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Richard Wagner : Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (Les Maîtres-Chanteurs de Nuremberg)

Albert Dohmen

Opera - Released December 1, 2011 | PentaTone

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In anticipation of the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner's birth, Marek Janowski and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra embarked on an ambitious project to record the ten major music dramas for PentaTone; the recording of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg was made on June 3, 2011, as a concert performance without costumes or staging, the better to concentrate all energies on the music. This is a stunning package, presented on four hybrid multichannel SACDs in a thick hardcover book that is replete with background notes and the libretto. Janowski has distinguished himself with his previous releases with this audiophile label, and his reading of Meistersinger is entirely at the service of the score, without any idiosyncrasies or novelties, and the orchestra plays with equal seriousness and dedication. The experienced cast is captivating and the singers audibly inhabit their roles, even without the benefit of a full production. Especially noteworthy is the charismatic singing by the leads, tenor Robert Dean Smith as Walther von Stolzing, soprano Edith Haller as Eva, baritone Albert Dohmen as Hans Sachs, and tenor Peter Sonn as David, who embody the most appealing of Wagner's characters. The sound is superb, offering close-up microphone placement for the vocalists, but also ample coverage of the orchestra and choir, so the illusion of being physically present is quite successful, especially when the music is heard over headphones. For newcomers, this is an excellent introduction to Wagner and to Die Meistersinger, and it is sure to win many admirers, even among connoisseurs who already own a cherished version.© TiVo
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Wagner/Liszt : Transcriptions

Tanguy de Williencourt

Solo Piano - Released October 13, 2017 | Mirare

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason
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Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Les Maîtres Chanteurs de Nuremberg)

Hermann Abendroth

Full Operas - Released October 28, 2008 | Myto Historical

Distinctions 5 de Diapason
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2 0 2 3 Sons de Noël

Les petits chanteurs de Noël

Christmas Music - Released December 21, 2023 | T-Rel Music

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Debussy: Complete Orchestral Work

Jun Märkl

Classical - Released January 30, 2012 | Naxos

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Debussy – Rameau

Víkingur Ólafsson

Classical - Released March 27, 2020 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or - 5 étoiles de Classica
This program brings together two great French composers, separated by almost two centuries, that we would not think of bringing together spontaneously. But the freedom of mind of the Icelandic pianist looks at it otherwise, who, for his third album with Deutsche Grammophon, wanted to highlight their affinities as their contrasts in the light of their innovative contribution to the musical thought of their time. "I scratch my head wondering why Rameau's music is not played more. Between quality, inventiveness and unpredictability, there is never any element of formula in these pieces”, says Víkingur Ólafsson. By instinctively associating these style characteristics with those specific to Debussy, he decided to make an album of them: "I want to show Rameau as a futurist and underline the deep roots of Debussy in French baroque — and in Rameau's music in particular. The idea is that the listener almost forgets who is who by listening to the album." Debussy, who never stopped defending the French tradition by opposing it to German music, liked the decorative and complex lines of this Baroque composer with a French spirit like his own.An initial idea in the development of this skillfully constructed program, the transcription for piano of Debussy from Prélude to his Cantata La Damoiselle introduces it. Like the album's visual, Víkingur Ólafsson aims to be suggestive even in the accent he gives in Rameau to polyphonic voices supported by a flawless rhythmic impulse, which contrasts with Debussy, whose among other things the beautiful tumultuous Jardins sous la pluie which is played with a large breath in the image of wind load until the light returns. © Qobuz / GG
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Ravel : Boléro, Rapsodie espagnole, Ma mère l'Oye

Pierre Boulez

Classical - Released October 14, 2016 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

