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Berlioz: Harold In Italy; Tristia; Les Troyens à Carthage - Prelude
Sir Colin Davis
Classical - Released August 18, 1986 | Decca Music Group Ltd.
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Berlioz: Les Troyens
London Symphony Orchestra
Opera - Released July 9, 2001 | LSO Live
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Berlioz: Romeo Et Juliette / Les Troyens A Carthage
San Diego Master Chorale
Classical - Released June 8, 1995 | Naxos
Booklet
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"Ne me refuse pas" - Airs d'opéras français
Marie-Nicole Lemieux
Vocal Recitals - Released October 25, 2010 | naïve classique
Booklet
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Choc de Classica
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Berlioz: La damnation de Faust & Harold en Italie (Les indispensables de Diapason)
Igor Markevitch
Classical - Released May 2, 2023 | Les Indispensables de Diapason
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Debussy: Complete Orchestral Work
Jun Märkl
Classical - Released January 30, 2012 | Naxos
Booklet
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Ravel : Boléro, Rapsodie espagnole, Ma mère l'Oye
Pierre Boulez
Classical - Released October 14, 2016 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
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Jules Massenet: Ariane
Münchner Rundfunkorchester
Classical - Released September 8, 2023 | Bru Zane
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Diapason d'or
For many years, it was only Manon and Werther that were heard among Massenet's operas, but his reputation appears to be on the rise, and his champion, conductor Laurent Campellone, has recorded a good number of them. Ariane, from 1906, is one of the last to receive its recorded premiere. The Palazzetto Bru Zane label, specializing in obscure French opera, does a typically fine job here; the sound is superb, and the cast of singers, led by the soprano Amina Edris in the lead role, offers several revelations. In his later operas, Massenet often attempted to put a French stamp on the newer styles of the day, and here, it is Wagner who gets this treatment; the opera is built around a set of motifs de rappel (or "reminiscence motifs"), whose parentage in Wagner's leitmotifs is clear. This structure is shoehorned into the durable machinery of French opera. There are big entrance scenes, a pantomime, and plenty of spectacular stage machinery to go with the love triangle plot involving Ariane (Ariadne), Phèdre (Phaedra), and Theseus, who gets to take on the Minotaur in a grand scene with Wagnerian bass trumpet and bass trombone. Massenet's orchestration is impressive throughout. The work does not have the inevitability of truly great art, but it is in no way dull, and anyone with any interest in French opera should hear it for the singers alone; enough of those listeners have already weighed in and put the album on classical best-seller lists in the late summer of 2023.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Debussy: Images, Children's Corner, L'Isle joyeuse..
Seong-Jin Cho
Solo Piano - Released November 17, 2017 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
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5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik -
5 étoiles de Classica
Since the pianist's early days, the South Korean Seong-Jin Cho (1994) has professed a fondness for French music in general and Debussy in particular. At his first public performance at the age of eleven, he played Children’s Corner by Debussy. When he decided, in 2012, to pursue his musical education abroad, he chose Paris, and the Conservatoire National Supérieur, where he frequented the classes of Michel Béroff, the undisputed expert on Debussy. Cho has come back to work again with his old teacher, who became a friend, with the aim of creating his own Debussy album; the choice of works here is "restricted" to works requiring a middling level of virtuosity - mechanical exhibition isn't his thing, even though he has amply mastered his instrument - but whose poetical content allows the pianist to show off his own exquisite expertise as a musician. An homage to his own childhood, Children’s Corner, but also the two books of Images and the exquisite Suite bergamasque. Let’s not forget that Seong-Jin Cho won Warsaw's 2015 Chopin Prize, a sure-fire ticket to an international career. © SM/Qobuz
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Debussy : Suite bergamasque
Nikolai Lugansky
Solo Piano - Released October 5, 2018 | harmonia mundi
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5 étoiles de Classica
A century after his death on 25 March 1918, many harmonia mundi artists are eager to pay tribute to Claude Debussy, the magician of melody and timbre, the great 'colourist' and father of modern music. After Rachmaninoff's Preludes, Nikolai Lugansky wanted to present a finely nuanced portrait of this composer so fond of travelling! Whether it ranges over time (Hommage à Haydn) or the most vividly imagined open spaces, this freely composed programme is concerned above all with light and colour, in works we can never tire of. © harmonia mundi
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Monteverdi - A Trace of Grace
Michel Godard
Miscellaneous - Released September 6, 2011 | Carpe Diem Records Berlin
