This is one of the most delightful programmes by the baritone Roderick Williams and pianist Roger Vignoles. Wanting to go beyond presenting only the most famous French works, their new album begins with Gabriel Fauré’s Mirages, Op. 113, and continues with much lesser-known pieces by André Caplet and the often-overlooked Arthur Honegger.With so much excellent music from Caplet just waiting to be discovered, these two British musicians have exhumed the Cinq ballades françaises, which were composed in 1919 and based on poems by Paul Fort. André Caplet worked on these compositions as if they were paintings. He carefully created their landscapes, flourishing each with his own understanding of light and movement. His interpretation is impressively refined, perfectly French, and colourful and vibrant in its essence.Arthur Honegger’s Petits cours de morale is an affectionate tribute to his old friend Francis Poulenc, who wrote these five songs with the singer Pierre Bernac during the Occupation in 1942. The five pretty girls described by Jean Giraudoux in his Alexandrine verse mischievously interfere with two performers who are not really into women... however the highly structured villanelles that form Saluste du Bartas, which was recorded the same year by Noémie Perugia (voice) and Irène Aïtoff (piano), instead tell the tale of an ambassador to the court of Henri IV. Honegger seems to delight in these perfect miniatures sprinkled with bold modulations.This beautiful album also features Les Ténèbres de l’amour, a cycle written in French and composed in 1994 by Roderick Williams. It features Poulenc, Ravel and Debussy, and the wonderfully rich programme is rounded off with Beau Soir, his very first melody featuring that fearsomely high F sharp. His sophisticated interpretation can only be admired. © François Hudry/Qobuz

The musical world owes a debt of gratitude to French conductor Christophe Rousset not only for the vital, exquisite performances he delivers with the ensembles Les Talens Lyriques and Choeur de Chambre de Namur, but for his work in bringing to light neglected masterpieces of Baroque opera. Lully's Bellérophon, premiered in 1679, was a huge success in its time, with an initial run of nine months. Part of its popularity was doubtless due to the parallels that could be drawn between its plot and certain recent exploits of Louis XV, but even the earliest critics recognized the score's uniqueness and exceptional quality within Lully's oeuvre, so it's perhaps surprising that it has never been recorded before. The distinctiveness of the music was likely a result at least in part of the fact that Lully's preferred librettist Philippe Quinault was out of favor at the court of Louis XV at the time, so the composer turned to Thomas Corneille for the libretto, and Corneille's literary and dramatic styles were so different from Quinault's that Lully was nudged out of his comfort zone and had to develop new solutions to questions of structure and the marrying of music to text. It is the first opera for which Lully composed fully accompanied recitatives, and that alone gives it a textural richness that surpasses his earlier works. The composer also allows soloists to sing together, something that was still a rarity in Baroque opera. There are several duets and larger ensembles; the love duet, "Que tout parle à l'envie de notre amour extreme!," is a ravishing expression of passion and happiness, as rhapsodic as anything in 19th century Italian opera. The level of musical inventiveness throughout is exceptional even for Lully; the expressiveness of the recitatives, the charm of the instrumental interludes, the originality of the choruses, and the limpid loveliness of the airs make this an opera that demands attention. Rousset and his forces give an outstanding performance that's exuberantly spirited, musically polished, rhythmically springy, and charged with dramatic urgency. The soloists are consistently of the highest order. Cyril Auvity brings a large, virile, passionate tenor to the title role and Céline Scheen is warmly lyrical as his lover Philonoë. Ingrid Perruche is fiercely powerful as the villain, Stéenobée, and Jean Teitgen is a secure, authoritative Apollo. Soloists, chorus, and orchestra are fluent in the subtle inflections of French middle Baroque ornamentation. The sound of the live recording is very fine, with a clean, immediate, realistic ambience. This is a release that fans of Baroque opera will not want to miss. Highly recommended. © TiVo

