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Massenet: Werther (Diapason n°607)

Georges Thill

Symphonic Music - Released January 1, 1958 | Les Indispensables de Diapason

Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or
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Charles Gounod : Cinq-Mars

Ulf Schirmer

Classical - Released May 20, 2016 | Bru Zane

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Cinq-Mars is an 1877 opera by Charles Gounod, written a dozen years after his last big hit, Roméo et Juliette. It's based on a historical novel by Alfred de Vigny about the Marquis of Cinq-Mars, a nobleman who attempted to rally resistance to Cardinal Richelieu and in 1642 was executed for his pains. The work harks back to the tradition of French grand opera and was never very successful. It fell into a series of numbers at a time when audiences were getting a taste of a different way of doing things, not just from Germany, but from Verdi also. But it does contain numbers that show Gounod's undiminished melodic gift: sample the "Cavatine" of the Princess Marie Gonzaga, the linchpin of the wholly fictitious romantic subplot added by Gounod and his librettists. Marie is sung by Véronique Gens, who leads a cast of uniformly strong singers, and this live performance, with the Munich Radio Orchestra and Bavarian Radio Choir under the direction of Ulf Schirmer, has plenty of energy. The recording is available in a sumptuous hardback package with beautiful classic design; the event may not live up to the presentation, but the idea, as a counterweight to the instant reproducibility of art in the Internet age, is a good one.© TiVo
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Lully: Phaéton

Le Poème Harmonique

Classical - Released September 27, 2019 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre: Céphale et Procris

Reinoud Van Mechelen

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

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or
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Jean-Baptiste Lully : Amadis

Christophe Rousset

Opera - Released September 22, 2014 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 4F de Télérama - Diamant d'Opéra - Choc de Classica - 5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik
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Bizet: Carmen, WD 31 (Live)

Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra

Opera - Released October 12, 2018 | Orfeo

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Lully: Armide

Les Talens Lyriques

Classical - Released March 24, 2017 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 4F de Télérama - Gramophone Editor's Choice
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Maurice Yvain: Yes!

Les Frivolités Parisiennes

Classical - Released March 22, 2024 | Alpha Classics

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Cadmus & Hermione

Vincent Dumestre

Classical - Released May 1, 2021 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Jean-Baptiste Lully's Cadmus & Hermione of 1673 was arguably the first true French opera, telling a tragic story (Lully and his librettist Philippe Quinault called it a tragédie en lyrique), employing Italian-style recitatives, and collecting the varied music and dance forms of Louis XIV's opulent court into a coherent narrative that at once celebrated Louis (he is conflated with Cadmus of Thebes) and moved beyond the ceremonial nature of earlier French dramatic music. It's a sprawling work, with five acts, an overture, and a sizable Prologue with its own overture; highlights include a dragon that eats Africans, a monster snake, and a full complement of Greek gods and goddesses. Realization of the work has, until now, been beyond the means of early music performance groups, and this is the world premiere recording of the opera, made in 2019 and based on a 2008 performance at Versailles Palace by some of the same performers. The leader is Vincent Dumestre, conducting the Le Poème Harmonique orchestra and the vocal ensembles Aedes. The forces are large enough to capture the splendor of the music (thankfully, no one-voice-per-part techniques here), and Dumestre is alert to the huge variety of musical devices Lully brings to bear on his story; there are dances, big choruses, bagpipes, and much more. Cadmus & Hermione may be a difficult work to bring to life for modern audiences, but Dumestre keeps things moving along and probably comes as close as anyone could. Of course, anyone interested in the life of the French court in the 17th century will find this an essential acquisition that will keep giving and giving. © TiVo
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Le Siège de Corinthe (Intégrale)

Lorenzo Regazzo

Opera - Released June 3, 2013 | Naxos

Booklet Distinctions Choc de Classica
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Lully: Acis et Galatée, LWV 73

Jean-François Lombard

Opera - Released October 13, 2023 | Naxos

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Jacques Offenbach : La Vie parisienne (5 septembre 1954)

