the division of roles, respecting what we now know about performance practice at the Paris Opera in Rameau's day.
Oiseaux Tristes is the title of Fazil Say's new recital album, it follows the ongoing project Morning and Evening. Repertoire is French: Francois Couperin Pieces de clavecin, Livre 4 - Vingt-(et)-unieme Ordre (XXI) in E minor, Claude Debussy Suite bergamasque, CD, L. 75, Maurice Ravel, Miroirs, M. 43. He considers Ravel's Miroirs one of the most interesting and comprehensive works in the piano repertoire. He spent months with the piece, finding it difficult to play, but at the same time appreciates it's powerful and unusual side. Francois Couperin's Suite No. 21 in E minor was recommended to him by a friend in Istanbul who is a violinist, and Fazil subsequently adapted it for the piano.
From the banks of the Marne to the Mississippi Delta, the fiery and provocative music concocted by Dominique Cravic and Didier Roussin (working under the band name Les Primitives du Futur) was inspired by the years when pop music in Paris - the music played in dancehall's called Bals-Musettes - was intermixed with the music of many cultures. The sound is traditional, with tints of jazz and beguine, rocked by gypsy and Italian accents. This release combines Cocktail d'Amour, the group's first album (which established the band's international reputation) with Blues story & the New Blue 4, which features exclusive tracks taken from Dominique Cravic's personal tapes.
