Oksana Volkova / Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra / Constantine Orbelian POISON D'AMOUR

 

POISON D'AMOUR

 

Gaëlle Arquez / Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine / Paul Daniel ARDENTE FLAMME

French mezzo-soprano Gaëlle Arquez is one of the rising stars of the opera world. Nominated “Révélation Lyrique” at the “Victoires de la Musique 2011”, she made a noted debut in the title role of the new production La Belle Helene at the the Théâtre du Châtelet and is scheduled to sing the title roles of Carmen, Xerses, Pelleas et Mélisande and Armide.

For her first album with Deutsche Grammophon, Ardente Flamme, rising star Gaëlle Arquez shows the extent of her talent through a program that pays homage to the French repertoire from Baroque to Romantic music. 

Accompanied by the National Orchestra Bordeaux Aquitaine under the direction of Paul Daniel, the mezzo-soprano embodies the female characters in opera who are the most torn between Duty and Love. From Gluck to Massenet, via Berlioz, "Ardente flamme" travels thourgh the history of French opera in a selection of both famous and lesser known tunes, including excerpts from Bizet's Carmen, which Ms. Arquez is currently performing  in the most beautiful European venues, including the Royal Opera House, Frankfurt Opera and Teatro Real de Madrid.

Susanne Elmark / Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester / Robert Reimer ARIER - Ch'il bel Sogno

Susanne Elmark completed her training at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen in 1994, and gave her debut concert in 1996. Her teachers were Susanne Eken and Ingrid Bjoner, and she has studied widh Josef Protschka. Susanne Elmark has given numerous recitals in Denmark and Germany, and has performed as a soloist in The Messiah, Mozart's Requiem, Bach's B Minor Mass and Carmina Burana, and she is a patticularly frequent guest with the Danish Radio Concert Ordhestra. She has sung Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi in a production on Danish television. Other roles have included Gilda in Rigoletto at the Braunschweig Opera, the Queen of the Night at the Deutsche Oper and Zerlina with the Royal Opera in Copenhagen. She has had several engagements widh Danish orchestras and appears frequently on recordings. (Naxos Records)