Jules Gresssier

Classical - Released April 15, 2014 | Ina, musique(s)

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Halévy : La Reine de Chypre

Hervé Niquet

Full Operas - Released May 11, 2018 | Bru Zane

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We'll admit: this Reine de Chypre by Fromental Halévy is probably not the unfairly-overlooked work of commanding genius for which the lyrical world has been waiting for fifty years… But it would still be a shame to miss it, especially when performed by such a line-up, with Véronique Gens, Cyrille Dubois and Etienne Dupuis at the top of the bill. And after all, the score is full of vocal marvels and very original ensembles; but it is rather in the orchestration – which is not much more adventurous than that of any other piece of Italian bel canto of the era – that Halévy has taken it easy. The melodic richness was pointed out in an article in the Revue et gazette musicale in April 1842: "In the Reine de Chypre, Halévy's new style is on display with more dash, and more success. I have had occasion to point out the preconditions, as I see them, of the production of a good opera, by pointing out the obstacles which stand in the way of meeting these conditions fully and in good time, whether by the poet or the composer. When these conditions are met, it is an event of great importance for the world of art. Now, in the present case, circumstances have conspired in the performance of a work which, as even the most exacting critic must admit, possesses all the qualities which constitute a good opera. (…) The composer has put all the enchantment of his art into the duet that breathes the sentiments that enrapture them. The dark cloth on which these two charming figures are drawn shows through even in those songs which are so sparkling and alive with happiness, like a sinister cloud, and lends them a particular character of melancholy intrigue. There is no equal, in nobility or in grace, of the magnificent melody of the final part of this duet." The article continues in this vein. The byline? One Richard Wagner… © SM/Qobuz
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Bizet, Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Gounod, Verdi...

Anita Rachvelishvili

Opera Extracts - Released March 2, 2018 | Sony Classical

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 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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Charles Aznavour & The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra

Charles Aznavour

French Music - Released December 1, 2009 | Universal Music Division Barclay

Released a year after his successful duets double album, French icon Charles Aznavour's 2009 follow-up is another collaborative effort, this time with Los Angeles-based Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. Featuring duets with jazz vocalists Rachelle Ferrell and Dianne Reeves, it includes 14 big-band interpretations of both his classic standards ("La Boheme," "Comme Ils Disent"), and several less familiar tracks ("Je N'ouiblerai Jamais," "Des Amis Des Deux Cotes").© Jon O'Brien /TiVo
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Rameau: Castor & Pollux (Choruses & Dances)

Les Arts Florissants

Classical - Released March 8, 1993 | harmonia mundi

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La Captive du Sérail

Florie Valiquette

Classical - Released March 11, 2022 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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In the 18th century, it was common for theatre audiences around Europe to shudder in their seats. Performances at the time would often put an exotic twist on the not-so-distant past, forcing viewers to once again confront the terror of the Battle of Vienna, which ended the Turk’s second siege of the Austrian city. The Ottoman threat had now receded: people could now enjoy a coffee and croissant in a café, and the much-loved Viennese pastries were born. Tales of harems, Christian slaves and the orient, such as One Thousand and One Nights, frightened, intrigued and amazed the population. Not to be outdone, composers made sure to put their mark on this growing craze. “Turqueries” were fashionable in both operas and instrumental music, and orientalism allowed for all kinds of fantasies. This wave of exoticism became especially popular in Paris, particularly in its Opéra-Comique, one of the oldest theatres in France.Soprano Florie Valiquette, from Quebec, offers us a brilliant, moving and light take on this repertoire. Her grace, coupled with her skilful versatility, means she successfully tackles a diverse range of works. Created in 2019 for the Fantômes de Versailles, the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal regularly plays in the pit of the recently restored theatre at Versailles. This building is also used for recordings performed under the label Château de Versailles Spectacles, now almost exclusively available on Qobuz, and there’s so many great projects in the pipeline!Built around excerpts from Grétry’s La Caravane du Caire, which enjoyed great success following its premiere in 1783, the programme also includes excerpts from Gluck’s Pèlerins de la Mecque and Mozart’s L’Enlèvement au sérail, sung in French. Complemented by works by Philidor, Monsigny and Gibert, the “gallant turqueries” presented here paint a fairly accurate picture of the type of performances enjoyed by French society in the second half of the Age of Enlightenment, just a few years before the great upheaval of the French Revolution. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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George Dandin: La grotte de Versailles

