Karine Deshayes / Marie-Laure Garnier / Kaëlig Boché / Raphaël Jouan / Alphonse Cemin ALEXANDRE DUMAS ET LA MUSIQUE

 

ALEXANDRE DUMAS ET LA MUSIQUE

 

Philharmonie Zuidnederland / Dmitri Liss / Christianne Stotijn HENDRIK ANDRIESSEN Miroir de peine HECTOR BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique

MIROIR DE PEINE - SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

Stéphanie d'Oustrac / Thibaut Roussel / Tanguy de Williencourt UNE SOIRÉE CHEZ BERLIOZ

UNE SOIRÉE CHEZ BERLIOZ

Véronique Gens / I Giardini NUITS

                                                                            NUITS

Stéphanie d'Oustrac / Thibaut Roussel / Tanguy de Williencourt UNE SOIRÉE CHEZ BERLIOZ

Another facet of Berlioz! We may find it hard to imagine that the composer of such epics as Les Troyens started out as a guitarist... and that his first compositional experience was to transcribe songs, inherited from the Ancien Regime, for voice and guitar.

The particular instrument that was given to Berlioz by Paganini survives to this day; here it brings us closer to the repertoire suitable for a musicale hosted by Berlioz: airs for voice and guitar, but also art songs (a genre which the composer pioneered), along with chamber music and pieces for solo piano. Another way of listening to Berlioz!

Benjamin Bernheim / PKF - Prague Philharmonia / Emmanuel Villaume BENJAMIN BERNHEIM

“Working in partnership with Deutsche Grammophon, a label with such a long and illustrious history, is both an enormous honour and a huge responsibility,” says Bernheim, for whom the world’s most prestigious opera houses are already homes from home. “It’s given me an even greater incentive to perform at the very highest level.” Born in Paris in 1985, Bernheim studied in Lausanne then became a member of Zurich Opera’s renowned International Opera Studio. Before long he was one of the most sought-after lyric tenors worldwide, and he is now regularly invited to appear at La Scala, Milan, the Berlin Staatsoper, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Vienna Staatsoper and the Salzburg Festival, among many others. Wherever he goes, he captivates audiences with his mesmerising vocal and dramatic interpretations.

Accompanied by the Prague Philharmonia under the baton of Emmanuel Villaume, on his debut DG album Bernheim presents a varied programme drawn from the Italian, Russian and French operatic repertoire. His vocal and expressive versatility can be heard, for example, in Lensky’s aria from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, an opera in which he enjoyed huge success at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, and in Edgardo’s “Tombe degli avi miei” from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Another of the characters featured here is Puccini’s Rodolfo (La bohème), a role he sees as “steeped in tradition”, and therefore one for which he needed to find his own personal interpretation – “a challenging but hugely rewarding experience”. The music of his birthplace is particularly close to his heart, and is represented on the album by arias such as “En fermant les yeux” from Massenet’s Manon, “L’Amour! Oui, son ardeur” from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette and “Salut! demeure chaste et pure” from the same composer’s Faust. “The French repertoire requires perfect diction and the ability to convey the meaning behind the text as well”, observes Bernheim. “There is so much poetry in these pieces and there are so many details to discover in them. My aim is to bring all of this out in my performances. These are works in which I can give 150% and use every different facet of my voice.”

Olivier Latry MIDNIGHT AT NOTRE-DAME

While Paris slept,’ reads the blurb, ‘Notre-Dame’s organist Olivier Latry recorded this musical celebration of well-known classics.’ Indeed, the absence of extraneous traffic noise, and the just-perceptible whisper of wind under pressure, ensure that the cathedral’s instrument is heard in ideal circumstances. The programme (recorded in late 2003) pays homage to the skills of a predominantly French group of transcribers. The exception is Liszt’s ponderous treatment of his future son-in-law’s Pilgrims’ Chorus. 

