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The French Romantic Experience

Bru Zane

$53.99 Oct 11, 2019

To provide an initial account of 10 years of musical rediscovery, the Palazzetto Bru Zane is bringing out a boxed set of 10 albums showcasing extracts from some of the works that have been unearthed: a wide spectrum (1780-1920) of music is presented, spanning tragédie lyrique, opera, operetta and café-concert, cantata, sacred music, orchestral music, concertante music, chamber music, piano music and mélodie. This boxed set also includes recordings made in collaboration with labels working in partnership with the Palazzetto Bru Zane since 2009.

The vocation of the Palazzetto Bru Zane - Centre de musique romantique francaise is to favor the rediscovery of the French musical heritage of the years 1780-1920 and obtain international recognition for that repertory. Housed in Venice in a palazzo dating from 1695 specially restored for the purpose, the Palazzetto Bru Zane - Centre de musique romantique francaise is a creation of the Fondation Bru. Combining artistic ambition with high scientific standards, the Centre reflects the humanist spirit that guides the actions of that foundation. The Palazzetto Bru Zane’s main activities, carried out in close collaboration with numerous partners, are research, the publication of books and scores, the production and international distribution of concerts, support for teaching projects and the production of recordings.

REVIEW:

Well worth anyone’s attention, especially those attracted to the less familiar areas of 19th-century repertoire. In fact, I have rarely encountered a ‘compilation’ that has yielded so much listening pleasure...it helps that the standard of performance (and recording) is first-rate throughout. Treat it as an educational indulgence, I say.

-- Gramophone

CONTENTS:

CD 1: Tragédie lyrique
CD 2: Opéra
CD 3: Opérette et Café-Concert
CD 4: Cantate
CD 5: Musique sacrée
CD 6: Musique symphonique
CD 7: Musique concertante
CD 8: Musique de chambre
CD 9: Piano
CD 10: Mélodie

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The French Romantic Experience
Bru Zane Oct 2019
CD
$53.99

Braunfels: Prinzessin Brambilla / Belardinelli, Cracow Philharmonic

Marco Polo

$29.99 Oct 18, 2005

This live, 2003 performance is middling, but on the whole, competent. The liner notes focus on the opera, but are decent of their kind. A synopsis is provided with CD points, but neither original text nor translation is included. This last is especially missed. But despite this and the album's short timings, Prinzessin Brambilla is truly worth knowing.

— Fanfare (Barry Brenesal)

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Braunfels: Prinzessin Brambilla / Belardinelli, Cracow Philharmonic
Marco Polo Oct 2005
CD
$29.99

Offenbach: La Perichole / Theis, Brohm, Simon, Konnes, Gunzel

CPO

$36.99 Oct 29, 2013

CPO’s series featuring productions by the Dresden State Operetta has quickly gained renown with its discoveries of unknown works by Johann Strauss. When the same theater presented an extremely successful new production of Jacques Offenbach’s rarely staged La Périchole during the 2008 season, cpo immediately decided to produce this masterpiece in the studio. The State Operetta had commissioned the cabaret performer and author Peter Ensikat to supply a new translation, and it was with superb wit that he accomplished the task of updating the satirical double meanings in Offenbach’s libretto and the references to current events of the composer’s times without losing the charm of the original. In musical matters the production oriented itself by the three-act second version of this masterpiece set in faraway Lima; it was written for Vienna in 1874 and is filled to overflowing with original melodies. CPO included the numbers written especially for Vienna and its then operetta diva Marie Geistinger as special bonuses. The result: an all-around successful operetta production and spirited listening fun!

