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David & Jonathas
Gaétan Jarry
Classical - Released June 9, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles
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Mon amant de Saint-Jean
Le Poème Harmonique
Classical - Released August 25, 2023 | Alpha Classics
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This release showed up on classical best-seller charts in the late summer of 2023, perhaps because it represented a genuinely original experiment. Mezzo-soprano Stéphanie d'Oustrac, the small ensemble Le Poème Harmonique, and conductor and theorbist suggest... well, what, exactly? That there is an affinity between French popular song and French and Italian music of the 17th century? Not quite, although there were intriguing connections between popular song, outlined in the booklet, and the very earliest stages of the historical performance movement at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The program is organized into three sections, "Jeunesse," "Les vieux airs," and "Les amours passées," but the 20th century songs and the 17th century pieces mostly don't overlap within these groups; "Les amours passées" are all popular songs. The program makes quite a lurch between an excerpt from Cavalli's L'Egisto and Paul Marinier's D'elle à lui, and the lurch would have been even greater if the popular songs hadn't been chosen to exclude any hints of African-American-influenced song. Léon Fossey's Les canards tyroliens, a kind of yodeling song about ducks, simply doesn't inhabit the same universe as Monteverdi's Lamento d'Arianna. Perhaps it would be best to say, as the publicity does, that there are "echoes" between the two traditions, and d'Oustrac plainly has enthusiasm for both repertories; her personality is largely enough to carry the listener through. There is definitely a need for programming and performance that mixes classical and popular material, which have never been as far apart as they have been made out to be. This release may not be a definitive solution, but it is an intriguing and listenable attempt.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Lully: Acis et Galatée
Les Talens Lyriques
Opera - Released October 14, 2022 | Aparté
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Composed on 1686 as part of the festivities organised by the Duc de Vendôme in honour of the Grand Dauphin, during the latter’s visit to his estate at the Château d’Anet in September of that year, Acis et Galatée is Lully’s last complete opera. His faithful librettist Quinault having retired from writing for the stage, he collaborated this time with the poet Campistron on a work that tells the story of the love between the sea-nymph Galatea and the shepherd Acis – a love threatened by the violence of the jealous cyclops Polyphemus. This opera, an undoubted dramatic success, gives the orchestra an important part, expressively evoking, for example, the giant’s cries of anger, the terror of the chorus, and the lovers’ hasty flight in Act III. It includes some magnificent pieces, including the final Passacaille, as well as inventive treasures, such as duet for hautes-contre (high tenors) “Ah! je succombe au tourment qui m'accable”, or the burlesque march that accompanies the entry of Polyphemus and his fellow cyclopes, conveying their uncouthness. But the loveliest pieces in the score are for Galatea: “Enfin, j’ai dissipé la crainte”, for instance, or “Que ne puis-je expirer après ce coup funeste?”. Lully died in March 1687, a few months after the première, leaving Achille et Polyxène unfinished. © Aparté
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Made for Opera
Nadine Sierra
Classical - Released March 4, 2022 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
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In her new album, young American singer Nadine Sierra tells her own story through three strong romantic heroines: Violetta (La Traviata), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Juliette (Romeo and Juliet). Like them, this soprano has fought against social pressures and conventions, making her dream a reality in the process. She’s always wanted to sing and was convinced she was made for opera, as the title of this release proudly claims.Nadine Sierra’s story is also one of revenge, one of a new generation that was finally able to break away from society’s expectations—unlike her Portuguese grandmother, who also wanted to become an opera singer, but was forced to assume the role of housewife.Accompanied by the RAI Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Frizza, Nadine Sierra excels in this repertoire which seems, indeed, made for her. Her agile, velvety voice triumphs over all obstacles with such ease; it’s no wonder she’s one of the most sought-after vocalists today. It’s no coincidence that this release coincides with Nadine Sierra's busy (and prestigious) calendar for 2021/2022, which includes performances in Rigoletto in Paris and Milan, Lucia di Lammermoor in Naples, Munich and at the MET, a recital in Liege and Mahler’s Second Symphony in Berlin.As a young modern woman, Nadine Sierra gives fans around the world daily updates on social media. She recognises opera’s need to evolve and connect with as many people as possible. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Live Is Love
Thomas Dutronc
Jazz - Released September 7, 2018 | Blue Note Records
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Poulenc: La Voix humaine, Fiançailles pour rire
Julie Cherrier-Hoffmann
Opera - Released September 22, 2023 | Aparté
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Francis Poulenc's late opera La voix humaine (1958) seems ideally suited to the age of cellular telephony, and indeed, it is showing signs of revival with several new productions. This 2023 recording by soprano Julie Cherrier-Hoffmann and the Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia should contribute to the trend. La voix humaine is an operatic monodrama, but of a modern kind; the single character is a woman, simply named Elle (She), talking on the phone, being dumped by her boyfriend, and hinting at suicide. The text was written by Jean Cocteau in 1930, when dropped phone calls were no doubt common, but it works perfectly in a contemporary setting; the phone conversation is interrupted by panicky "Allô allô" interjections. Poulenc's musical language for dealing with this text is remarkable, and it is not like that in any of his other compositions. The singer is unaccompanied when she is directly addressing her hearer, while the passages in which she narrates events are accompanied by the orchestra. This creates an uncanny impression of an actual phone conversation. Poulenc's harmonic language here is quite modern in comparison to his other works, not quite atonal but shorn of the popular tinge present in so much of his work. Cherrier-Hoffmann's performance is appropriately stressed out, and she is shown in the graphics with her hands splayed across a window as if trapped. Conductor Frédéric Chaslin emphasizes the orchestra's big, operatic sound, and this works; the engineering makes no attempt to disguise the opera house acoustic. Chaslin also contributes orchestrations of smaller Poulenc voice-and-piano works; these frame the opera and return the listener to the usual Poulenc world. This is an unusually satisfying Poulenc release and a fine performance of a work whose reputation is on the way up.© James Manheim /TiVo