Dupré’s and Messerer’s Bach movements make excellent and invigorating bookends to this slightly uneven hour’s worth of music. Guillou’s transcription of Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue is a highlight: every contrapuntal detail of one of Mozart’s best fugues shines brilliantly. And Guillou’s virtuoso ‘colouring in’ of Prokofiev’s motoric Toccata takes one’s breath away. The en chamade reeds are used to wonderful effect. Resist the temptation to lower the volume level beforehand! Equally successful is Vierne’s transcription of Rachmaninov’s infamous Prelude in C sharp minor. It shouldn’t work on the organ, but it does. All that is missing from the luxurious tonal palette are distant chimes. 

Sizzling sounds abound, too, in Berlioz’s ebullient Hungarian March, though Latry applies a tad too much rubato at times (a complaint levelled at organists the world over) and the requisite rhythmic spring suffers. The two remaining tracks are of Duruflé’s nondescript transcriptions of Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring and Mortify Us. The former is taken too slowly and Latry makes a slightly labourious job of the latter. 

These criticisms apart, the engineers have done a magnificent job in capturing the soul of this Romantic, symphonic organ. Latry’s mastery of both instrument and repertoire is undeniable. I recommend it to even those who have an aversion to organ discs or transcriptions. For those with an SACD player the aural experience will be overpowering. (Malcolm Riley / Gramophone)

Stéphanie d'Oustrac / Pascal Jourdan SIRÈNES

In recording this first recital for harmonia mundi, Stéphanie d'Oustrac and Pascal Jourdan wished to measure themselves against three cornerstones of Romantic music, three composers who each in their own way made a decisive contribution to the evolution of the lied (Liszt), or even to the birth of the French mélodie, in the case of Berlioz's Les Nuits d'été. Much more widely known in their sumptuous orchestration, these songs take on a completely different dimension when accompanied by the sobriety of a piano. This artistic approach found its ultimate resonance in the five Wesendonck-Lieder, which Wagner originally intended as a simple duo for voice and piano, though they were eventually to form one of the most famous cycles in the history of the lied.

Julie Fuchs / Orchestre National d’ile de France / Enrique Mazzola MADEMOISELLE

In the 2018/19 season, Julie will appear in two new productions; as Fiorilla Il turco in Italia at Opernhaus Zürich and as Eurydice Orphée aux enfers at the Opéra Grand Avignon. She will also make her role debut as Eva in the rarely performed opera La morte d’Abel by Caldara at Salzburg Whitsun Festival. 

Other concert highlights include solo recitals at the Philharmonie de Paris, Théâtre de l’Athénée in Paris, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Opéra de Versailles, Opéra du Rhin, and Opéra national de Bordeaux, as well as Carmina Burana with the Orchestre national de Bordeaux Aquitaine and a gala concert at Salzburg Whitsun Festival. 

Julie’s discography includes a recording of early songs by Mahler and Debussy with Alphonse Cemin, and a disc of Songs for Piano and Voice by Poulenc (Atma Classique). 

In 2014 Julie signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, with her first solo album Yes! released in 2015. 

Deutsche Grammophon has announced the release of Julie Fuchs’ second album. The new album, set for release on Feb. 15, 2019, will be titled “Mademoiselle” and will feature of a collection of Bel canto arias personally chosen by the soprano. Enrique Mazzola conducts the Orchestre National d’ile de France. The soprano’s first album for the company was entitled “Yes!” and featured a collection of French works. She also released a Debussy album and an album with Poulenc’s complete songs for soprano. Fuchs is one of today’s rising stars in France, performing in high profile engagements. She is scheduled to appear this season at the Opéra de Bordeaux, Opernahus Zurich, and Salzburg Whitsun Festival. She will also perform a concert at the Aix-en-Provence with music by Rossini and Donizetti.

