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David & Jonathas
Gaétan Jarry
Classical - Released June 9, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles
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Rameau: Castor & Pollux
Les Arts Florissants
Classical - Released March 8, 1993 | harmonia mundi
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Jean-Baptiste Lully : Phaéton
Christophe Rousset
Classical - Released October 16, 2013 | Aparté
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Ravel: L'heure espagnole, M. 52 & Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, M. 84
Orchestre National De Lyon
Opera - Released February 5, 2016 | Naxos
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Leonard Slatkin is an exceptionally versatile conductor, but it is perhaps in French repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries that he feels most comfortable. The singers in Ravel's exquisitely formed little comic opera L'Heure espagnole, complete with cheating lovers hidden inside grandfather's clocks carried up and down stairs, are all entirely appropriate and admirably clear, but it is really Slatkin who's the star here, right from the "Introduction" that's so artfully linked to what follows. Ravel here cultivates a kind of updated accompanied recitative, well matched to his stated goal of reviving the old tradition of Italian opera buffa. The dialogue seems straightforward, but it is subtly and considerably heightened by the music in ways that may be clear to the listener only in retrospect. Sample the sly "Salut à la belle Horlogère!" (track eight) for a taste of how Slatkin holds the entire scene, orchestra and singing of mezzo-soprano Isabelle Druet, in the palm of his hand, and of the light sexiness in the opera embodied in the afternoon-delight-seeking Concepción. A bonus is the set of three Don Quichotte à Dulcinée songs, the last work Ravel completed. Highly recommended and absolutely delightful.
© TiVo
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Salieri : Tarare
Christophe Rousset
Classical - Released June 7, 2019 | Aparté
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5 de Diapason -
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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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Don Quichotte Chez La Duchesse
Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released September 23, 2022 | Château de Versailles Spectacles
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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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Antonio Salieri : Les Horaces
Christophe Rousset
Full Operas - Released August 31, 2018 | Aparté
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Ever since Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus and the subsequent film by Milos Forman, the operas of Mozart's rival Antonio Salieri have enjoyed a revival: historians determined that not only did Salieri not poison Mozart, he admired him, and Mozart at least respected the older Italian. Indeed, Les Horaces (1786) represents several accomplishments that were not on Mozart's résumé: it is a full-scale French opera, and its recitatives are orchestrally accompanied and contribute elegantly to the action. Berlioz, always an astute critic, numbered himself among the admirers of Salieri's French operas of the 1780s; this one was not as successful as the others, but that could have been due to any number of factors. The plot deals with a woman, Camille, whose romantic life is caught between factions in a war in early Roman times, and Rousset's live reading here benefits from a strong soprano lead, Dutch singer and French Baroque specialist Judith van Wanroij. Other singers likewise step up, but the real credit goes to Rousset, who gets the strengths of Salieri's score: the grand intermèdes, and the exciting finale of Act 1, where the joining-together of action and music is in Mozart's league even if the tunes are not. Also praiseworthy is the engineering work of the curiously named Little Tribeca team, who obtain the best possible sound from none other than Versailles. Highly recommended to those who have dismissed Salieri: this is a sympathetic and enthusiastic performance of his music.
© TiVo
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A Tribute to Pauline Viardot
Marina Viotti
Opera - Released September 16, 2022 | Aparté
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Choc de Classica
Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques make a foray into the Romantic repertoire with this tribute to Pauline Viardot, who was not only the most influential singer of the nineteenth century, but also a pedagogue and composer, whose gifts, personality and incomparable aura made her one of the leading figures of French Romanticism. Together the mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti and Christophe Rousset retrace Pauline Viardot’s versatile career and, taking up her great roles, present a musical portrait of a unique performer, who was unanimously acclaimed by the audiences of her time. © Aparté
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Mère Teresa, dis-nous en qui tu crois !