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M.A. Charpentier: Actéon & Intermèdes nouveaux du Mariage forcé
Les Arts Florissants
Classical - Released June 1, 1987 | harmonia mundi
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Céline... Une seule fois / Live 2013
Céline Dion
Pop - Released May 16, 2014 | Columbia
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Le Clash (B.O.S.S. vs. IV My People)
Suprême NTM
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released March 1, 2001 | Jive Epic
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Anthologie (1977-2008), Vol. 1
Jean-Claude Gianadda
French Music - Released July 8, 2008 | Bayard Musique
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Noël: Les plus beaux chants traditionnels français
Chours d'Enfants Da Capo
Classical - Released January 1, 2002 | Pavane Records
As lovely as much of the music is, it's hard to recommend Noël: Chants traditionnels français, sung by Choeurs d'Enfants Da Capo, without reservation. The primary problem is with the acoustic; on most of the tracks there's a very low hum that's frequently loud enough to be a serious distraction and it's an aural relief when it goes away in the brief pauses between tracks. Another consideration is whether or not the listener finds the instrumentation of the accompaniment -- organ, flute, and accordion -- charmingly quirky or in dubious taste. The songs chosen are among the best-known French carols, including a few international favorites like Silent Night (Douce Nuit). The young singers are talented amateurs, but this is not a children's choir of the first rank; this especially apparent in the solos. Again, this fact may or may not be a deterrent to listeners; it's easy to be charmed by the innocence and artlessness of the performers, but fans of absolutely pure tone and impeccable intonation may not find this CD to their liking. Apart from the issue of sound quality, the artistic considerations of the performance will determine whether or not a particular listener will be pleased with this collection.
© TiVo
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De l'amour mais quelle drôle d'idée
Charlotte Rampling
Pop - Released November 18, 2022 | 29 Music
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Massenet: Thaïs
Sir Andrew Davis
Opera - Released June 1, 2020 | Chandos
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This new recording of Massenet’s opera was recorded by Chandos during rehearsals and two concerts at Toronto’s Thomson Hall in November 2019, making the work feel like a great oratorio bathed in the sensuality of orchestral music. Known around the world for his Méditation with solo violin, which was used in the heyday of bandstands and orchestras in large hotels and fashionable spas, Thaïs is rarely played today. There are no arias "à l'italienne" in this opera, but instead it’s full of long dramatic passages that would inspire Debussy to compose Pelléas eight years later. The protagonists of this new recording are without a doubt the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, whose conductor Sir Andrew Davis makes use of all their sonic and expressive resources, leaving the soloists somewhat sidelined in terms of sound balance. A special mention goes to the beautiful sound and intense expression that avoids any mawkishness of the concertmaster Jonathan Crow in the famous Méditation, which is in fact a simple interlude at the heart of the Act I.. This orientalising story about the conflict between paganism and Christianity in Alexandria in the fourth century is told by the baritone Joshua Hopkins with his powerful timbre in the role of Athanael, battling with the soprano Erin Wall as an exemplary Thai, and the tenor Andrew Staples, beautifully playing the role of Nicias, Athanael’s rich friend. The rest of the cast is of the same calibre. Sir Andrew Davis knows this work very well having directed it on several occasions, notably at the Edinburgh and Melbourne Festivals with the same Erin Wall in Thaïs, who he calls "the Thaïs of one’s dreams". © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Lully: Acis et Galatée, LWV 73
Jean-François Lombard
Opera - Released October 13, 2023 | Naxos
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Chansons à boire et à danser: Airs de cour
Ratas del viejo Mundo
Classical - Released October 2, 2020 | Ramée
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Parisian composer Jean Boyer’s Recueil d’airs à boire et danser from 1636 belongs to a genuinely French genre of drinking and dance songs, a more light-hearted offspring of the "Air de cour". The latter, a courtly secular strophic song, became one of the most important vocal genres in the first third of the seventeenth century in France. Among the many collections of chansons à boire et à danser of the time, Boyer’s are probably the most compelling, both rhythmically and harmonically, and the texts he chose to set to music are generally more refined than some of his contemporaries’. From the mere number of copies of most of these collections extant in many European libraries, we realize how well diffused and popular this type of repertoire was, while it has been left virtually untouched in the twenty-first century. © Ramée
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Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice, Tragic Opera in three acts
Hans Rosbaud
Classical - Released January 5, 2022 | Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording
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Edith Piaf - All The Best
Edith Piaf
French Music - Released March 14, 2011 | Parlophone (France)
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