San Francisco Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas BERLIOZ Roméo et Juliette

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony bring unsurpassed storytelling to their latest recording on the Grammy Award-winning SFS Media label: Berlioz’s dramatic symphony Roméo et Juliette With a narrative that Berlioz deemed "too beautiful, too musical" to not be performed, this Impassioned orchestral scoring of love and despair is further enriched by the vocals of Sasha Cooke, Nicholas Phan, Luca Pisaroni, and the SFS Chorus. 

“Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette is a true sonic spectacular—the scale of the piece and the positioning of the large orchestra, very large chorus, and soloists is extraordinary. This recording allows all of these wonderful forces to be heard clearly and with incredible majesty.” (Michael Tilson Thomas)

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Choirs / Edward Gardner BERLIOZ Grande Messe des Morts

With this surround-sound recording of Berlioz’s Requiem, Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra tackle the infinite and the immeasurable.

All the grandiose, striking beauty of the Requiem’s large-scale ceremonial is encapsulated by first-class vocal and orchestral forces, fully utilising the spatial possibilities of Grieghallen in Bergen. The matching of space and sonority was one of Berlioz’s lasting obsessions, one experience in St Paul’s Cathedral in London throwing Berlioz into a delirium of emotion from which he took days to recover. His Grande Messe des morts, notorious for its requirement of four brass bands in addition to a large orchestra and chorus, taken here from live concerts, has often been seen as one of the most emotionally powerful works of its kind.

Setting a solemn and austere, even ascetic text, the music is not that of an orthodox believer but of a visionary, inspired by the dramatic implications of death and judgement.

“… it is Gardner’s handling of the quieter movements , with their often sparse textures and archaic polyphony, that marks his performance as something special. While taking care never to let the music flag, he finds a poetry and sensitivity to Berlioz’s often strange musical language that is deeply moving without ever cloying. It’s a reading steeped in feeling for the early Romantic soundworld that Berlioz helped to establish, and Gardner restrains the strings from excessive vibrato to maximise expressive effect. To sample some of the most exquisite sounds, try the opening of the ‘Hostias’ or ‘Agnus Dei’… one of the most thoughtful and compelling accounts of the Grande Messe des morts in the catalogue. A huge achievement!” (Europadisc)

David Aaron Carpenter / Vladimir Ashkenazy / Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra BERLIOZ Harold in Italy PAGANINI Sonata per la Gran Viola e Orchestra

For his second CD release, 25-year-old New York-born violist David Aaron Carpenter is joined by Vladimir Ashkenazy who leads the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Together they perform the Symphony with Viola obbligato, Harold in Italy, which Berlioz originally wrote on a commission from Paganini. The present recording features, for the first time, a more virtuoso soloist part written for Paganini.

The coupling is a showpiece, which Nicolò Paganini wrote after rejecting his earlier Berlioz commission; "The Sonata per la Gran Viola displays the highest virtuosic writing for this instrument," says David Aaron Carpenter, who defines his mission as focusing attention on the viola as a great solo string instrument in its own right.

Also included is Berlioz's cheerful Overture to the opera Béatrice et Bénédict.

Recipient of the 2011 Leonard Bernstein Award (on August 27, 2011) and winner of the 2010 Avery Fisher Career Grant, David has emerged as one of the world's most promising young artists. In 2006, he won the prestigious Walter E. Naumburg Viola Competition and in 2007, he became protégé for The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, being the youngest in this mentorship programme's history. David Aaron Carpenter has been the protégé of several major international musical figures, such as Pinchas Zukerman, Yuri Bashmet and Christoph Eschenbach.