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If you get to thinking there's nothing new under the sun, try this release by French serpent player Michel Godard. (And if the serpent is new to you, visit www.serpentwebsite.com.) Recordings featuring the serpent are rare enough anyhow, and this one inhabits a whole new universe. The large-print Monteverdi in the graphics does not give the buyer an accurate representation of the contents; Claudio Monteverdi is the inspiration for the whole project, but only five of the tracks are performances of Monteverdi madrigals, and even those are for the most part heavily modified in very unexpected ways. Basically this is an album that combines early Baroque music and jazz in an experimental manner. Godard adds serpent lines to the Monteverdi pieces and to the other works on the album, all instrumental, which derive from Monteverdi in not very obvious ways: perhaps from a harmonic progression or motif, perhaps only in mood. The musicians have not tried to present a finished, coherent product but instead to force distinct traditions together and see where they begin to mix; in Godard's words, "the project was to try to make every musician understand the language of the other and to respect this language sufficiently so that together we can try to find a common language." The other improvising musicians are saxophonist Gavino Murgia (who in addition to his usual way of playing the horn channels vocalizations through it) and bassist Steve Swallow, best known for his collaborations with jazz pianist Carla Bley. Their Baroque counterparts are singer Guillemette Laurens, who plays it straight and sounds fine in the Monteverdi, violinist Fanny Paccoud, and theorbo player Bruno Helstroffer. If you're having trouble imagining what this is like, that's not surprising; the only recourse is to give this brilliantly original music a try.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Berlioz: Les nuits d'été, Op. 7, H 81b - Ravel: Shéhérazade, M. 41 - Saint-Saëns: Mélodies persanes, Op. 26
Marie-Nicole Lemieux
Classical - Released September 29, 2023 | Warner Classics
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This is a nicely programmed album consisting of French song cycles spaced several decades apart from the 19th and early 20th centuries. One of them, the Mélodies Persanes ("Persian Songs") of Saint-Saëns, is not a common item; with its bouncy text-setting, nobody would compare it to the deep Eastern influences woven into various Ravel works, but then, Ravel was inspired to execute those by listening to Saint-Saëns. In Berlioz's Les nuits d'été and Ravel's Shéhérazade, contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux has plenty of competition, but there is less for the Saint-Saëns. Another attraction is the work of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo under conductor Kazumi Yamada, neither a household name. The group is velvety smooth in the Berlioz cycle, with quiet and perfectly controlled string sound throughout. The strings match the voice of Lemieux beautifully; both have a luxuriance that fits the extravagantly Romantic texts of the Berlioz. So, everything is in place here, and listeners' reactions to the whole are likely to come down to their feelings about Lemieux's voice itself. It has a rapid, confident vibrato that is remarkably pitch-accurate as it moves up and down within her range. To these ears, it is beautiful. It also doesn't vary much according to the text; the Saint-Saëns songs and Ravel's Asie, which are intended to evoke exotic melodic traits, sound much like the Berlioz. A bit of sampling will likely determine one's enjoyment of the album in general, and there are certainly many things to like here.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Psyché
Christophe Rousset
Classical - Released January 13, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles
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Debussy: Jeux, Nocturnes, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Les Siècles
Symphonic Music - Released November 30, 2018 | harmonia mundi
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Gramophone Editor's Choice -
Choc de Classica
The originality of this recording (which presents works that are, in fact, rather common) comes from the orchestra Les Siècles playing on periodic instruments, in this case from the period in which Debussy wrote these masterpieces. This is particularly relevant for woodwinds and brass, whose mechanisms and sounds around 1900 were very different - more incisive perhaps, and undoubtedly more differentiated - which for music like Debussy's offers a real plus in the orchestral balance. Moreover, the number of strings remains reasonable, this way the woodwind is never swallowed up as it often is with large international orchestras. The listener will be able to hear this music as Debussy heard it, or at least how he would have liked to have heard it because in his time orchestras and conductors did not always have a clear understanding of his style or the infinite colours on his palette. © SM/Qobuz
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Poulenc: Concertos for Piano
Edward Gardner
Concertos - Released October 16, 2015 | Chandos
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The Montreal-born pianist Louis Lortie has emerged as one of the world's top specialists in French music of the first half of the 20th century. He is capable of great subtlety, but he does not give short shrift to the pure melodic pleasures and the popular and jazz influences that are integral to the tradition. This Poulenc album is a delight, and it might be the only one you need for Poulenc's music for piano and ensemble. The Piano Concerto of 1949 is not one of Poulenc's more famous works, but the performance here by Lortie and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under Edward Gardner is masterful, with intricate weaving of piano and orchestra balanced by melodic straightforwardness, including an intriguing quotation of "Way Down Upon the Swanee River" in a kind of Latinized version in the finale. The first movement seems to have a wash of piano sound, emerging seamlessly into melody. The more familiar Concerto for two pianos and orchestra receives a vigorous performance, with Hélène Mercier on the second piano extremely well-coordinated with Lortie, and there are several crystalline smaller pieces including Aubade, a neoclassic suite for piano and an ensemble of 18 instruments. Chandos' studio sound here is absolutely superb, and this is destined to be a cornerstone Poulenc release. It's a joy from start to finish.© TiVo