Marguerite Louise

Classical - Released October 9, 2020 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Recorded just before lockdown in 2020, the album “La Grotte de Versailles” mixes Lully’s music written for Philippe Quinault’s libretto with a particularly cruel comedy by Molière.
It was recorded in the Crusade Rooms set up by Louis-Philippe in the Château de Versailles around 1845 to pay tribute to the nobility after upheavals from the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Love doesn’t triumph in Georges Dandin and marriage is viewed more like a market where feelings don’t come into play. This gritty comedy-ballet was created in Versailles in 1668 for the Great Royal Entertainment, a party held by Louis XIV to celebrate the peace treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle that brought the war between France and Spain to a close. This album precedes a huge theatrical project by the Ensemble Marguerite Louise conducted by Gaétan Jarry. Featuring actors dressed in refined outfits by Christian Lacroix, the project will be directed by Michel Fau who is accustomed to nightmarish stage productions. The coronavirus pandemic has only added to the nightmare, forcing the programme to be postponed until 2021. This brilliant recording gives us a taster of the shows that will be held next year in Versailles, Compiègne and many other places. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Rameau: Naïs, RCT 49

Orfeo Orchestra

Opera - Released April 6, 2018 | Glossa

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason - 5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik
Created in 1749 to commemorate the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle signed between George II and Louis XV of France to end the War of the Austrian Succession, Rameau’s pastorale héroïque Naïs consecrates the triumph of virtuosity on the stage of the Académie Royale de Musique, while in England, Handel wrote his famous Music for the Royal Fireworks for the same occasion. Weary of sombre tragedies and their dark and oppressive passions, audiences received lighter works more enthusiastically – ballets and pastorales – for which soprano Marie Fel and tenor Pierre Jélyotte were applauded for their prodigious vocal performances. With Naïs, Rameau produces some of his most impressive pages, among which the overture and descriptive prologue, tracing the epic fight between the Titans and the heavenly court for the rule of Olympus. Chivalrous exchanges, athlete evolutions, prophecies, pastoral celebrations, naval battles and underwater nuptials punctuate the work and support the blooming of tender feelings that unite Naïs and Neptune. This co-production between the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles (CMBV − Centre of Baroque Music Versailles) and the Müpa Budapest Early Music Festival confirms the position of György Vashegyi in the field of baroque music, and French music in particular. Following the success of Rameau’s Les Fêtes de Polymnie (The Festivals of Polyhymnia) in 2015, and the revelation that was Mondonville’s Isbé, the Hungarian conductor is at it again with excellent singers and his two ensembles, the Budapest Orfeo Orchestra and the Purcell Chorus, which he founded in Budapest at the end of his studies at The Franz Liszt Academy of Music, completed by master classes from the likes of Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Helmut Rilling. This French-Hungarian production focusing on Rameau will be extended with the upcoming release of Les Indes Galantes (The Amorous Indies). © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Joubert: Ariettes oubliées

Marie-Noëlle Maerten

Classical - Released November 5, 2021 | Alpha Classics

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"You have understood nothing of my simplicity", wrote Paul Verlaine in Child Wife. And that is precisely what Julien Joubert’s music seems to whisper to us with each note.The composer and pianist works regularly with the Maîtrise de Radio France, which has premiered many of his works. Here he has set two cycles by the great nineteenth-century poet to music for this recording (Ariettes oubliées and Aquarelles, for mixed choir). An ambitious programme, yet accessible to everyone, in all simplicity. © Alpha Classics