Composed on 1686 as part of the festivities organised by the Duc de Vendôme in honour of the Grand Dauphin, during the latter’s visit to his estate at the Château d’Anet in September of that year, Acis et Galatée is Lully’s last complete opera. His faithful librettist Quinault having retired from writing for the stage, he collaborated this time with the poet Campistron on a work that tells the story of the love between the sea-nymph Galatea and the shepherd Acis – a love threatened by the violence of the jealous cyclops Polyphemus. This opera, an undoubted dramatic success, gives the orchestra an important part, expressively evoking, for example, the giant’s cries of anger, the terror of the chorus, and the lovers’ hasty flight in Act III. It includes some magnificent pieces, including the final Passacaille, as well as inventive treasures, such as duet for hautes-contre (high tenors) “Ah! je succombe au tourment qui m'accable”, or the burlesque march that accompanies the entry of Polyphemus and his fellow cyclopes, conveying their uncouthness. But the loveliest pieces in the score are for Galatea: “Enfin, j’ai dissipé la crainte”, for instance, or “Que ne puis-je expirer après ce coup funeste?”. Lully died in March 1687, a few months after the première, leaving Achille et Polyxène unfinished. © Aparté

Françoise Hardy is a pop survivor. As she admitted herself, her 2012 album L’Amour Fou sounded the death knell of a prolific 50-year career. But after listening completely by chance to a song of Finnish band Poets of the fall, she decided to adapt it in French and that’s how this new album adventure all started. The singer of Message personnel has always dressed up her albums with patchy elements from all of sorts of collaborations (both for the music and lyrics), and this Personne d’autre is no exception to the rule. A personality seems to stand out, and that’s Erick Benzi, who composed nine songs on this album. He’s also the author behind most arrangements. In addition to Benzi, the credits feature La Grande Sophie, Thierry Stremler and… Michel Berger (for the cover of Seras-tu là?).
Unsurprisingly Personne d’autre specifically focuses on death, with which Françoise Hardy had a close encounter in the middle of the 2010s. But rather than fearing it, the singer looks at death straight in the eyes, even considering it with a form of lightness, like in the counting rhyme Trois petits tours – the only perky track on the album. But aside from this surprising song, the opus seems like a sweet purgatory, in which atonement appears to be a step more pleasant than painful. This flawless harmony comes first and foremost from the magnificent melodies that enrich each song: in the tender lullaby Dors mon ange, the melancholic Personne d’autre or the elegant waltz Quel Dommage, Françoise Hardy shows once again her attraction for beautiful and noble melodies. At times, deadly metaphors are not the most subtle, like in the lyrics of Train Spécial, but it's arrangements are deliciously 80s. Same goes for the strong echo that underlies her voice here and there, transforming her de facto into an angelic figure rising into heaven. But overall, the listener will be seduced by the gracious serenity of what − from all angles − sure seems like a farewell album. © Nicolas Magenham/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

Françoise Hardy is a pop survivor. As she admitted herself, her 2012 album L’Amour Fou sounded the death knell of a prolific 50-year career. But after listening completely by chance to a song of Finnish band Poets of the fall, she decided to adapt it in French and that’s how this new album adventure all started. The singer of Message personnel has always dressed up her albums with patchy elements from all of sorts of collaborations (both for the music and lyrics), and this Personne d’autre is no exception to the rule. A personality seems to stand out, and that’s Erick Benzi, who composed nine songs on this album. He’s also the author behind most arrangements. In addition to Benzi, the credits feature La Grande Sophie, Thierry Stremler and… Michel Berger (for the cover of Seras-tu là?).
Unsurprisingly Personne d’autre specifically focuses on death, with which Françoise Hardy had a close encounter in the middle of the 2010s. But rather than fearing it, the singer looks at death straight in the eyes, even considering it with a form of lightness, like in the counting rhyme Trois petits tours – the only perky track on the album. But aside from this surprising song, the opus seems like a sweet purgatory, in which atonement appears to be a step more pleasant than painful. This flawless harmony comes first and foremost from the magnificent melodies that enrich each song: in the tender lullaby Dors mon ange, the melancholic Personne d’autre or the elegant waltz Quel Dommage, Françoise Hardy shows once again her attraction for beautiful and noble melodies. At times, deadly metaphors are not the most subtle, like in the lyrics of Train Spécial, but it's arrangements are deliciously 80s. Same goes for the strong echo that underlies her voice here and there, transforming her de facto into an angelic figure rising into heaven. But overall, the listener will be seduced by the gracious serenity of what − from all angles − sure seems like a farewell album. © Nicolas Magenham/Qobuz

