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Peau d'âne - Bande Originale du Film de Jacques Demy (1970)

Michel Legrand

Musical Theatre - Released January 1, 1970 | Playtime

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Of the many collaborations between director Jacques Demy, composer Michel Legrand, and star Catherine Deneuve, 1970's Peau d'Ane is in many respects the most surreal and extravagant, if not the most accomplished. Where their earlier Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Young Girls of Rochefort were full-blown musicals steeped in contemporary pop and jazz motifs, Peau d'Ane -- a lavish adaptation of a Charles Perrault fairy tale complete with outrageous costumes and sets -- quite naturally boasts a more traditional and classical score, but while Legrand's songs and arrangements are certainly lovely, they nevertheless lack the spark and energy of his earlier efforts for Demy. Where both Cherbourg and Rochefort command attention like few motion picture scores, Peau d'Ane operates largely as background music. Only a few of the songs feature vocals, and among them only "Les Insults" is truly compelling. But until the film Peau d'Ane resurfaces on video, the score will have to do.© Jason Ankeny /TiVo
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Peau d'âne - Féerie Musicale

Michel Legrand

Film Soundtracks - Released November 9, 2018 | Sony Classical

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Georges Delerue: Music from the Films of Francois Truffaut

London Sinfonietta

Classical - Released July 11, 1997 | Nonesuch

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Peau d'âne (Original Cinema Soundtrack)

Michel Legrand

Film Soundtracks - Released January 1, 1970 | Original Cinema Soundtrack

Of the many collaborations between director Jacques Demy, composer Michel Legrand, and star Catherine Deneuve, 1970's Peau d'Ane is in many respects the most surreal and extravagant, if not the most accomplished. Where their earlier Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Young Girls of Rochefort were full-blown musicals steeped in contemporary pop and jazz motifs, Peau d'Ane -- a lavish adaptation of a Charles Perrault fairy tale complete with outrageous costumes and sets -- quite naturally boasts a more traditional and classical score, but while Legrand's songs and arrangements are certainly lovely, they nevertheless lack the spark and energy of his earlier efforts for Demy. Where both Cherbourg and Rochefort command attention like few motion picture scores, Peau d'Ane operates largely as background music. Only a few of the songs feature vocals, and among them only "Les Insults" is truly compelling. But until the film Peau d'Ane resurfaces on video, the score will have to do.© Jason Ankeny /TiVo
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Aux étoiles - French Symphonic Poems

Orchestre National De Lyon

Classical - Released October 20, 2023 | Bru Zane

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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
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Festin Royal du Mariage du Comte d'Artois

Alexis Kossenko

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

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Les Enfoirés 2024, On a 35 ans !

Les Enfoirés

French Music - Released March 2, 2024 | Sony Music - Restos Du Coeur

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Spontini: La vestale

Les Talens Lyriques

Classical - Released May 12, 2023 | Bru Zane

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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

Evidemment

France Gall

French Music - Released February 1, 2005 | Warner (France)

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Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre: Céphale et Procris

Reinoud Van Mechelen

Classical - Released February 9, 2024 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Les nuits de Paris

François-Xavier Roth

Theatre Music - Released January 27, 2023 | Bru Zane

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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
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Fauré: Complete Songs

Cyrille Dubois

Mélodies - Released May 13, 2022 | Aparté

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From Papillon et la fleur to L’Horizon chimérique, Gabriel Fauré has created some one-hundred melodies which have transformed this French art form into the very pinnacle of musical expression. Many musicians get caught up in the technicalities of his original works, often forgetting to perform, not just recite. Written for a plethora of voices and commonly transposed for convenience, Fauré’s melodies are never recorded solo. Yet this is the gamble that was taken—and successfully at that—by tenor Cyrille Dubois and Pianist Tristan Raës (who have been playing music as a duo for around fifteen years).Several tweaks were needed to undertake such a project. In collaboration with the Palazzetto Bru Zane (Centre de musique romantique française), the pair made a series of difficult choices with regards to transpositions. These decisions were vital in respecting the tonal sequences between the opuses and during the cycles, without betraying Fauré’s harmonic plans. It was also necessary to select the order of the opuses, whose character has developed somewhat over a period of sixty years.   The complete works offered here (which are one of the most significant events of Spring 2022), consists of three recitals, each mixing styles and periods. Cyrille Dubois who expertly blends the style of lyrical song with French chanson, whilst injecting just the right amount of old-fashioned nostalgia. He’s supported by Tristan Raës’ fluid and bright piano. The French tenor’s perfectly controlled timbre does the text real justice, rendering it effortlessly intelligible. This delightfully simple and direct approach transports Fauré’s vast body of work into the 21st century, making it perfectly relevant to the contemporary. This recording will undoubtedly hold a special place in the hearts of those who will commemorate the centenary of the great composer’s death in 2024. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Paris - Istanbul - Shangai

Joël Grare

Classical - Released March 13, 2008 | Alpha Classics

This recording is a manifesto: modernism, culture, temporality, style, improvisation are all concepts with which Joël Grare plays, like a juggler. At a time of globalisation, of standardisation of cultures, this disc lets us hear the vision of the world of one man, at one given time. The Paris-Istambul-Shanghaï Ensemble (Chinese violin, theorbo, bass and percussions) forms the musical base of this invitation to travel. The guests, such as Claire Lefilliâtre, contribute their personnality by taking up the learned or popular themes. This "group", somewhere between a chamber music ensemble and a traditional one, plays standards like Jazzmen. Their standards? Magnificent themes stemming from Spain, Turkey, China, ancient music...Analysing these melodies well beyond their borders, thoroughly enjoying them to interpret them better, improvising, composing, whether or not in the style of their country or their period, following his mood, the taste of tea, the moment; welcome to the world of Joël Grare.
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Mademoiselle Duval: Les Génies ou les Caractères de l'Amour

Camille Delaforge

Classical - Released February 9, 2024 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Comment te dire adieu

Françoise Hardy

French Music - Released September 23, 2016 | Parlophone (France)

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This may not rate as highly as her best mid-'60s recordings, which are less MOR-oriented. That stated, it's about as good as late-'60s MOR Continental pop gets, with tastefully imaginative orchestration, strong melodies, and sexy vocals. It's perhaps even sadder and more sentimental than was the norm for Francoise--she perpetually seems to be singing as though she's gazing out of a deserted chateau on a rainy afternoon. She largely forsakes original material here (although a couple cuts bear her writing credit), and offers fine, haunting French interpretations of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," and Phil Ochs' "There But for Fortune," and Ricky Nelson's "Lonesome Town."© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
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[prèchof]

Noé Preszow

French Music - Released February 16, 2024 | tôt Ou tard

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Hahn: Piano Music - Poèmes & Valses

Pavel Kolesnikov

Classical - Released June 3, 2022 | Hyperion

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Lassus: Io ti vorria contar... Transcriptions for Lute

Evangelina Mascardi

Classical - Released November 3, 2023 | Musique en Wallonie

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Les trois Mousquetaires - Milady

Guillaume Roussel

Film Soundtracks - Released December 13, 2023 | Milan

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Françoise Hardy (Tous les garçons et les filles)

Françoise Hardy

French Music - Released October 28, 2022 | Vogue

Distinctions The Qobuz Ideal Discography