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Véronique Gens. "Tragédiennes"

Véronique Gens

Classical - Released May 1, 2006 | Warner Classics

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Lully: Thésée

Les Talens Lyriques

Opera - Released October 13, 2023 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet
Christophe Rousset and his Les Talens Lyriques continue their exploration of the operas of Jean-Baptiste Lully for the Aparte label with 1675's Thésée ("Theseus"), the composer's third "tragédie en musique" with librettist by Philippe Quinault. Commissioned by King Louis XIV, the libretto recounts some early-life exploits of the titular character from Ovid's Metamorphoses. It was immensely popular for more than a century before finding itself in less demand than later, more compact versions of Quinault's text, which were set by composers such as Handel (Teseo, 1712). What is there for a king and his court not to like when the Prologue declares the king a god and sings the praises of king and kingdom? Rousset has his Les Talens Lyriques in fine form, and the ensemble plays crisply and concisely throughout. Rousset, conducting from the harpsichord, keeps the action moving in this colossal and dramatic work. The soloists, especially mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes as Médée ("Medea") and tenor Mathias Vidal as the titular Thésée, display clear expertise in the realm of early French opera. This work is a major vehicle for mezzos in the role of the jealous sorceress Médée, and Deshayes is splendid. The Prologue has some awkward, almost hesitant singing from the chorus, but as the work progresses, the Chœur de chambre de Namur becomes stronger and, in the end, proves to be an asset to the whole (consider their turn as the inhabitants of the underworld with Deshayes on "Sortez, ombres, sortez de la nuit éternelle" from Act Two). This is a worthy addition of a lesser-known opera to the growing Lully collection from Les Talens Lyriques.© Keith Finke /TiVo
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Legros, haute-contre de Gluck

Reinoud Van Mechelen

Classical - Released September 22, 2023 | Alpha Classics

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Lully: Acis et Galatée, LWV 73

Jean-François Lombard

Opera - Released October 13, 2023 | Naxos

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Jacques Offenbach : La Vie parisienne (5 septembre 1954)

Jules Gresssier

Classical - Released April 15, 2014 | Ina, musique(s)

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L'Ile Enchantée

Capriccio Stravagante Orchestra

Classical - Released July 20, 2004 | Alpha Classics

Even by the supremely high production standards of Alpha recordings, this issue is especially splendid. Entitled Versailles, L'ile enchantée, it fully lives up to its name. As directed by Skip Sempé, the widely varied program features music written for Louis XIV's pleasure palace, performed by the Capriccio Stravagante Orchestra with mezzo soprano Guillemette Laurens and bass violist Jay Bernfeld. Each work is superbly selected, and every performance is absolutely idiomatic and wonderfully alive. There is wit and tenderness and elegance and, yes, nobility to their performances, which taken together form as much a portrait of the Sun King as the palace of Versailles itself. As organized into eight Divertissements, Sempé's choices range from the grand Ouverture de Psyché by Lully to the intimate Mes Yeux by Campra, from the soulful Les Voix Humaines by Marais to the massive Passacaille in C by Louis Couperin. As captured in the evocative photographs by Jean-Baptiste Leroux and reproduced in Alpha's superlative program book, Versailles looks every bit as beautiful as this disc sounds. Anyone who loves Baroque music, particularly French Baroque music, will love this disc.© TiVo
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Écho & Narcisse

Hervé Niquet

Classical - Released August 25, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Gloire Immortelle !

Hervé Niquet

Classical - Released November 17, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Bastien et Bastienne · La Servante maîtresse

Gaétan Jarry

Classical - Released September 8, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Lully: Armide

Les Talens Lyriques

Classical - Released March 24, 2017 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 4F de Télérama - Gramophone Editor's Choice
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Maurice Yvain: Yes!

Les Frivolités Parisiennes

Classical - Released March 22, 2024 | Alpha Classics

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Liszt - Années de pèlerinage

Suzana Bartal

Classical - Released March 6, 2020 | naïve classique

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These Années de pèlerinage by Franz Liszt (1811-1856) – the monumental piano work in three books that he composed over four decades – invites us on a threefold voyage: a journey through the thought and the art of a composer who gifted all his visionary genius to the piano; here he transcribes an actual physical geography, and transcends it with some of the most accomplished piano writing ever crafted. Our radiant guide on this great adventure is French-Hungarian pianist Suzana Bartal. From the bucolic Swiss scenes of nature to the evanescent mysticism of the final book, via the sudden flashes of the well-known Orage (Storm) and Après une lecture du Dante (After reading Dante), the pianist – one of the rare performers to present a complete recording of this dense, demandingly virtuosic masterwork – opens up astounding perspectives of sound and vision. ‘What I wanted was to translate this mixture of inspiration and technical brilliance so as to highlight the poetic aspect of these pieces,’ she says. ‘My core aim is to guide the listener through this poetic journey in all its incredible variety, by clearly defining the character of each piece so as to recreate their different worlds.’ © naive classique
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L'Arpeggiata, Christina Pluhar: The Complete Alpha Recordings

