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Reflet

Sandrine Piau

Classical - Released January 12, 2024 | Alpha Classics

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In a world of "singles," pursued even by classical music labels nowadays, here is a whole album that makes up a single, sublime musical utterance. Reflet is a follow-up, similarly concerned with light effects, to soprano Sandrine Piau's German-language Clair-Obscur of a few years back. The German songs might have been a bigger stretch for Piau than the French material here, but Reflet has possibly an even more sublime coherence. One feels that every note is almost foreordained as the program opens with classic orchestral songs from Berlioz, Henri Duparc, and the less common Charles Koechlin, proceeding into darker, more mysterious realms with Ravel's Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, and ending with the youthful ebullience of Britten's Quatre chansons françaises. An illustration of how carefully calibrated everything is here comes with two Debussy pieces, Clair de lune and "Pour remercier la pluie" (from the Six Épigraphes Antiques), arranged for orchestra from other media. These serve as entr'actes between the sections of Piau's program, and they should by all rights have been annoying: aren't there enough genuine orchestral pieces that could have filled the bill? But just listen. These fit into the patterns that run through the whole album, and they make perfect sense, just like everything else. Piau's voice is delicate, soaring, and richly beautiful; one of the miracles of the current scene is its durability and versatility. Her support from conductor Jean-François Verdier, leading the Victor Hugo Orchestra, is confidently smooth, never intruding on the spell Piau weaves. A magnificent orchestral song recital that made classical best-seller lists in early 2024.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Take 3

Patricia Kopatchinskaja

Classical - Released January 26, 2024 | Alpha Classics

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Take 3 is the third release in a deliberate series by violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, clarinetist Reto Bieri, and pianist Polina Leschenko (Take 2 appeared almost a decade before the 2024 release of this album). All have had innovative programs, and anticipation for this release helped propel it onto classical best-seller charts in early 2024. Listeners will not be disappointed. The booklet notes contain some rather murky reflections from the players about the repertory included, but the basic idea is that most of the music reflects influences from roots traditions, jazz above all. Only one of the composers, Paul Schoenfield, is American, and his Trio for violin, clarinet, and piano draws not on jazz but on Eastern European Hasidic music. The works by Europeans show various ways of tentatively embracing jazz. Interspersed among the selections are movements from Poulenc's rarely heard L'invitation au château, which works well enough inasmuch as the work was written as incidental music from a play. Poulenc evokes the waltz and other European dance forms, but his Clarinet Sonata, written for jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman, has a stronger jazz flavor. So, too, does Bartók's trio Contrasts, also written for Goodman. This is the most distinctive performance on the album, as the players give it a rhythmically free treatment that is certainly jazzy but that diverges somewhat from the notated music. The three players have a remarkable rapport throughout, whether playing klezmer (in Serban Nichifor's closing Klezmer Dance) or in the divergent idioms of the other composers. The album both breaks new ground and is a lot of fun, and it is very nicely recorded at a Radio RSF studio in Zurich.© James Manheim /TiVo

Ici & là, en concert au Dôme de Paris (Live, 2022)

Alain Souchon

French Music - Released November 11, 2022 | Parlophone (France)

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Lalo: Violin Concertos, Op. 20 & Op. 29. "Concerto Russe"

Dmitry Smirnov

Concertos - Released June 16, 2023 | Prospero Classical

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Persona (Nouvelle édition)