This release follows on the great success of David's debut recording, with the Philharmonia Orchestra and conductor Christoph Eschenbach, of the Elgar and Schnittke concertos (ODE 1153-2). (Ondine)

Anima Eterna Brugge / Jos van Immerseel, BERLIOZ Symphonie Fantastique - Le Carnaval Romain

Without any prior information, the first thing listeners will notice about Jos van Immerseel's 2008 recording of Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique is the umistakable period instrumentation, with the sheen of the strings and the distinctive sound of early 19th century woodwinds and brass, obvious at the outset. The second thing discriminating listeners will notice is the great care Immerseel takes with connecting notes, not only in the straightforward handling of melodic phrases, but also in linking secondary figures in the accompaniment, so that this chord progression or that isolated pitch makes sense within the larger scheme of things. This is where the performance either rises or falls, depending on what one wants to get out of this work. To the extent that Berlioz created Symphonie fantastique to show off his innovative orchestration, this recording goes as far as any historically informed and scholarly version to make sure that everything is heard clearly, not merely as separate sounds, but as integral parts of the greater, kaleidoscopic whole. Where this rendition might be regarded as a failure is in its lack of visceral excitement, which seems to be the unintended result of producing an immaculate-sounding performance. Immerseel gets astonishing sonorities from the ensemble Anima Eterna Brugge, and the engineers of Zig Zag Territoires capture them to perfection, but no one remembered to make the music cook. If Symphonie fantastique is deprived of its passion, delirium, fury, violence, and horror, it is merely an exercise in futility. The point of this work and its bizarre program is to portray the extreme emotional life of its drug-addled protagonist. Yet because it is played here at somewhat slower tempos that feel plodding, and with a meticulous precision that seems overly fussy, it doesn't rush madly, it doesn't whirl feverishly, and it doesn't fly off its handle, but seems too self-conscious to really let things rip. The sole exception is the Dream of a Witches' Sabbath, which is almost as fiendish and hair-raising as one might wish, but comes much too late to save the performance. Conversely, Le Carnaval romain is the best selection on the album because it has a wonderful period sound and is played with the verve and energy missing in the Symphonie. At points, Immerseel seems to pull back slightly in his pacing, but these are minor adjustments for the sake of clarity that don't impede the vitality of the whole overture, least of all in the final stretch. So if clear performances of these classics are required, this CD will fill that need, but for wild and thrilling Romantic music, this recording of Symphonie fantastique is not a contender. (Blair Sanderson)

Sabine Devieilhe MIRAGES

This album came about through my desire to record Lakmé, a role that has been very dear to my heart since I first performed it on stage in 2012. It’s a part of which I know and love every single bar. 

For the character of Lakmé, Léo Delibes composed some of the most beautiful music ever written for coloratura soprano. His artistic approach was essentially a French one in that he always made the voice the centre of attention, with an orchestration that is at times diaphanous (when the heroine recites a prayer) and at times dazzling (in the great love duets). It was this work that sparked my love for French nineteenth-century opera. But Lakmé also came about within the context of European artists becoming more open to influences from distant lands. Western ears were at that time keen to be taken on musical and poetic journeys, and people were increasingly receptive to perfumes from afar.

This collection explores the dream of the East cultivated by Delibes and later by Maurice Delage, who actually went on an extended visit to India and brought back with him the modal colours of Indian music. It also touches on Japan and China, as seen through the prism of Messager’s Madame Chrysanthème and Stravinsky’s Rossignol, and Egypt, with the incantation sung by La Charmeuse in Thaïs. The element of fantasy also takes on a more folk-like and popular dimension, with settings by Ambroise Thomas and Berlioz of Ophelia’s strange song. With his music for Mélisande and Ariel, both of whom use their voices to sing and to charm, Debussy uses the exoticism of the modal scale to disconcert the listener and evoke an unspecified faraway place. 

So, ‘far from the real world’, as Lakmé says before her ‘Liebestod’, like the fantasy image of a distant country – let us indulge an innocent pleasure, and dream... (Sabine Devieilhe, 2017)

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.

Joyce El-Khoury / Carlo Rizzi / The Hallé ÉCHO

Of Joyce El-Khoury’s performance as Violetta in her recent Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (ROH) debut, the Independent wrote: “Her pianissimi are exquisite, her coloratura is bold, fearless and flawless, and the expressiveness of her sound grips the heart”. She is embracing her gift for bel canto repertoire with the release of her debut solo album ‘Echo’ with maestro Carlo Rizzi and The Hallé Orchestra (Opera Rara) later this summer. 