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Offenbach: La Perichole / Theis, Brohm, Simon, Konnes, Gunzel
CPO Oct 2013
CD
$36.99

Gervais: Grands Motets pour Louis XV / Sartre, Les Ombres

Château de Versailles Spectacles

$20.99 Sep 09, 2022

A stranger reveals the opulence of the Royal Chapel of Louis XV: Charles-Hubert Gervais was Chapel Master from 1723 onwards, thus offering a perfect representation of the splendor of sacred music at the Court of Versailles. Heir to the great frescoes of Lully and Lalande, Gervais was above all an opera composer, and his dramatic style lends his Grands Motets a decidedly Italian resonance. With this protégé of the Regent Philippe of Orléans – he remained his favored musician for two decades – the evocative power and pomp of Versailles are given added shine by the galant style. Served like a king by magnificent performers, here is Gervais bathed in the glory of Versailles!

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Gervais: Grands Motets pour Louis XV / Sartre, Les Ombres
Château de Versailles Spectacles Sep 2022
CD
$20.99

Braunfels: Jeanne d'Arc

Capriccio

$29.99 Sep 06, 2024

Walter Braunfels is a composer whose music died twice: Once when the Nazis declared his music "degenerate art". Then again when post-war Germany had little use for the various schools of tonal music; when the arbiters of taste considered any form of romantic music - almost the whole pre-war aesthetic - to be tainted. This already 10th release of Capriccio's Braunfels Edition focus on one of his most popular Opera works. What makes Jeanne D'Arc such an uncommonly effective music drama is not just the often sumptuous, post-romantic musical language but Braunfels' own libretto. The main storyline of Joan of Arc is known well enough: Vision, liberation of Orleans, coronation of the Dauphin, arrest, trial, and burning at the stake. Braunfels somehow managed to put together a libretto from the original French and Latin 15th-century trial documents of Joan of Arc, a smidgen of by George Bernard Shaw (Saint Joan), and his own additions, that makes this story and it's characters - in so many ways so far removed from a modern audience's sensibilities and reality - relatable to listeners today.

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Braunfels: Jeanne d'Arc
Capriccio Sep 2024
CD
$29.99

Ferdinand Herold: Zampa ou La Fiancee de marbre

Bru Zane

$42.99 Sep 18, 2026

Zampa enjoyed a triumph at the Opera-Comique on 3 May 1831. This was probably because Melesville's libretto displayed some resemblances to Mozart's Don Giovanni: a godless and lawless protagonist, the pirate Zampa, attempts to force Camille, betrothed to Alphonse, to marry him, but the statue of Alice Manfredi, one of his earlier victims, comes to life and carries him off to Hell. The action skilfully combines tragic and comic elements. In musical terms, Herold responds to the Romantic sensibilities of his time: he incorporates a few discreet 'Gothic' touches, plays on local colour (the plot unfolds in Sicily), and exploits the dramatic resources of orchestration and harmony (Berlioz noted 'chords of a wild, fantastical appearance'). Zampa amplifies the opera-comique through borrowings from grand opera: vocal styles blending French and Italian elements, spectacular events such as the eruption of Mount Etna (recalling the denouement of La Muette de Portici in 1828), and the contrast between collective and intimate scenes. The work is clearly a response to the concurrent gestation of Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable.

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Ferdinand Herold: Zampa ou La Fiancee de marbre
Bru Zane Sep 2026
CD
$42.99

GLUCK: ORPHEE ET EURYDICE (PARIS VERSION)

HARMONIA MUNDI

$23.99 Mar 13, 2026

Newly arrived in Paris, where he meets again his ex-pupil Marie-Antoinette, Gluck decides to court the Parisian public by revising one of his great Viennese successes: Orfeo ed Euridice. More than a simple adaptation to the French language and taste, his Orphee et Eurydice proves to be an out-and-out aesthetic revolution. This operatic wind of change has been recaptured for us to rediscover by Paul Agnew, Les Arts Florissants and three exceptional soloists.