Bertrand Belin

French Music - Released February 1, 2019 | Wagram Music - Cinq 7

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Même pas sommeil

CharlElie Couture

French Music - Released January 25, 2019 | Rue bleue

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Azuro

Kid Francescoli

Film Soundtracks - Released March 11, 2022 | Alter K

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Live At 25

Huey Lewis And The News

Pop - Released May 17, 2005 | Rhino

Looking at the cover of Huey Lewis & the News' Live at 25, it's hard not to think, "Wow! I had no idea that the News had 25 members!" Of course, the middle-aged men crowding the cover of this 2005 release number a mere nine, which means the one-time sextet has been expanded with a full horn section (original guitarist Chris Hayes has been replaced by Stef Burns and bassist Mario Cipollina has been replaced by John Pierce, as well). New members and a horn section don't change the basic nature of the band, which hasn't changed since the beginning of its career -- no matter what they do, Huey Lewis & the News are a good-time, good-natured, unabashedly fun party band. That served them well at the height of their fame in the mid-'80s, and it serves them well 20 years later, as they do those big hits -- "The Heart of Rock & Roll," "I Want a New Drug," "If This Is It," "Do You Believe in Love," "Hip to Be Square" (subtly changed to "(Too) Hip to Be Square," although the lyrics haven't been altered) -- balanced with covers and newer tunes that sound as if they could have been good album tracks on Picture This. Although the liner notes don't mention the date or location of the recording of Live at 25, the specifics don't really matter since the album is designed to be less a historical document than a nostalgic souvenir for longtime fans, capturing the group at a quarter-century mark. In that respect, it works well: the song selection is good, the band sounds tight and professional, the production is clean and punchy, and while it's never especially engaging, it is an enjoyable performance. Not essential, and certainly not nearly as energetic as the original LPs, Live at 25 is warm, friendly, and fun nonetheless, a perfectly respectable way to celebrate the group's anniversary.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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Réminiscences

Camille Thomas

Duets - Released September 23, 2016 | La Dolce Volta

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Passe... comme tu sais

Julia

French Music - Released June 19, 2020 | SMART

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Rose Kennedy (Edition Deluxe)

Benjamin Biolay

French Music - Released May 7, 2001 | Parlophone (France)

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Les chemins de l'amour - Songs By Duparc, Ravel, Poulenc & Satie

Jessye Norman

Classical - Released January 1, 1977 | Decca Music Group Ltd.

Francis Poulenc dreamed of a great vocalist who would sing his melodies like la Tosca: that is, with a great, operatic voice. Jessye Norman's voice certainly fit the bill. This album is dedicated to French melodies, and it tells of Norman's love for France – a love which was mutual – and of her knowledge of the French repertoire. In this well-selected programme, Jessye Norman offers a kind of sampler of French melody, starting with Henri Duparc and his successful synthesis of German Lied and French melody. There follow two Hebrew melodies that illustrate Maurice Ravel's breadth of mind, before we end on the very Parisian melodies of Poulenc and Satie. This is a record of pure delight, all the more so as the American singer, discreetly supported by Dalton Baldwin, makes the words effortlessly intelligible, with a diction equals a great many French singers. A treat. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Couleurs de l'Incendie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Guillaume Roussel

Film Soundtracks - Released November 4, 2022 | Alpha Classics

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Sans titre #7

Grems

Hip-Hop/Rap - Released January 19, 2018 | Gremsindustry

There is the surface of the earth. And there is what lies beneath. That is, the underground... For years, Michaël Eveno alias Grems has been busying himself in this no-man's-land that is bubbling with ideas and sounds. His furious, crazy hip-hop projects are unlike any others. The DNA is rap, but strident notes of electro also dot the landscape. Without this style, Hyacinthe, Roméo Elvis or Lomepal would surely never have moved past playing with their Playmobil… With Sans Titre #7, the writer of Algèbre (2004), Airmax (2006), Vampire (2013), Buffy (2014) and Green Pisse (2016) consistently threw out more and more of that madness that only he can produce. The punchlines are impressive, and the minimalism of the production avoids unnecessary ornament. In short, in the year that he turns 40, Grems has imposed his deviant and mordant style even more firmly upon Gallic rap. © MZ/Qobuz
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De l'indécence

Antoine Bataille

French Music - Released April 2, 2021 | Le Passage

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Henri Duparc: Mélodies

Bernard Kruysen

Classical - Released January 6, 2017 | naïve classique

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Chausson: Poème de l'amour et de la mer / Berlioz: Les Nuits d'été / Duparc: Mélodies

Soile Isokoski

Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released July 31, 2015 | Ondine

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Benjamin Godard : Mélodies

Tassis Christoyannis

Mélodies (French) - Released March 18, 2016 | Aparté

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Nilda Fernandez

Nilda Fernández

Pop - Released February 3, 1991 | Parlophone (France)

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Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 2, Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 33 & Others

Hélène Grimaud

Classical - Released January 1, 1986 | Denon