It is impossible to know with any accuracy what Julie Dorus-Gras’s voice sounded like, though in her day she acquired a reputation for rare vocal greatness. 

What is clear from the historical facts available is that she had a prodigious work ethic and was constantly refining and shaping her vocal technique to meet the requirements of the roles she sang. This iron discipline allowed her to perform a wider variety of roles than normal and placed her among the front rank of artists of the time. When composers of considerable prominence were looking for appropriate talent to debut their works, she was often the first choice. 

I feel a strong kinship with Mme. Dorus-Gras. Like her, I consider myself a perennial student of this wonderful art form. Like her, I am always looking to grow, to expand my vocal palette in an effort to convey more truthfully the trials, tribulations and intricacies of the human condition. 

There is no way to know whether my voice is similar to hers in tonal quality. What I do know, is that the repertoire she sang, some of which is featured on this disc, resonates deeply with me. Moreover, the vocal demands feel a natural fit for my voice and I simply love singing this music. 

This recital recording is both a tribute and a gesture of gratitude to this wonderful artist, who pioneered so much repertoire that still has so much to say to modern-day audiences. I decided to call this disc Écho after noticing that this word is present in a few of the pieces, whether in French or Italian (as ‘eco’). is is especially spine-tingling for me: Mme. Julie Dorus-Gras’s work is still echoing today in the 21st century and inspiring artists such as myself. 

I very much hope you enjoy listening to this marvellous music. (Joyce El-Khoury)

Véronique Gens / Les Talens Lyriques / Christophe Rousset TRAGÉDIENNES 2

This is the second instalment of Véronique Gens's Tragédiennes series, which examines how francophone composers from the 18th and early 19th centuries dealt with the heroines of classical tragedy. Classical, in this context, means Racine as well as Greek and Roman drama, though Gens contentiously widens the definition even further at one point to include a chunk of Sacchini's Renaud, based on Tasso's Renaissance epic Gerusalemme Liberata. The programme is variable, with giants such as Gluck and Berlioz placed alongside also-rans such as Piccinni and Grétry. All of it, however, requires the ability to sing words as well as phrases, and Gens's immaculate way with a text is often as mesmerising as her ability to sustain the long sculpted lines that are a common stylistic feature among her chosen composers. There are some surprises: she sings Cassandra's music from Berlioz's Les Troyens, where we might expect to hear her as Dido; when she turns to Cherubini's Medea, for what is probably the greatest track on the disc, it is to play the sorrowing maid Neris, rather than the pathological heroine. Her accompanists are Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques, a bit lightweight in Berlioz, but startling and effective elsewhere. (Tim Ashley / The Guardian)

Véronique Gens / Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire / John Axelrod BERLIOZ Herminie - Les Nuits d’été - RAVEL Shéhérazade

This is an absolutely wonderful program. Of course Les Nuits d’été and Shéhérazade are old discmates, most famously on an outstanding disc featuring the late, great Régine Crespin. A dramatic soprano, Crespin’s voice was quite a bit larger than the comparative lightness and purity of Gens, but these songs aren’t Wagner, and each soloist does the music full justice in her own way. Especially in Les Nuits d’été, which isn’t really a song cycle, Gens and conductor John Axelrod team up to produce a performance that actually makes you forget that the work consists of two quick numbers enclosing four long, droopy ones. “Absence” and “Au Cimetière” seldom have sounded more flowing and purposeful.

Gens’ deft handling of the poetry also pays major dividends in the long first song of Shéhérazade, a travelogue that all too easily degenerates into a sort of impressionistic, French version of “I’ve Got A Little List”. Not here, with Gens conveying an unexaggerated feeling of wonderment, ably seconded by Axelrod’s colorful accompaniments. The brief concluding songs, “La flûte enchanté” and “L’indifférent”, are sexy but not smarmy, beautifully capturing Ravel’s delicately etched vocal lines. I can’t help but think, despite wonderful performances by non-French singers (Ely Ameling especially), how much it helps to have a native speaker take the part.