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Stephane Deneve conducts Debussy
Stéphane Denève
Symphonies - Released May 1, 2012 | Chandos
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Stéphane Denève has established himself as a versatile maestro with a highly varied repertoire, from concert fare to operas, but his recordings have revealed him to be a specialist in French orchestral music, notably in his coverage of works by Albert Roussel and Guillaume Connesson. This double hybrid SACD from Chandos offers Denève's interpretations of the orchestral works of Claude Debussy, and the lavishly detailed and expressive performances by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra show a conductor and an orchestra in complete sympathy with the music. Because the presentation by Chandos is first-rate from an audiophile perspective, with spectacular reproduction and close-up, credible presence, the listener is immersed in Debussy's dazzling colors from the opening of Images, and surrounded by fully dimensional sonorities throughout the album, which includes such other masterpieces of impressionist music as Jeux, Nocturnes, La Mer, Printemps, and Prélude à l'après-midi d'une faune. When the clarity of the notes, the richness of the timbres, and the depth of the orchestra's sound are appreciated altogether, it's truly a seductive experience, and Debussy's lush and atmospheric music achieves its potential in this impressive package. Indeed, it's difficult to pull away from these gorgeous performances, so prepare to listen to both SACDs in one long, leisurely sitting. It's that good.© TiVo
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Néo-Romance (Extended Version)
Alexandra Stréliski
Classical - Released November 3, 2023 | XXIM Records
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Marais: Ariane et Bacchus
Le Concert Spirituel
Classical - Released March 24, 2023 | Alpha Classics
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Diapason d'or
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Berlioz: Les Nuits d'été, Op. 7 - Harold en Italie, Op. 16
Michael Spyres
Classical - Released November 18, 2022 | Warner Classics
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This release is part of a Berlioz series by conductor John Nelson and the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, but it is the soloists who shine here. Tenor Michael Spyres, who is really hitting his stride, has a voice pleasantly suited to French music, rounded and subtle, but there is more; Berlioz suggested that several singers perform the orchestral song cycle Les nuits d'été, Op. 7, but Spyres takes all the songs himself. Moreover, he does them in the original keys, which is rarer still. This calls for a singer with exceptional control of dynamic extremes in different parts of his range, and Spyres is exceptionally flexible in this regard. There is a confidence and nonchalance to this performance that grows on the listener as the performance proceeds, even as the sound engineering puts Spyres too far front and center to the detriment of the orchestra's contributions. This isn't so pronounced in the anti-concerto Harold en Italie, Op. 16, and here again, there is a standout soloist; Timothy Ridout offers a rich sound and a real narrative quality that seems to evoke the score's source in Lord Byron's long poem. This exceptionally satisfying Berlioz album hit best-seller charts in late 2022.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Golden Oldies – More Favourite Encores
Brodsky Quartet
Chamber Music - Released March 17, 2023 | Chandos
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The Golden Oldies title and 50th Birthday Celebration subtitle might lead one to expect a compilation of earlier recordings on this 2023 release by the Brodsky Quartet, which amazingly still has two of its original members. However, all of the recordings are newly made, and the arrangements, mostly by members of the quartet, are fresh ones. So these are short pieces of the encore type, but they succeed in avoiding a greatest-hits feel and conveying more of what a really good encore does, namely to suggest the hidden recesses and secrets of a repertory. The album features short works by composers the Brodsky Quartet has championed in the past, including Shostakovich, Debussy, and Beethoven, who makes an appearance with the familiar first movement of the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 ("Moonlight"). That is not a piece one would think could be transferred effectively to the string quartet medium, but the arrangement by violist Paul Cassidy is elegant. That points to another strength of the release: the album highlights the Brodsky's independent programming streak, even in so conventional a medium as the encores album. Scott Joplin's tango Solace is another work that one would hardly think of for a project like this, and it is lovely. There is just one contemporary work, Isidora Žebeljan's An Intimate Letter from the Judean Desert, effectively placed at the end. This is not only a celebration for Brodsky Quartet fans but also a decent introduction to the group's work for those interested in this venerable British ensemble, and it landed on classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2023.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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