Graines de saints
Stories and Nursery Rhymes - Released January 1, 2016 | MAME
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Machaut: Les Motets
Ensemble Musica Nova
Classical - Released May 26, 2011 | Aeon
Booklet
![Hervé Niquet André Cardinal Destouches : Callirhoe [Opera]](https://static.qobuz.com/images/covers/25/61/8424562016125_100.jpg)
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André Cardinal Destouches : Callirhoe [Opera]
Hervé Niquet
Full Operas - Released January 1, 2006 | Glossa
André Cardinal Destouches (1672-1749) is virtually unknown today, but he was the preeminent composer of French opera in the half century between the end of Lully's career and the beginning of Rameau's. On the basis of this fine recording of Callirhoé, considered one of his most important operas, the neglect is difficult to understand. Its strength lies not so much in its originality -- it basically develops the conventions established by Lully -- but in the music's ability to illuminate the drama. Destouches was clearly a master of music for the theater; his scenes build with power and inexorability, and his dramatic confrontations, in particular, are vividly expressed. The conclusion of the second act, for example, depicting the priests of Bacchus going on a rampage, has a wildness and energy one usually associates not so much with the Baroque as with the heat of the Romantic era. The starkness of the opera's finale, which abruptly ends with a character's suicide, is brilliant theater, but entirely out of character with the conventions of the time, which would have required a tidy denouement, and most likely, the intervention of a deity. The first, 1712 version of Callirhoé, in fact, had just such an ending, but the composer revised the opera extensively for revivals in 1731 and 1743, and wisely rethought the finale, hugely increasing its effectiveness. Destouches' vocal writing is expressive and gratifyingly lyrical, and even his recitatives have emotional power. His orchestration is notably varied and colorful.
The recording is the result of the commitment and passion of Hervé Niquet, director of Le Concert Spirituel, which he leads in this outstanding performance. The orchestra and chorus perform with energy and finesse, and the climaxes are thrillingly urgent. The soloists, none of whom are international stars, sound like they ought to be, singing with unfailing purity, idiomatic security, and dramatic intensity. Glossa's exemplary sound is full, warm, and spacious, with excellent balance. Callirhoé should be of strong interest to any fan of Baroque opera, and a reminder of the wealth of strong repertoire that has yet to achieve broad exposure.
© TiVo
The Pretty Yende Coronation & Opera Classics Collection
Pretty Yende
Classical - Released March 17, 2023 | Sony Classical
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Bizet, Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Gounod, Verdi...
Anita Rachvelishvili
Opera Extracts - Released March 2, 2018 | Sony Classical
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5 Sterne Fono Forum Jazz
It's one of those fairy stories that the world of lyrical music likes to keep secret. Still an unknown and barely emerged from the La Scala Lyrical Academy, Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili was given the title role in Carmen by Baremboim, alongside Jonas Kaufman: an international career seemed to beckon for the young singer. And so here we will hear some of opera's great tunes, including, of course, the hits from Carmen, but also the two great arias from Samson et Dalila by Saint-Saëns, a pair from Verdi, a touch of Mascagni, some Rimski – less-frequently performed, it is true – and a rarity from his compatriot Dimitri Arakishvili (1873-1953) whose style is solidly anchored in the Russia of his day, with several, probably regional, twists. Since 2009, she has sung Carmen's role around three hundred times, and we can only hope that she never gets bogged down in it - and takes on Santuzza, Eboli, Dalil: in other words, the great characters of the dramatic mezzo repertoire. © SM/Qobuz
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L'art raffiné de l'ecchymose
Lucio Bukowski
Alternative & Indie - Released May 15, 2022 | L'Animalerie
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Charpentier: Les Arts Florissans
Ensemble Marguerite Louise
Classical - Released September 14, 2018 | Château de Versailles Spectacles
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Que les mortels servent de modèle aux dieux...
