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Showing posts from February, 2013

Hidden Händel

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On Naïve's website you can "preview" a forthcoming release including nine previously unrecorded arias. Händel "The Händel arias and orchestral pieces on this disc span a narrow spectrum from the comparatively unfamiliar to the practically unknown. Nine of the twelve arias are recorded here for the first time, as is the D major March, HWV 416. The arias are mostly arie aggiunte , composed for insertion in later performances of existing operas to accommodate a different cast of singers. Some of these arias have come to light only recently or have previously been inadequately identified. The interspersed instrumental works were produced for purposes still uncertain. Yet despite the sometimes shadowy origins of this music it is all vintage Händel, and arias such as ‘La crudele lontananza’, ‘Sa perché pena il cor’ and ‘Farò così più bella’ rank among the composer’s most eloquent dramatic utterances".

Hahn - Ciboulette

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Opéra Comique, Paris, Monday February 18 2013 Conductor: Laurence Equilbey. Production: Michel Fau. Sets: Bernard Fau, Citronelle Dufay. Costumes: David Belugou. Lighting, Joël Fabing. Ciboulette: Julie Fuchs. Duparquet: Jean-François Lapointe. Antonin: Julien Behr. Zénobie: Eva Ganizate. Roger: Ronan Debois. Françoise: Cécile Achille. Monsieur Grenu: Jean-Claude Sarragosse. Madame Grenu: Guillemette Laurens. Auguste-Victor: Patrick Kabongo Mubenga. Le Patron; Le Maire: François Rougier. Grisard: Safir Behloul. Le Lieutenant: Olivier Déjean. Madame Pingret: Bernadette Lafont. La Comtesse de Castiglione: Michel Fau. Le directeur d'opéra: Jérôme Deschamps. Accentus choir. Orchestre symphonique de l’Opéra de Toulon. Hahn Operetta seems to be in an odd situation in France. As long as I’ve lived here (i.e. for more than 30 years) I’ve heard the cliché that it’s outdated or “superannuated” yet also - another cliché in French musical journalism over the years - that it deserves

I was there

Jessye Norman sings " Quelle plainte en ces lieux m'appelle " from Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie , in Aix in 1983.

Zemlinsky - Der Zwerg / Ravel - L'Enfant et les sortilèges

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ONP Garnier, Monday February 4 2013 Conductor: Paul Daniel. Production, sets, costumes: Richard Jones, Antony Mcdonald. Lighting: Matthew Richardson. Choreography: Amir Hosseinpour. DER ZWERG Donna Clara: Nicola Beller. Ghita: Béatrice Uria-Monzon. Don Estoban : Vincent Le Texier. Der Zwerg: Charles Workman. Erste Zofe: Melody Louledjian. Zweite Zofe: Diana Axentii. Dritte Zofe: Delphine Haidan . Erste Gespielin: Pranvera Lehnert. Zweite Gespielin: Marie-Cecile Chevassus.  L’ENFANT ET LES SORTILÈGES L’Enfant: Gaëlle Méchaly. Maman, la Tasse chinoise, la Libellule: Cornelia Oncioiu. Le Bergère, la Chauve-souris: Valérie Condoluci. Le Feu, le Rossignol: Melody Louledjian. La Princesse: Amel Brahim-Djelloul. La Chatte, l’Ecureuil: Diana Axentii. La Chouette, un Pâtre: Andrea Hill. Une Pastourelle: Chenxing Yuan. Le Fauteuil, un Arbre: François Lis. L’Horloge comtoise, un Chat: Alexandre Duhamel. La Théière, la Rainette, le Petit Vieillard: François Piolino. Les Animaux: Anne

You can never have too much...

... of such a good thing. Ann Hallenberg sings " Addio Roma ".