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GLUCK: ORPHEE ET EURYDICE (PARIS VERSION)
HARMONIA MUNDI Mar 2026
CD
$23.99

Mix & Match

Offenbach: La Perichole / Minkowski, Bordeaux National Orchestra, Les Musiciens du Louvre

Bru Zane

$42.99 Jun 28, 2019

Offenbach’s La Périchole (1868) will never cease to delight music lovers of all persuasions. Marc Minkowski – long one of the composer’s prophets – was keen to pay tribute to him with this world premiere recording on period instruments, in the company of the young school of French singers, including the bewitching Aude Extrémo, the dashing Stanislas de Barbeyrac and the hilarious Alexandre Duhamel. Combining fashionable rhythms with the most unexpected touches of folklore, the score is a veritable flood of hit numbers. How can one not be swept away by the insolence of the Seguidilla, the frenzy of the Bolero or the furious rhythm of the Prison Trio? Never before, perhaps, had Offenbach gone so far in caricaturing political leaders – nor used drunkenness to resolve the imbroglio of inextricable sentimental relationships. And indeed, the ‘Tipsy Arietta’ is one of the composer's best-known numbers. Cheers!

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REVIEW:

Bru Zane continues its French Opera series with Offenbach’s La Périchole, an opéra bouffe in three acts.

Offenbach enjoyed great success in 1867; he had productions showing at four Parisian theatres the year before completing La Périchole. Yet in May 1868 the tide was turning. Le château à Toto was unsuccessful, and a revival of Le pont des soupirs failed to inspire. Later in the year came the premières of opéra bouffes L'île de Tulipatan and La Périchole, neither of which kept a hold on the repertory. In 1874, for the revival of La Périchole, Offenbach revised the score considerably: three acts instead the original two acts. It was in this revised form that La Périchole has found favour with audiences.

In La Périchole there are the usual antics so typical of an opéra bouffe, including disguise, mix-ups, mistaken identity and comic twists. La Périchole and her lover Piquillo are a pair of Peruvian street singers who cannot afford a marriage license. Don Andrès de Ribeira, a lecherous Viceroy of Peru, wants La Périchole as his mistress, and makes her his lady-in-waiting. Piquillo, also employed in the Viceroy’s household, marries the veiled La Périchole without knowing it is she. Piquillo gets thrown into prison but the end results in an unexpected pardon from the Viceroy; the lovers are reunited.

Music director Marc Minkowski has conducted both versions of La Périchole. For the Opéra National de Bordeaux production recorded here, he has assembled a mixed version based on the original 1868 score and parts of the 1874 revision. This release was recorded at live performances of stage director Romain Gilbert’s production. Minkowski conducted Les Musiciens du Louvre who are thirty-six strong and use period instruments. Although it surely applies to all audio recordings of live performances to a lesser or greater degree, having seen a brief clip of the show I think the dramatic impact of La Périchole is especially diminished by not seeing the actual performance. Nevertheless, there is still much pleasure to be gained from this recording. The three principal characters – La Périchole, Piquillo and Don Andrès – are very well cast, with French-language singers.

Tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac throws himself wholeheartedly into the role of Piquillo. A highlight is the brief Rondo de bravoure - Écoute, ô roi, je te présente, where Piquillo presents La Périchole to Don Andrès. This splendid example of Barbeyrac’s theatricalit, demonstrates his vocal clarity and projection, his high notes achieved comfortably. As femme fatale La Périchole, the rich-toned mezzo-soprano of Aude Extrémo projects well, with a first-class level of expression – although her voice does not always have the smoothest delivery. La Périchole’s renowned ‘Tipsy’ arietta - Ah! quel dîner je viens de faire!’ is a success. I wish I could have seen it. Best of all is her ‘Letter’ arioso to Piquillo - Ô mon cher amant, je te jur. The mezzo tenderly reflects how it would be better to separate owing to their poverty and list of misfortunes. It is hard to forget the distinction of Régine Crespin’s rendition of the ‘Letter’ arioso on her 1971 release ‘Prima Donna in Paris’ on Decca.

