Narrow my search:
From
HI-RES$82.48
CD$65.99
Déodat de Séverac : Complete works for piano
François-Michel Rignol
Solo Piano - Released December 15, 2014 | Solstice
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Choc de Classica
From
CD$9.59
La foire aux zozos
Les Zozos en goguette
Children - Released April 23, 2024 | Tròn de Disqui
From
HI-RES$12.24$17.49(30%)
CD$9.79$13.99(30%)
Consolations
Saskia Giorgini
Solo Piano - Released June 9, 2023 | PentaTone
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Diapason d'or
Pianist Saskia Giorgini found both critical and commercial success with her 2022 recording of Liszt's Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, and this 2023 release, which immediately climbed onto classical best-seller charts, follows directly on the earlier album, with the same Bösendorfer piano and the same recording location, the Lisztzentrum in Raiding, Austria. Listeners will not be disappointed, for Consolations has all the virtues of her first Liszt album and adds a few more. The wonderfully controlled lyricism of the Harmonies poétiques et religieuses recurs in the heavily programmatic title work, where Giorgini's playing hints at the presence of all kinds of stories. She plainly excels in the religious, late Liszt, and there are two wonderful examples here, the Deux Legends, portraits of St. Francis of Assisi praying to the birds, and of St. François de Paule. These are difficult works that combine mysticism with Lisztian virtuosity; annotator Mark Berry is right to stress that Liszt did not fully renounce the virtuosity in his later years, but that is not all. Giorgini is just as good in the flashy Three Caprices-Valses and the reflective Liebesträume, the best-known music on the album. In the Valse-Impromptu, she has an uncanny way of suggesting the feeling of spontaneity that seems to have marked Liszt's own playing. Will Giorgini go on with Liszt? She certainly has the technical and emotional wherewithal to do so and to take on more famous works than these.© James Manheim /TiVo
From
HI-RES$26.29$29.79(12%)
CD$22.59$25.59(12%)
Debussy – Rameau
Víkingur Ólafsson
Classical - Released March 27, 2020 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Diapason d'or -
5 étoiles de Classica
This program brings together two great French composers, separated by almost two centuries, that we would not think of bringing together spontaneously. But the freedom of mind of the Icelandic pianist looks at it otherwise, who, for his third album with Deutsche Grammophon, wanted to highlight their affinities as their contrasts in the light of their innovative contribution to the musical thought of their time. "I scratch my head wondering why Rameau's music is not played more. Between quality, inventiveness and unpredictability, there is never any element of formula in these pieces”, says Víkingur Ólafsson. By instinctively associating these style characteristics with those specific to Debussy, he decided to make an album of them: "I want to show Rameau as a futurist and underline the deep roots of Debussy in French baroque — and in Rameau's music in particular. The idea is that the listener almost forgets who is who by listening to the album." Debussy, who never stopped defending the French tradition by opposing it to German music, liked the decorative and complex lines of this Baroque composer with a French spirit like his own.An initial idea in the development of this skillfully constructed program, the transcription for piano of Debussy from Prélude to his Cantata La Damoiselle introduces it. Like the album's visual, Víkingur Ólafsson aims to be suggestive even in the accent he gives in Rameau to polyphonic voices supported by a flawless rhythmic impulse, which contrasts with Debussy, whose among other things the beautiful tumultuous Jardins sous la pluie which is played with a large breath in the image of wind load until the light returns. © Qobuz / GG
From
HI-RES$29.79
CD$25.59
Glass: Cocteau Trilogy
Katia Labèque
Classical - Released February 23, 2024 | Universal Music Division Decca Records France
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Qobuz Album of the Week
