Released six years after Innamoramento, Avant Que l'Ombre... is the eagerly awaited sixth studio album from Canadian-born French singer/songwriter Mylène Farmer. Adding a darker electronica edge to her trademark Euro-dance sound, the Laurent Boutonnat-produced LP tackles the subjects of sex, death, and religion in her own unique style, and includes the singles "Redonne-Moi," "L'Amour N'Est Rien," and "Peut-Etre Toi," alongside the controversial "Fuck Them All" and tributes to Serge Gainsbourg and Virginia Woolf.© Jon O'Brien /TiVo

After her triumph with the album "Offenbach Colorature", Jodie Devos has chosen to follow in the footsteps of one of her compatriots, the Belgian coloratura soprano Marie Cabel (1827 -1885), who at the age of twenty-six scored a phenomenal success in Adolphe Adam’s opéra-comique Le Bijou perdu, which she premiered in Paris. She then took on a more dramatic role in Halévy’s Jaguarita l’Indienne, whose great Invocation with chorus ("À moi ma cohorte!") again hit the bullseye in a run of 124 performances over just a few months. Cabel enjoyed one hit after another, in Auber’s Manon Lescaut and La Part du diable, Meyerbeer’s L’Étoile du Nord and Le Pardon de Ploërmel, Victor Massé’s Galathée, and Le Songe d’une nuit d’été by Ambroise Thomas, who in 1866 gave her the biggest role of her career: Philine in Mignon, based on Goethe. In partnership with the musicologists of the Palazzetto Bru Zane, who have resurrected and edited all these unjustly forgotten rarities, and Pierre Bleuse conducting the Brussels Philharmonic and the Flemish Radio Choir, Jodie Devos pays tribute to this star of the nineteenth century, whose audacity and sense of mischief she undoubtedly shares! © Alpha Classics

Mylène Farmer's fifth live album to date, No.5 on Tour, documents her 2009 tour of France in support of her most recent studio album, Point de Suture (2008). The standard edition of album includes 20 songs spread across two discs, including a bunch of her greatest hits performed in the electro-rock style of Point de Suture. Though some of these songs are also included on her previous live albums, most recently Avant Que l'Ombre...A Bercy (2006), N°5 on Tour stands apart from its in-concert predecessors on account of its new arrangements, abundance of new material, and recording quality so pristine that it sounds as though the album were recorded in a studio with overdubbed interjections of audience noise and stage banter. Known as a dazzling concert performer with a flair for provocation, Farmer performed more or less the exact same set list for much of her tour. N°5 on Tour follows the standard set list, which is broken up into several different acts. The album opens with "D'Entre les Morts," an instrumental studio recording, before the in-concert material commences with "Paradis Inanimé," one of seven songs from Point de Suture. Farmer balances the new material with a bunch of greatest hits, including "L'Âme-Stram-Gram" (1999), "XXL" (1995), "À Quoi Je Sers..." (1989), "Pourvu Qu'Elles Soient Douces" (1988), "Rêver" (1995), "Ainsi Soit Je..." (1988), "Libertine" (1986), "Sans Contrefaçon" (1987), "Je Te Rends Ton Amour" (1999), and "Désenchantée" (1991). The newly arranged songs from the '80s are all highlights. Several of the Point de Suture songs are also highlights, in particular "Je M'Ennuie," "Dégénération," "C'est dans l'Air," and "Si J'Avais au Moins...," the latter two of which close the album on a high note. The pristine sound quality of N°5 on Tour is also notable. The audience noise can be heard only between songs, and the vocals and music are so perfect, it begs the question of how much editing was done in the studio. The integrity question aside, No.5 on Tour is far and away the best-sounding of Farmer's live albums to date. Longtime fans might wish that the set list wasn't weighted so heavily toward Point de Suture, and they also might find themselves recoiling from the new arrangements. As a representative document of Farmer's 2009 tour, however, N°5 on Tour could hardly be better. The collector's edition adds a three-track DVD of trivial value.© Jason Birchmeier /TiVo

For his last season at the helm of the Opéra de Bordeaux, Marc Minkowski—always keen to conduct forgotten works which have, in some way, marked the history of music—sets his sights on Robert le Diable, Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera which was a true social phenomenon in 19th century France. The Palazzetto Bru Zane - Centre de musique romantique française has followed suit by officially publishing this concert version, which also features some excellent vocal soloists. Admired by Balzac, Sand and Dumas, this ‘grand opéra à la française’ (great French opera) faded into obscurity after the First World War. Its creator became a sort of pariah – one met with both condescension and mockery. With its ‘seductive and haunting melodies’ (Alexandre Dratwicki), it’s nevertheless a flamboyant work that greatly inspired his contemporaries, such as Verdi, who referred to it in La Traviata. The extraordinary impact of Robert le Diable was such that it was performed a great many times on every continent. A true one-man band, Marc Minkowski has invested himself entirely in this undertaking, learning this vast score practically by heart and conducting it with his usual power and conviction. The international cast is full of surprises thanks to their deep understanding of the work and the protagonists’ fantastic pronunciation. This new release, to the credit of the Bru Zane label, revitalises our knowledge of this work that’s scarcely mentioned in specialised dictionaries. © François Hudry/Qobuz