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

The aged Fauré and Reynaldo Hahn took the French Romantic mélodie into the 20th century, and Louis Beydts, who studied with Hahn, took it even further; three of the song cycles here date from after World War II. Beydts was mostly known as a composer of film music, and the songs on this release by tenor Cyrille Dubois and pianist Tristan Raës are all but unknown; three of the cycles receive their world premieres here. The music may seem to evoke a vanished world, but it is often engaging. Beydts distills the Fauré style down to essences, and most of the songs are quite short. The texts are by a variety of French poets of the day, and physical album buyers will get good translations in the hefty booklet. The Cinq Humoresques are sharp little character studies, and in many of the songs, there is a measure of wit (sample "Mademoiselle Rose"). The songs often take the conversational tone of Fauré's songs and dial it down several notches. Dubois has a nicely controlled tone in very quiet material (which describes many of the songs), letting the vibrato drain from his voice but not going flat. Hear "Adonis" for a good example of his comfort with the musical language. The Chansons pour les oiseaux are delightful and could easily be programmed with other works about animals. These are subtle little pieces, but they are immensely appealing, and it is no surprise that the album made classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2024.© James Manheim /TiVo

Sandrine Piau invites us for a stroll through the heart of romantic French melody with the musicians of the Concert de la Loge playing on period instruments. Known at the beginning of her career as a prominent performer of Baroque song, Sandrine Piau admits that she was nourished by 19th and 20th-century French music from an early age, at a time when she dreamed of becoming a harpist. Palazzetto Bru Zane are therefore going back to their roots, co-producing this album with the Alpha Classics label. Most of the tracks on this album are real discoveries, like these exquisite mini-works by Massenet, Pierné, Dubois, Godard or Guilmant. And what a wonderful idea to have also slipped the real gem that is Aux étoiles between these melodies, the short night-time instrumental that Henri Duparc wrote in 1910. Almost blind, the composer had dictated the orchestration to the very young Ernest Ansermet, who created it shortly afterwards, conducting the Montreux Kursaal Orchestra. A departure from the usual piano accompaniment, these melodies take on an additional grace and elegance in their orchestral setting, under the subtle and diaphanous direction of Julien Chauvin. © François Hudry/Qobuz

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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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

A century after his death on 25 March 1918, many harmonia mundi artists are eager to pay tribute to Claude Debussy, the magician of melody and timbre, the great 'colourist' and father of modern music. After Rachmaninoff's Preludes, Nikolai Lugansky wanted to present a finely nuanced portrait of this composer so fond of travelling! Whether it ranges over time (Hommage à Haydn) or the most vividly imagined open spaces, this freely composed programme is concerned above all with light and colour, in works we can never tire of. © harmonia mundi

The duo of violinist Elena Urioste and pianist Tom Poster have often recorded eclectic fare, but here, in a more or less conventional program of late Romantic French fare, they excel with deeply affecting playing. The album made classical best-seller lists in early 2024, and one reason was certainly the presence of the little-known Violin Sonata in F sharp minor, Op. 112, of Mel Bonis. This female composer, whose life is richly deserving of feature film treatment, was recognized in her own time (as the high opus number suggests) but was later forgotten, and even the recent rediscovery of music by women has only slowly revealed her talent. The work merits the enthusiasm Urioste and Poster express in their note. All of the pieces here rely on and extend the language of Franck and perhaps Fauré in one way or another, but Bonis marries rich melody to complex harmony in an especially effective way. All of the music here was composed in the 1910s and '20s. None of it, with the possible exception of Lili Boulanger's little Nocturne of 1911, which closes the program, much reflects the revolutionary development of Debussy, but all show that there was plenty left in the Romantic bag of tricks. Fauré is present as well with a typically gnarly example of his late style, to which Urioste's melodic playing is fully equal. The beautifully nostalgic Violin Sonata in C major of Reynaldo Hahn, better known for songs, is also not much played. Urioste and Poster are well established as a duo, and their sense of ensemble is strong and subtle, but the best thing about this album is that it may well rearrange the repertory a bit, with the Bonis work as a special highlight.© James Manheim /TiVo

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