Philip Glass' three operas based on films by Jean Cocteau, inspired by the composer's youthful experiences in Paris, are among his most variegated works and perhaps among the ones most likely to win over those unpersuaded by the composer. This release took shape as Katia and Marielle Labèque performed concerts devoted to two-piano arrangements of numbers from these operas in 2020 and 2023; the arrangements are by Glass colleague Michael Riesman. Many recordings of Glass have come from his own orbit, but this one, released by the Deutsche Grammophon label and a presence on classical best-seller charts in early 2024, shows the value in opening up the field. The Labèques bring a fluent but lively quality to the music that illuminates the material out of which the operas are woven. Sample the ragtime-like opening, "Le café," from Act I at the beginning. Elsewhere, one hears echoes of Gluck, Bach, and more, all superimposed on Glass' characteristic repeating patterns. The durable popularity of Katia and Marielle Labèque, still at the top of the duo piano heap, is remarkable, and it has occurred in part because the sisters are unafraid to take on new repertory. Here, they have done a spectacular job.© James Manheim /TiVo
From
HI-RES$31.79
CD$24.59
Aux étoiles - French Symphonic Poems
Orchestre National De Lyon
Classical - Released October 20, 2023 | Bru Zane
Hi-Res
Booklet
This double-album release from the specialist Palazzetto Bru Zane label, better known for opera but doing fine here with orchestral music, landed on classical best-seller charts in the autumn of 2023, and this is really no wonder. The album puts together many attractive features, beginning with fine work from the beefy (34 violins) Orchestre National de Lyon under conductor Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider. The album comprises a little history of the French tone poem from the third quarter of the 19th century to the second decade of the 20th, and it includes many works that will be unfamiliar to all but specialists, along with a few hits (Saint-Saëns' Danse macabre, Op. 40, Paul Dukas' L'apprenti sorcier ["The Sorcerer's Apprentice"] in a brisk, colorful performance, Emmanuel Chabrier's España, and perhaps Franck's Le chasseur maudit). As for the rest, there are no fewer than four works by women composers: Lili Boulanger, Augusta Holmès, Mel Bonis, and Charlotte Sohy; the Danse mystique of the latter is perhaps both the most obscure and the most compelling. Several works by better-known male composers also seem well worth removal from the historical scrap heap; sample Ernest Chausson's hushed Viviane, Op. 5, or Vincent d'Indy's Istar, Op. 42, the tone poem Wagner never wrote. Or the title work by Henri Duparc, much more familiar as a song composer. More generally, one is impressed by the cohesion of the program as a whole, even as French styles underwent fundamental change. Most of the composers try to show a mastery of the large orchestra and of the big tune as second subject. This is a highly listenable group of pieces that hearers will be glad to know better.© James Manheim /TiVo
From
HI-RES$30.69
CD$26.59
Les Enfoirés 2024, On a 35 ans !
Les Enfoirés
French Music - Released March 2, 2024 | Sony Music - Restos Du Coeur
Hi-Res
From
HI-RES$31.79
CD$24.59
Spontini: La vestale
Les Talens Lyriques
Classical - Released May 12, 2023 | Bru Zane
Hi-Res
Booklet
Gaspare's Spontini's French-language La Vestale is probably the most often heard of his operas, but that is not saying much; the work was sung by Maria Callas in the 1950s, but performances are sparse. Here, it is revived in period style by Les Talens Lyriques and conductor Christophe Rousset, and a very good case is made for further attention. The story is action-packed; Julia, in the absence of her lover, General Licinius, becomes una Vestale, a Vestal Virgin and guards a sacred flame. When Licinius returns to town, the flame goes out, and Julia is sentenced to be buried alive. Licinius rallies his troops, vowing to kidnap Julia, and the flame is reignited later by a lightning strike. Spontini's orchestration of this tale is Beethovenian in its dimensions, and despite the difficulties of natural horns, it is exciting to hear this opera as Napoleon (thought to be the model for Licinius) and Josephine (who backed the opera) heard it. The singers are not Callas-level, but throughout, and especially in the choruses, there is a commitment to the text and its meaning that is rare in any kind of recording. Marina Rebeka, in the role of Julia, is fully involved in the character's plight, and the smoky-voiced Aude Extrémo as La Grande Vestale is worth the price of admission on her own. The singers are aided by clear, spacious studio sound engineering from the early opera specialist label Palazzetto Bru Zane, whose high standards are perhaps even exceeded here.