Provocative flame-haired diva Mylène Farmer may remain a virtual unknown outside of Europe, but has pretty much reigned as the Queen of Pop in her French homeland since bursting onto the scene in the mid-'80s. Focusing on material from her chart-topping last three studio albums (2005's Avant Que l'Ombre..., 2008's Point de Suture, and 2010's Bleu Noir), this second official retrospective shows that even as she enters her fifties, she's in no mood to relinquish her pop crown just yet. Indeed, there are very few compilations out there able to boast nine number one singles, let alone a staggering consecutive eight, as showcased by a chronological run starting with Moby collaboration "Slipping Away" and ending with the Red One-produced "Lonely Lisa," making her the most chart-topping artist in French history. However, there's more to 2001-2011 than just a remarkable book of stats. The melancholic balladry of "Si J'Avais au Moins" and "Redonne-Moi" reveals that her soprano voice is just as effective as her trademark whispery tones; the bass-driven acid house of "Degeneration" and the squelchy acidic techno of "C'est dans l'Air" are effortlessly convincing ventures into pulsing club-friendly territory; while the controversial war of the sexes-themed "Fuck Them All" and the explicit electro of "Sextonik" prove the "power to shock" comparisons with Madonna certainly aren't without merit. The dreary balladry of "Avant Que l'Ombre..." and the irritating Scooter-esque high-pitched synths on "Oui Mais…Non" show she isn't always so on the ball, while the generic trance-pop of the two brand-new tracks, "Du Temps" and "Sois Moi -- Be Me," indicates Farmer could do with a rethink for album number nine. But while 2001-2011 may struggle to achieve anywhere near the same success as 2001 predecessor Les Mots (France's biggest-selling compilation of all time), it's still a consistently impressive body of work suggesting that those with an aversion to European pop are missing out.© Jon O'Brien /TiVo

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Reinoud van Mechelen excels in the baroque repertoire, to which he has dedicated several records from his ensemble A Nocte Temporis, also with Alpha. In this new album, the first of a trilogy which will cover Lully, Rameau and Gluck, he doesn't play the role of a fictional character, but rather of a real-life tragedian and singer who was very famous in his day: Dumesny. The latter was working in the kitchens when Lully heard his fine counter-tenor voice. As he couldn't read music, he had to learn his arias by ear. His frequently-imperfect intonation was – happily – compensated by a great talent for acting. His rare tessitura – a high tenor's voice – opened him the door into the world of French musical tragedy in the Grand Siècle. In the first segment of this three-part project, undertaken with the support of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, Reinoud van Mechelen sings Lully and his contemporaries (Marais, Charpentier, Desmarest, Collasse, Gervais and Destouches) with impeccable accuracy, articulation and feeling. Conceived as a tragedy for a singer, the programme contains a rich collection of arias: "cruels tourments" and "amoureuse inquiétude" form a "charmant concert" and the musicians of A Nocte Temporis lend the soloist a dramatic backing that befits the dramas weaved by his voice. This will thrill fans of the music of the Grand Siècle and baroque-lovers alike. © Elsa Siffert/Qobuz

Le Timbre d'Argent (The Silver Bell), begun in 1864, was Camille Saint-Saëns' very first opera. All but forgotten, it was last staged in 1914, before the 2017 Paris production on which this 2020 release is based. The forces here, including the specialist ensemble Les Siècles, the fine choir Accentus, and conductor François-Xavier Roth make a strong case for the opera's revival. Saint-Saëns obviously valued the work, revising it as late as 1913, due in part to the Franco-Prussian War; it is this last version that is heard presently. The work was termed a drame lyrique or opéra fantastique rather than an opéra comique, but it is an action-packed work that veers between romantic fun and fantasy elements that it shares, along with a pair of librettists, with Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffman of 15 years later. (Goethe's Faust is another inspiration: the titular silver bell brings wealth but kills someone close to the user.) The fantasy elements are prominent in the substantial choral sections, giving the magical choir Accentus much to do. There is a great deal of sheer, sparkling Mozartian melody as well. Roth and a lively cast led by tenor Edgaras Montvidas as the obsessed, Faust-like artist keeps things moving along. Saint-Saëns is a conductor whose star seems to be on the rise, and admirers of his music are sure to want this. The surprise, however, is that anyone can enjoy it.© TiVo

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György Vashegyi and his Orfeo Orchestra and Purcell Choir offer up a recording of Boismortier’s Les Voyages de l’Amour of which this 1736 opéra-ballet has been in sore need, a score long and unjustly neglected. For this latest dramatic extravaganza on Glossa, Chantal Santon-Jeffery takes on the title role of lovesick Cupid, and the soprano is joined by two further widely experienced stars of the French Baroque opera revival in Katherine Watson (as the god of love’s sidekick and factotum Zéphire) and Judith van Wanroij as the shepherdess Daphné, smartly resistant to the god’s charms (until the end of the fourth act). By 1736, Joseph Bodin de Boismortier had become well-known in Parisian musical circles for his entertaining instrumental and vocal music and in his booklet essay Benoît Dratwicki (of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles) explains how this fashionable composer came to have his first production for the Paris Opéra cast into the shadows, how the roles for Cupid and Zéphire may have originally been written for two prominent dessus of the time but were replaced by male singers for the première and how this new recorded edition aims to provide a performance as the composer would have wanted it. Katia Velletaz, Éléonore Pancrazi and Thomas Dolié also contribute to this lively entertainment, with this release also containing two differing versions of the second act about the arrow-firing god of love’s travels through village, city and court in search of true love for himself. © Glossa