Christina Pluhar

Classical - Released October 4, 2013 | Alpha Classics

Booklet
L'Arpeggiata, a vocal-instrumental ensemble led by Austrian theorbist Christina Pluhar, specializes in the music of the 17th century as well as the popular dance music on which much of it drew. The combination has resulted in uncommonly lively performances of music by composers who have hitherto been neglected simply because nobody else has quite managed to bring them alive. L'Arpeggiata has gone on to make several acclaimed recordings for the major Virgin label, but the six albums collected on this compilation, recorded for the small Alpha label in France between 2000 and 2005, are equally good and are a bargain in this package. The Baroque works covered, by Kapsberger, Stefano Landi, and Emilio de' Cavalieri, have been better represented in music history books than on recordings, and each disc yields some gems. Even better is the disc entitled "La Tarantella," a sort of reflection on the history, philosophy, and meaning of that famous Italian folk dance, and the one called All' Improvviso, which approaches popular dances of the Baroque era in the spirit, although not the rhythm, of jazz. There's not a dull moment anywhere in the set, and the music played here can very easily be made dull. You can even get Alpha's remarkable original booklets in digital form, although they're not included in the box set, and the production values of the original recordings were uniformly strong. Highly recommended.© TiVo
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Don Quichotte Chez La Duchesse

Hervé Niquet

Classical - Released September 23, 2022 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Choc de Classica - Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik
In 1743, two years before Rameau’s Platée, Boismortier created an extraordinarily modern and madcap "comic ballet", Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse. As the exuberant plotunfurls, Cervantes’ hero encounters monsters, enchanters, princesses and people from Japan, making for plenty of offbeat and audacious dances and choruses. Musical beautyrubs shoulders with satirical and irreverent comedy. A choice work for Hervé Niquet, who leads his Concert Spirituel with unparalleled energy! © Château de Versailles Spectacles
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Salieri : Tarare

Christophe Rousset

Classical - Released June 7, 2019 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason - Gramophone Editor's Choice - Choc de Classica
While Mozart was largely overlooked in the French capital, Antonio Salieri took on the reigns of the Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opera), a fruitful collaboration that was completely broken up by the French Revolution. After the success of his work Les Danaïdes, composed for Paris in 1784, Salieri worked tirelessly with Beaumarchais, spurred on by the success and scandal of his Figaro, on a new project which would become Tarare. Beaumarchais moved himself shamelessly toward stardom, skillfully self-promoting and attending rehearsals so as to assure that the orchestra played pianissimo to emphasize the primacy of his verse during performances. Beaumarchais found that the music was too overwhelming to “embellish the lyrics”.Created one year after Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (which was relatively well-received in Vienna before triumphing in Prague), Tarare was an immense success in Paris maintaining the status of the composer’s repertoire despite the political turmoil of the time before disappearing from view around 1826, thereon ceasing to be played. Beaumarchais’ words were immediately adapted into Italian by Lorenzo Da Ponte to be performed and met with equal success in Vienna. Tarare is half lyrical tragedy, half comic opera with a hint of orientalism.After resuscitating Les Danaïdes and Les Horaces, Christophe Rousset finished off his series of recordings dedicated to Salieri’s French operas for the Parisian public. Tarare is very much of its time, that of the Lumières, and used the power of art to challenge despotism in all its forms. Thanks to Christophe Rousset’s excellent delivery and lively direction, this recording enables one to judge the merits of the composition and the chasm that separates an honest and talented musician from a solitary and impassioned one like Mozart. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Opera Arias

Marie-Nicole Lemieux

Classical - Released September 3, 2012 | naïve classique

Distinctions Stereophile: Record To Die For
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Berlioz: Harold en Italie

Lise Berthaud

Classical - Released June 30, 2014 | Naxos

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Not quite a viola concerto and not just a symphony with an obbligato viola part, Hector Berlioz's Harold en Italie -- based on Lord Byron's poem, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and events from the composer's own sojourn in Italy for the Prix de Rome -- is a fascinating hybrid that embraces both forms and even anticipates the Lisztian tone poem. This performance by violist Lise Berthaud and the Orchestre National de Lyon, conducted by Leonard Slatkin, shows that they are fully conscious of the work's peculiar nature, so a degree of flexibility is observed, noticeably in the varied treatment of the viola. At times playing as a prominent soloist, at others merely providing filigree for color, Berthaud handles both sides of her part with grace and makes her presence felt, even when the viola's dynamics are extremely soft. Slatkin leads the orchestra with energy and humor, making sure that the picturesque aspects of the piece are vividly conveyed. For filler, two of Berlioz's most vibrant overtures are included, Roman Carnival and Benvenuto Cellini, along with the Rêverie et caprice for violin and orchestra, featuring Giovanni Radivo as soloist. This program is sure to please Berlioz aficionados, and fans of Berthaud should definitely take note of her appearance here.© TiVo
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Jean-Baptiste Lully : Amadis (Édition 5.1)

Christophe Rousset

Opera - Released September 22, 2014 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 4F de Télérama - Diamant d'Opéra - Choc de Classica
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Chopin, Schubert & Prokofiev

Yulianna Avdeeva

Classical - Released September 8, 2014 | Mirare

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Lully: Atys

Les Arts Florissants

Opera - Released February 28, 1987 | harmonia mundi

Booklet