© James Manheim /TiVo
From
HI-RES$21.99
CD$16.99
Reflet
Sandrine Piau
Classical - Released January 12, 2024 | Alpha Classics
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Diapason d'or
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
From
HI-RES$33.87
CD$26.97
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
From
HI-RES$17.59
CD$15.09
Palais d'argile
Feu! Chatterton
Alternative & Indie - Released March 12, 2021 | Universal Music Division Virgin Music
Hi-Res
From
HI-RES$24.71
CD$19.77
Debussy : Complete Works for Piano
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
Classical - Released October 1, 2012 | Chandos
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Diapason d'or
Praised for his meticulous fidelity to the composer's intentions, as well as for his rich tonal palette and the warmth of his expressions, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has won many admirers for his five albums of the complete solo piano music of Claude Debussy. These recordings were produced by Chandos between 2007 and 2009, and they have now been gathered into a handsome box set; each disc is presented with its own cardboard sleeve and the original liner notes that accompanied each release. The roster of artists who have recorded Debussy's keyboard music is a long and distinguished one, though Bavouzet is easily ranked in the upper echelons, equal in stature among such luminaries as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Krystian Zimerman, Maurizio Pollini, Angela Hewitt, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and Pascal Rogé. Experienced listeners will already have favorite recordings of the Préludes, Images, Estampes, and Études, as well as the perennially popular Suite bergamasque, Children's Corner, and other picturesque pieces. However, many will be won over by the consistency of Bavouzet's playing, and newcomers will find that his disciplined yet gorgeous readings are a great way to begin appreciating these charming classics. Chandos provides excellent sound that gives the piano a clear presence yet takes nothing away from Bavouzet's atmospheric colors or the radiant acoustics. Highly recommended.© TiVo
From
HI-RES$15.09
CD$13.09
Après un rêve (Belle Époque: Nights at the Piano)
Emmanuel Despax
Classical - Released June 16, 2023 | Signum Records
Hi-Res
It is hard to figure out what pianist Emmanuel Despax had in mind for the concept of this album. Its various titles offer three ideas: Après un rêve comes from the title of a Fauré song Despax transcribes for his program opener, plus there is "Belle Époque: Nights at the Piano." None of these is of much use; few pieces other than the Fauré are particularly dreamy, and the largest piece, Poulenc's Soirées de Nazelles, is from the nervous 1930s and nowhere near the Belle Époque in time or mood. As for "Nights at the Piano," that fits the Poulenc nicely but not the concluding Gaspard de la Nuit of Ravel, which is an imposing virtuoso concert work carrying none of the connotations of "Nights at the Piano." Really, Despax excels in none of these three ways but rather in a fourth: he hits on an intriguing mix of familiar standards and unusual works. Among the latter group are the Soirées de Nazelles, which Poulenc disclaimed and, perhaps for that reason, have been seldom heard. They are delightful pieces that bear titles describing qualities, like the numbers of a Baroque French suite, but actually seem to have been devised by Poulenc to describe members of a group of his friends, like Elgar's Enigma Variations. The result is a work that distills the hint of improvisation that pervades some of Poulenc's keyboard music and songs, and Despax gives it the right lively, spontaneous feel. The Nocturne, Op. 165, of Cécile Chaminade and the keyboard version of Henri Duparc's Aux étoiles are also nice finds. As for the more heavily trodden works, Debussy's Clair de lune is pleasantly moody, although no one would select this album for the rote Gaspard de la Nuit or the rather un-macabre Danse Macabre, Op. 40, of Saint-Saëns. For Poulenc lovers, however, this is an important find.