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Jules Massenet: Ariane

Münchner Rundfunkorchester

Classical - Released September 8, 2023 | Bru Zane

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or
For many years, it was only Manon and Werther that were heard among Massenet's operas, but his reputation appears to be on the rise, and his champion, conductor Laurent Campellone, has recorded a good number of them. Ariane, from 1906, is one of the last to receive its recorded premiere. The Palazzetto Bru Zane label, specializing in obscure French opera, does a typically fine job here; the sound is superb, and the cast of singers, led by the soprano Amina Edris in the lead role, offers several revelations. In his later operas, Massenet often attempted to put a French stamp on the newer styles of the day, and here, it is Wagner who gets this treatment; the opera is built around a set of motifs de rappel (or "reminiscence motifs"), whose parentage in Wagner's leitmotifs is clear. This structure is shoehorned into the durable machinery of French opera. There are big entrance scenes, a pantomime, and plenty of spectacular stage machinery to go with the love triangle plot involving Ariane (Ariadne), Phèdre (Phaedra), and Theseus, who gets to take on the Minotaur in a grand scene with Wagnerian bass trumpet and bass trombone. Massenet's orchestration is impressive throughout. The work does not have the inevitability of truly great art, but it is in no way dull, and anyone with any interest in French opera should hear it for the singers alone; enough of those listeners have already weighed in and put the album on classical best-seller lists in the late summer of 2023.© James Manheim /TiVo

Adjani, bande originale

Isabelle Adjani

French Music - Released November 10, 2023 | Parlophone (France)

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Charpentier & Desmarest: Te Deum

Ensemble Les Surprises

Classical - Released January 5, 2024 | Alpha Classics

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Choc de Classica
The Te Deum was one of the major cultural emblems of the French court in the late 17th and early 18th centuries; in the apt phrasing of annotator Bénédicte Hertz on this 2024 Alpha release, it "exploited two key driving forces of kingly politics: glorification and fear." The splendid trumpet-and-drum sound has made the Charpentier Te Deum heard here into one of the enduring hits of the Baroque era; it even turned up as a theme song for the Eurovision Song Contest a few years back. Ensemble Les Surprises and its imposingly named director, Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas, deliver a strong version with crack playing; it can stand with any others among the many on the market, and Alpha backs up the performances with a spacious but never muddy acoustic at the Metz Arsenal that retains detail and doesn't let the fine soloists get lost. However, what really makes this release a standout is the presence of another Te Deum; Charpentier's is the only one that is commonly heard. The Te Deum "de Lyon" of Henry Desmarest here receives its world premiere. It was also written for the French court; the "de Lyon" moniker seems to come from the fact that a copy of the manuscript is housed there. The work is entirely satisfying. It is later than Charpentier's work and breaks up the Te Deum text differently, allowing more room for the Italianate arias that were beginning to creep into French music, but the imposing quality of the genre is not lost, and this makes for interesting tensions. Lovers of the French Baroque will find that the music here enriches their understanding of the court and its mighty musical apparatus, and really, this is pleasing music for anyone, even Eurovision fans. This release landed on classical best-seller charts in early 2024.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Debussy : Suite bergamasque

Nikolai Lugansky

Solo Piano - Released October 5, 2018 | harmonia mundi

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 étoiles de Classica
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
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Debussy: Images, Children's Corner, L'Isle joyeuse..

Seong-Jin Cho

Solo Piano - Released November 17, 2017 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik - 5 étoiles de Classica
Since the pianist's early days, the South Korean Seong-Jin Cho (1994) has professed a fondness for French music in general and Debussy in particular. At his first public performance at the age of eleven, he played Children’s Corner by Debussy. When he decided, in 2012, to pursue his musical education abroad, he chose Paris, and the Conservatoire National Supérieur, where he frequented the classes of Michel Béroff, the undisputed expert on Debussy. Cho has come back to work again with his old teacher, who became a friend, with the aim of creating his own Debussy album; the choice of works here is "restricted" to works requiring a middling level of virtuosity - mechanical exhibition isn't his thing, even though he has amply mastered his instrument - but whose poetical content allows the pianist to show off his own exquisite expertise as a musician. An homage to his own childhood, Children’s Corner, but also the two books of Images and the exquisite Suite bergamasque. Let’s not forget that Seong-Jin Cho won Warsaw's 2015 Chopin Prize, a sure-fire ticket to an international career. © SM/Qobuz
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Marais: Ariane et Bacchus