Download not available

Download not available

Download not available

Download not available

Though it's officially his debut studio album, Agust D's D-Day is the third major release from Suga of BTS. As the rap alias of the K-pop superstar, Agust D delivers angst and aggression in droves, breaking from the polished image and ethos of his day job in favor of brutally honest introspection and personal emotions. Like most of the solo projects released in the wake of the planned BTS hiatus that started in 2022, D-Day is frustrated and hungry, focusing on themes of liberation and building inner strength in the face of outside pressure and challenges. Suga's talents as a rapper are on full display here, as he weaves from laid-back delivery on "SDL" to lightning-speed bars on the gnashing "Haegeum" and "HUH?!" with fellow BTS rapper j-hope. "AMYGDALA" and "Polar Night" turn inward, while that pensive, personal focus reaches a peak on album highlight "Snooze," a gorgeous, melancholy standout that features vocals from Woosung of the Rose and a piano sample from the late great Ryuichi Sakamoto. Sure to end on a hopeful note, Suga samples BTS' own song of the same name on the contemplative "Life Goes On." Though not as hardcore as D-2 or youthfully raucous as Agust D, D-Day is the most emotionally mature offering from Suga's alter ego to date, carrying him another step forward in his evolution.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Since several of the songs here are the type that would get requested (such as "People," "The Girl from Ipanema," and "The Days of Wine and Roses") in the mid-'60s, this particular Oscar Peterson CD reissue would not seem to have much potential, but the pianist mostly uplifts the material and adds a few songs (such as his own "Goodbye, J.D." and John Lewis' "D & E") that probably no one asked for. Overall, this is a reasonably enjoyable Oscar Peterson session, featuring bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen.© Scott Yanow /TiVo

A serpent woman haunts Cecile McLorin Salvant's dreams on her boldly realized seventh album, 2023's Mélusine. Inspired by the European folktale most famously detailed by 14th century French writer Jean d'Arras, Mélusine tells the tale of a shapeshifting maiden, half-serpent/half-woman, whose righteous anger takes on ever-more dualistic meanings under Salvant's dynamic musical sway. Having been lavished with accolades, including several Grammy Awards for her clarion, swinging jazz and French chanson-infused albums, Salvant has increasingly leaned into the more stylistically experimental and personal aspects of her artistry. It was an approach she took to new levels with 2022's Ghost Song, performing her poetic originals alongside unexpected covers of songs by Kate Bush and Sting. Centered on the title track, which she composed during the Ghost Song sessions, Mélusine is a gorgeously realized production. Although there are some English lyrics here, the album features the most French Salvant has sung on record. Thankfully, she offers translations of each song with a sentence that also highlights how each track illuminates the story.The album also finds Salvant (who produced the album with Tom Korkidis) pulling together all of her disparate influences, from her moody cabaret jazz reading of Charles Trenet's "La Route Enchantee" to her playfully mischievous interpretation of the 14th century composition "Dites Moi Que Je Suis Belle," the latter of which is done in dancerly duet with djembe percussion master Weedie Braimah. Along with Braimah, she's joined throughout by several longtime associates including pianists Sullivan Fortner and Aaron Diehl, bassists Paul Sikivie and Luques Curtis, drummers Kyle Pool and Obed Calvaire, and saxophonist Godwin Louis. Shifting the line-up track to track, Salvant offers inspired forays into '70s sci-fi-inspired Canadian musical theater ("Petite Musique Terrienne" from Starmania), the dramatic French pop of Veronique Sanson ("Le Temps est Assassin"), and an Afro-Latin take on 12th century troubadour Almuc Castelnau's "Dame Iseut" that Salvant sings in both Occitan and Haitian Creole, languages that underline her own rich dual heritage. There's even a synthesizer-accented take on Michel Lambert's haunting 1660 air de coeur "D'un Feu Secret" that sounds like electronic composer Suzanne Ciani, Ella Fitzgerald, and the Modern Jazz Quartet giving a Baroque court performance. Her originals here are just as stylistically wide-ranging as she pulls together jazz and Haitian compas rhythms on "Doudou," accompanies herself on analog synth on "Wedo," and weaves a dreamy overlay of vocals and electric piano on "Aida." It almost goes without saying that Salvant's voice is utterly sublime on Mélusine, rich with an earthy jazz warmth on one song and shimmering with a brightly attenuated operatic resonance on another. There's also a feeling that for her, the story of a half-serpent half-woman is in keeping with her life as a Black woman raised in Miami by a Haitian father and French mother. Whether it's with the themes of romantic heartbreak and bodily autonomy, or the global boundary-pushing musicality at play on Mélusine, Salvant's work is transcendent.© Matt Collar /TiVo