Eugénie Warnier
Classical - Released March 12, 2009 | Alpha Classics
It's hard to tell from the gorgeous cover of this French release what you're getting into, and, as the booklet notes point out, Rameau is a tough nut to crack for most people anyhow. Stick with it, however, for the entire package here offers what may be the closest thing yet to a good introduction to Rameau, even if it gets rather involved. You could start with the painting on the cover, annotated, as with all the others in this series from the Alpha label, by Denis Grenier of Laval University in Quebec. François Boucher's "The Setting of the Sun" (1752) is both conservative and radical, and the same could be said of Rameau's music. The painting is packed with mythological detail, almost abstruse, yet just as important as the set of classical references but the dramatic pattern of light and shadow into which the entire painting breaks down. Rameau is the same way: both complicated and shocking. It's a hard combination to get a grip on, but the French group Ausonia and director Fréderick Haas clarify it with an unusual kind of program: a set of excerpts from two different operas. Zoroastre, a tragedy, and Zaïs, a pastoral. It's a great idea: the excerpts are not simply isolated selections but connected items that represent a chunk of musical thinking. The two operas form a contrast of darkness and light, as well, and they offer some of the really striking instrumental effects that kept drawing audiences to Rameau's operas even as simpler Italian fare was clearly establishing itself as the wave of the future. The depiction of chaos and dawn from the Prologue of Zaïs (tracks 1-4) is an excellent example, and it rivals any of the better-known treatments of the same ideas from the eighteenth century. Ausonia consists of two superb soloists and 10 instrumentalists, plus Haas conducting from the harpsichord keyboard, and all have obviously immersed themselves in this music. As with all the Alpha releases, the listener who focuses on this one will get a bit of an education in the history of French culture, and this class session is an especially useful one. All texts are given in French and English.© TiVo
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Lully: Thesee (Boston Early Music Festival)
Stephen Stubbs
Classical - Released January 1, 2007 | CPO
Jean-Baptiste Lully, born Giovanni Battista Lulli in Florence in 1632, moved to France early in his career. By the time he turned 30, he had been named music master to the royal family and elevated to the nobility. Italian opera, particularly the works of Cavalli, had become hugely popular in France, and Lully took up the task of creating a tradition of native French opera. In 1775, in collaboration with librettist Philippe Quinault, Lully produced Thésée, a "tragédie en musique," which marked a turning point in the synthesis of music, dramaturgy, and dance, and became the model for French opera for nearly a century, until the reforms of Gluck. CPO's splendid new recording of the opera finally gives listeners the opportunity to hear what made the opera so historic. Thésée's plot is complex, but not incomprehensible or ridiculous -- the characters are distinctly drawn, motivated by simple hopes and fears with which any audience could easily identify. Lully's music aptly underlines the dramatic situations, and while he doesn't use anything as specific as leitmotivs, the various characters are associated with particular styles of music. His recitatives are naturalistically set and are more like arioso than secco recitative, and they flow easily into the set pieces. The music is strongly expressive, full of variety, and the orchestration is colorfully inventive. The performance by the orchestra and chorus of the Boston Early Music Festival, led by Paul O'Dette and Stephen Stubbs, is above reproach, bringing the music and drama fully to life. The soloists are uniformly jaw-droppingly accomplished, which is quite an achievement in an opera with over a dozen important roles. Each soloist sings with gorgeous tone, powerful, dramatic characterization, and complete assurance in the subtleties of period ornamentation. The sound quality is ideal -- natural sounding and also absolutely clean, with excellent balance. CPO's Thésée is easily one of the finest Baroque operas on disc; serious opera lovers deserve to treat themselves to this historic and revelatory recording.
© TiVo
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Massenet: Werther (Diapason n°607)
Georges Thill
Symphonic Music - Released January 1, 1958 | Les Indispensables de Diapason
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Diapason d'or
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Campra: Idoménée (highlights)
Les Arts Florissants
Classical - Released July 11, 1994 | harmonia mundi
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Meyerbeer: Robert le Diable
Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
Classical - Released September 23, 2022 | Bru Zane
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Gramophone: Recording of the Month
For his last season at the helm of the Opéra de Bordeaux, Marc Minkowski—always keen to conduct forgotten works which have, in some way, marked the history of music—sets his sights on Robert le Diable, Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera which was a true social phenomenon in 19th century France. The Palazzetto Bru Zane - Centre de musique romantique française has followed suit by officially publishing this concert version, which also features some excellent vocal soloists. Admired by Balzac, Sand and Dumas, this ‘grand opéra à la française’ (great French opera) faded into obscurity after the First World War. Its creator became a sort of pariah – one met with both condescension and mockery. With its ‘seductive and haunting melodies’ (Alexandre Dratwicki), it’s nevertheless a flamboyant work that greatly inspired his contemporaries, such as Verdi, who referred to it in La Traviata. The extraordinary impact of Robert le Diable was such that it was performed a great many times on every continent. A true one-man band, Marc Minkowski has invested himself entirely in this undertaking, learning this vast score practically by heart and conducting it with his usual power and conviction. The international cast is full of surprises thanks to their deep understanding of the work and the protagonists’ fantastic pronunciation. This new release, to the credit of the Bru Zane label, revitalises our knowledge of this work that’s scarcely mentioned in specialised dictionaries. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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