Le Concert Spirituel

Classical - Released March 24, 2023 | Alpha Classics

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or
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Monteverdi - A Trace of Grace

Michel Godard

Miscellaneous - Released September 6, 2011 | Carpe Diem Records Berlin

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If you get to thinking there's nothing new under the sun, try this release by French serpent player Michel Godard. (And if the serpent is new to you, visit www.serpentwebsite.com.) Recordings featuring the serpent are rare enough anyhow, and this one inhabits a whole new universe. The large-print Monteverdi in the graphics does not give the buyer an accurate representation of the contents; Claudio Monteverdi is the inspiration for the whole project, but only five of the tracks are performances of Monteverdi madrigals, and even those are for the most part heavily modified in very unexpected ways. Basically this is an album that combines early Baroque music and jazz in an experimental manner. Godard adds serpent lines to the Monteverdi pieces and to the other works on the album, all instrumental, which derive from Monteverdi in not very obvious ways: perhaps from a harmonic progression or motif, perhaps only in mood. The musicians have not tried to present a finished, coherent product but instead to force distinct traditions together and see where they begin to mix; in Godard's words, "the project was to try to make every musician understand the language of the other and to respect this language sufficiently so that together we can try to find a common language." The other improvising musicians are saxophonist Gavino Murgia (who in addition to his usual way of playing the horn channels vocalizations through it) and bassist Steve Swallow, best known for his collaborations with jazz pianist Carla Bley. Their Baroque counterparts are singer Guillemette Laurens, who plays it straight and sounds fine in the Monteverdi, violinist Fanny Paccoud, and theorbo player Bruno Helstroffer. If you're having trouble imagining what this is like, that's not surprising; the only recourse is to give this brilliantly original music a try.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Berlioz: Les nuits d'été, Op. 7, H 81b - Ravel: Shéhérazade, M. 41 - Saint-Saëns: Mélodies persanes, Op. 26

Marie-Nicole Lemieux

Classical - Released September 29, 2023 | Warner Classics

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This is a nicely programmed album consisting of French song cycles spaced several decades apart from the 19th and early 20th centuries. One of them, the Mélodies Persanes ("Persian Songs") of Saint-Saëns, is not a common item; with its bouncy text-setting, nobody would compare it to the deep Eastern influences woven into various Ravel works, but then, Ravel was inspired to execute those by listening to Saint-Saëns. In Berlioz's Les nuits d'été and Ravel's Shéhérazade, contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux has plenty of competition, but there is less for the Saint-Saëns. Another attraction is the work of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo under conductor Kazumi Yamada, neither a household name. The group is velvety smooth in the Berlioz cycle, with quiet and perfectly controlled string sound throughout. The strings match the voice of Lemieux beautifully; both have a luxuriance that fits the extravagantly Romantic texts of the Berlioz. So, everything is in place here, and listeners' reactions to the whole are likely to come down to their feelings about Lemieux's voice itself. It has a rapid, confident vibrato that is remarkably pitch-accurate as it moves up and down within her range. To these ears, it is beautiful. It also doesn't vary much according to the text; the Saint-Saëns songs and Ravel's Asie, which are intended to evoke exotic melodic traits, sound much like the Berlioz. A bit of sampling will likely determine one's enjoyment of the album in general, and there are certainly many things to like here.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Psyché

Christophe Rousset

Classical - Released January 13, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Le Manuscrit de Madame Théobon

Christophe Rousset

Classical - Released September 17, 2021 | Aparté

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This manuscript, from Christophe Rousset’s private collection, was discovered by him in 2004. Property of Madame de Théobon, one of Louis XIV’s mistresses, it contains not only the essential French harpsichord pieces of the late seventeenth century, but also many transcriptions of compositions by Lully and several hitherto completely unknown works. Providing precious insight into the musical practices of that time, these pieces are recorded here for the first time. With its powerful sound, the Nicolas Dumont harpsichord of 1704 does them full justice. © Aparté
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La Danse