Alexandre Duhamel as Viceroy Don Andrès gives a creditable performance although it is more of an acting role. Note the ‘Incognito’ song with chorus Sans en rien souffler à personne where Viceroy goes out on the town in disguise. Duhamel is in secure voice, with impressive diction and strong expression. Of the hit numbers, one notes La Périchole and Piquillo’s Le conquérant dit à la jeune Indienne, a foot-tapping ballad with its extremely catchy tune. For the same reasons, I also relish the couple’s rendition of the celebrated Séguedille - Vous a-t-on dit souvent. Minkowski favours swift speeds. He draws a strong and expressive performance from Les Musiciens du Louvre. On occasions, within all the spirited playing there is some slight untidness but nothing too distracting. The Chœur de L’Opéra National de Bordeaux is hard to fault. They give a strong performance throughout under chorus master Alphonse Cemin.

The sound has clarity, and is well balanced. Not surprisingly, there is some miscellaneous stage noise, and applause after some arias and at the end of each act, but it is not a problem. It serves to add to the live atmosphere.

As we have come to expect from this Bru Zane French Opera series, there is a 168-page hardback book with a full French libretto and an English translation. Four informative and well written essays are also included, as is a synopsis and full cast and track listing. My only grumble is wanting the track listing to contain the page number of its place in the libretto.

There are several studio recordings of La Périchole in the catalogue. My first choice remains the 1977 Strasbourg recording on Erato, featuring Régine Crespin, Alain Vanzo and Jules Bastin, conducted by Alain Lombard. Originally, I had the Erato release on vinyl. It is worth knowing that the performance has no spoken dialogue. I find this Minkowski recording of La Périchole tremendously entertaining from start to finish, and I wish I had been in the Bordeaux audience. A fitting tribute in Offenbach’s 200th anniversary year.

– MusicWeb International (Michael Cookson)

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Offenbach: La Perichole / Minkowski, Bordeaux National Orchestra, Les Musiciens du Louvre
Bru Zane Jun 2019
CD
$42.99

Brahms: Die schone Magelone / Gerhaher, Walser, Huber

Sony Masterworks

$6.49 ~~$12.98~~ Save 50% Apr 21, 2017

In the 1860s Johannes Brahms composed one of the most beautiful song cycles of the romantic era: Die schöne Magelone. Now baritone Christian Gerhaher, a lied singer of international renown, has joined forces with his longstanding accompanist Gerold Huber to record Brahms’s masterpiece. For Gerhaher, named singer of the year in 2016 by the German trade journal Opernwelt and awarded the coveted Wigmore Medal in England for “outstanding musicianship in opera, oratorio and song”, the project is a dream come true.

The 15 poems that Brahms fashioned into “romances” are taken from Ludwig Tieck’s novella The Wondrous Romance of Magelone the Fair and Peter Count of Provence (1797). Inspired by a medieval legend, it tells of the love of the valiant knight Peter of Provence for Magelone, the daughter of the King of Naples.

In 2011 Christian Gerhaher commissioned the well-known German writer Martin Walser to produce a new version of the text, which he then premièred in Coburg together with Gerold Huber and Walser himself.

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REVIEWS:

It is quite clear that the singer and his longstanding accompanist are absolutely at one—they have been performing together since the beginning. Sound is good and all is clear and well defined. For those seeking a commanding and modern German singer in Brahms—no quibbles, this is for you.

– Fanfare

Gerhaher is more compelling in this music even than Fischer-Dieskau is in his classic recording with Sviatoslav Richter. Gerhaher and Gerold Huber sound more athletic in the vigorous songs, and the baritone is more rapt and spiritual in the famous Ruhe.

– Sunday Times (UK)

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Sale

Brahms: Die schone Magelone / Gerhaher, Walser, Huber
Sony Masterworks Apr 2017
CD
~~$12.98~~ $6.49

CLAUDE DEBUSSY

DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON

$16.08 Jan 26, 2018

Daniel Barenboim - "Claude Debussy" One of the most important artists of our time, Daniel Barenboim releases a collection of beloved Debussy pieces in time for the French composer's centenary, including Estampes, Suite bergamasque and Preludes, L.117.

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CLAUDE DEBUSSY
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON Jan 2018
CD
$16.08