© James Manheim /TiVo
From
HI-RES$11.49
CD$9.19
OIZEL
Marion Rampal
French Music - Released February 2, 2024 | Les Rivières Souterraines
Hi-Res
From
HI-RES$17.59
CD$15.09
French Duets - Fauré: Dolly Suite; Ravel, Debussy, Poulenc etc.
Steven Osborne
Classical - Released March 5, 2021 | Hyperion
Hi-Res
Booklet
From
HI-RES$35.09
CD$30.09
Messiaen: Des canyons aux étoiles…
Utah Symphony
Classical - Released April 7, 2023 | Hyperion
Hi-Res
Booklet
From
HI-RES$21.99
CD$16.99
Les nuits de Paris
François-Xavier Roth
Theatre Music - Released January 27, 2023 | Bru Zane
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Diapason d'or
The Palazetto Bru Zane, the centre for French Romantic music in Venice, has an uncanny ability to rouse our curiosity for rare musical offerings. For each discographic release, the institution makes a point of indulging the listener, presenting them with only the very best: from the casting to the sound recording, not to mention the cleverly constructed programmes and the detailed illustrated booklets, everything is flawlessly produced. They essentially offer a first-class journey to the land of Romantic music. With Les Nuits de Paris, the institute once again proves it knows what it’s doing. At the helm, François-Xavier Roth and his ensemble Les Siècles take us on a dizzying tour of French society during the Belle-Epoque. At the time, the Parisian public routinely frequented dance venues—the upper classes went to the opera whilst the lower classes turned to cabarets, music halls and other “café-concerts”. Links were made between the profane and the sacred, the stylish and the mainstream. This cheerful disc sheds light on this entire dancing tradition. Alongside the great composers of the period (Massenet, Delibes and Saint-Saëns), the programme introduces other figures who were well-known in their time but have been somewhat forgotten today: Ernest Guiraud, Victorin Joncières and Ambroise Thomas. A special mention must go to Jeanne Danglas, one of the rare female composers to have been able to escape the patriarchal grip of the period.François Xavier Roth and his orchestra fully embrace the retro charm of these compositions, which might have been considered a little absurd if it weren’t for their radiantly joyful and deliciously playful performance. This is a wonderful journey through time. © Pierre Lamy/Qobuz
Intégrale des albums originaux
Georges Brassens
French Music - Released January 1, 2010 | Universal Music Division Mercury Records
Download not available
From
HI-RES$26.29
CD$22.59
ICONIC
David Garrett
Classical - Released November 4, 2022 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Hi-Res
Distinctions
OPUS Klassik
The titular "Iconic" nature of the program here is twofold. First, stardom-groomed violinist David Garrett pays tribute to violin icons of the past. Primary among them is Fritz Kreisler, who is represented several times on the program, including by the familiar Schön Rosmarin (which is not among the bonus tracks for those who purchase the deluxe physical edition but is an additional bonus track available to streaming listeners). One of the icons, Itzhak Perlman, even makes a personal appearance in a Shostakovich duet, and other guests include tenor Andrea Bocelli and the single-named flutist Cocomi. What Garrett calls the second thread of his program deals not with performers but with music; what he has put together here is an example of the classic program of encores. He has done his job well, arranging a lot of the music for himself and changing up the sentimental tunes that can sink a project like this if too relentless with more unusual fare (Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair) and upbeat numbers like Dinicu's Hora Staccato and a reminder of his earlier virtuoso ways with Paganini's Moto Perpetuo, Op. 11. The end result is an entertaining example of the venerable all-encore genre, marred only by oddly too-close studio sound from Deutsche Grammophon.© James Manheim /TiVo
Suppose you have a more precise idea of what you want. If you are searching for the album "Bad" by Michael Jackson, type michael jackson bad. The album in question will be displayed at the top, as it is the most relevant.
By default, search results are sorted in order of relevance. The drop-down menu to the right of "Sort by" allows you to display the results in the desired order.