Martin James Bartlett

Classical - Released January 26, 2024 | Warner Classics

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Maurice Ravel's Le tombeau de Couperin has sometimes been paired with music by its namesake, naturally enough, but here, pianist Martin James Bartlett expands the concept a bit, adding Rameau at the beginning, some little two-piano pieces by Reynaldo Hahn and Ravel's apocalyptic La valse as a grand finale. The result is that he looks outward from the neoclassic world, catching the memorial function of Le tombeau de Couperin (the work's six movements memorialize friends of the composer killed in World War I) and carrying overtones of the whole world that vanished with the war. The inclusion of the pair of two-piano pieces from Le ruban dénoué by the intensely nostalgic Hahn intensifies the mood. Bartlett's tone is measured, avoiding sentiment and holding to an elevated aesthetic. His La valse has an impact that is all the greater in this context. Ravel denied that this work was a symbolic representation of the decline of the old central European culture or of anything else, but one might rejoin that he did not have to realize it for this to be so. Hahn plays the work in its single-piano arrangement, made by Ravel. This is not often heard, due not only to its sheer difficulty but also because of its swirling density. Having introduced the second piano of Alexandre Tharaud in the Hahn works, Bartlett could easily have kept it on for the Ravel. However, his decision was intelligent; the single-piano arrangement has an overwhelming quality that works very well here. This is an unusually cohesive and powerful program, beautifully performed, and the album landed on classical best-seller lists in early 2024.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Poulenc: Concertos for Piano

Edward Gardner

Concertos - Released October 16, 2015 | Chandos

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The Montreal-born pianist Louis Lortie has emerged as one of the world's top specialists in French music of the first half of the 20th century. He is capable of great subtlety, but he does not give short shrift to the pure melodic pleasures and the popular and jazz influences that are integral to the tradition. This Poulenc album is a delight, and it might be the only one you need for Poulenc's music for piano and ensemble. The Piano Concerto of 1949 is not one of Poulenc's more famous works, but the performance here by Lortie and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under Edward Gardner is masterful, with intricate weaving of piano and orchestra balanced by melodic straightforwardness, including an intriguing quotation of "Way Down Upon the Swanee River" in a kind of Latinized version in the finale. The first movement seems to have a wash of piano sound, emerging seamlessly into melody. The more familiar Concerto for two pianos and orchestra receives a vigorous performance, with Hélène Mercier on the second piano extremely well-coordinated with Lortie, and there are several crystalline smaller pieces including Aubade, a neoclassic suite for piano and an ensemble of 18 instruments. Chandos' studio sound here is absolutely superb, and this is destined to be a cornerstone Poulenc release. It's a joy from start to finish.© TiVo
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Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, Tombeau de Couperin, Shéhérazade

Les Siècles

Symphonic Music - Released April 13, 2018 | harmonia mundi

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or - 5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik
Recording Ravel's music on period instruments is the kind of thing that might raise a smile... until you realise just how much the production of instruments has changed in less than a hundred years: it's the return of catgut strings, skin drum heads, the French basson (and not the German system bassoon which is used across all the world's orchestras today), shaper tips, trumpets and trombones of French manufacture. At the head of his orchestra Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth gives a new, orthodox, historically-informed version of Ma Mère l’oye (complete ballet), the Tombeau de Couperin and Shéhérazade, the long-neglected "ouverture de féérie" [Fairy Overture] which is pure Ravel. This return to the roots is clearly easier and more straightforwardly authentic for this period of music history, because, unlike earlier works, we possess recordings which date back to the 1920s, and even earlier, which can tell us about the style, the colours, the phrasing and the tempo. But it isn't enough just to have all this historical information to hand to make something interesting. What makes this record thrilling is that all the musicians in the Siècles are excellent, and François-Xavier Roth is a talented artist himself, who knows this music inside out. At which point, his complete recording of Stravinsky's Firebird has already struck us with its quality. This rediscovery of Ravel resounds with clarity and finesse; it is a feast of well-defined timbres which cuts against the "beautiful sound" which prevails in orchestras around the world today. © François Hudry/Qobuz