However, what makes this disc particularly desirable is the presence of Herminie, an early cantata by Berlioz that’s almost always passed over in favor of the more popular La mort de Cléopâtre. Herminie is not only a very enjoyable work in its own right, but it begins with a tune that’s nothing less than the “idée fixe” that later found a home in the Symphonie fantastique. The tune returns in the middle section of the aria “Arrête! Arrête! Cher Tancrède”, where it becomes an accompaniment to the vocal line (sound sample). As with everything on this program, the work is compellingly sung by Gens and conducted with conviction. The engineering is also excellent, with Gens’ voice captured with truly striking naturalism. Highest recommendation. (David Hurwitz)

Anne Sofie von Otter / Cord Garben / Berliner Philharmoniker / James Levine BERLIOZ Les Nuits d'été - Mélodies

Berlioz composed his song-cycle Les nuits d’été for mezzo-soprano; so it is curious that Anne Sofie von Otter should transpose four songs down, retaining the keys intended for contralto. She is at her best in ‘Le spectre de la rose’, although her marvellous capacity to spin lines while fully articulating the words and their meaning is apparent everywhere. Was the semitone transposition of ‘L’île inconnue’ really necessary? ‘Villanelle’, ‘Absence’, and ‘Au cimetière’ lie a third lower (as with Janet Baker), marring Berlioz’s expertly conceived orchestrations and making the Berlin Philharmonic plusher than ever. Levine is a sensitive Berliozian, but the sound is more dense than intense, the voice embedded in the texture: some might prefer it in higher relief. Five mélodies with piano are repeated from the recent multi-voiced DG Berlioz collection which I have already reviewed (see July 1994). Further hearing reminds me to praise Cord Garben’s idiomatic playing, particularly the birds in ‘Le matin’ and the storm in ‘La belle Isabeau’. The other songs are ‘La mort d’Ophélie’, ‘La captive’ and ‘La belle voyageuse’; a pity not to use Berlioz’s orchestrations of the latter pair. A small orchestra and chorus reappear for ‘Strophes’ from Roméo et Juliette, exquisitely placed. An odd collection, therefore, but infinitely worth it for the singing. (Julian Rushton / BBC Music Magazine))

Isabelle Druet / Anne LeBozec SHAKESPEARE SONGS

There are thousands of vocal and instrumental settings of Shakespeare's texts, drawn from his comedies, tragedies and sonnets alike. The music celebrating his verse covers more than four centuries: this fascination has lived on into the 20th century and does not appear to be running out of steam.
A linguistic virtuoso, a master of human emotions, an expert in Machiavellian stories of intrigue and tyranny, and a bard of love and of the moment - these are but a few of the many facets of the Shakespearian message. We follow him into the heart of humanity and its excesses, from madness to the burlesque, from despair to bonhomie, from hatred of one's fellow man to universal love. So is it really surprising that so many composers in so many languages have used such a rich tapestry of humanity, or that we - the singers at the end of this great chain - have decided to devote a recital to him? Several figures recur: Ophelia “in her sweet madness” and Desdemona in her despair, two women of high birth, infinitely fragile, victims of the machinery of power, of the vengeance and jealousy that eats at the hearts of men. Also appearing regularly is the fool or jester, the only member of the court - where everyone is muzzled - who can tell the truth in the form of a caricature or lament.
But this program also has a certain lightness, for it too undergirds the world, and Shakespeare celebrates it with Silvia or Cymbeline: idealized female figures who are depicted with ardor, astonishment, and rapture.
Shakespeare shows us the path through this labyrinth. He knows where the world is headed.
Let's follow him! (Isabelle Druet & Anne Le Bozec)