Ambroise Thomas

Never mind the Symphonie espagnole and Le roi d’Ys, Edouard Lalo is the last of the great unknowns in 19th-century French music. His mature instrumental works combine the wisdom drawn from his professional playing experience with the familiar flair for rhythm and colour. They are likely to transform any opinion you may hold: it isn’t often that the inspiration of Beethoven was so well digested in France. The first two trios don’t really count as mature, and although they contain fine things, especially in the scherzos, their characteristic soul, sweep and dash are often clumsily handled. With No. 3, form and feeling are as one, the first movement’s surges integral to its progress to a hushed end, while the slow movement builds a powerful span from a sustained melody. Between them comes the irresistible piece better known in Lalo’s later arrangement as a Scherzo for orchestra. These performances have the necessary robustness without stinting on delicacy.

Ambroise Thomas wrote this comic opera, which has little to do with A Midsummer Night's Dream; it includes Falstaff, Elizabeth I and Shakespeare all in a strange literary interaction. Thomas fused many of the operatic styles of his day in a skillfully written score. The piece was revived at Compiègne in 1994 to mark the opening of the Channel Tunnel. Noted director and producer Pierre Jourdan has been staging opera since 1968. In 1988, he founded the Théâtre Français de la Musique and the association Pour le Théâtre Impérial in the Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne. Every year, he directs and produces different lyric works with the mission to rediscover the French musical and lyrical repertoire from the post-baroque to today and to restore an authentic French style to the singers and the orchestras which accompany them. These productions have been triumphantly welcomed by the public and critics alike.

With Shakespearian operas all the rage in Paris during the 19th century, Ambroise Thomas and his librettists Michel Carre and Jules Barbier adapted Hamlet to create a romantic spectacle in which the character of Ophelie shines with a haunting radiance. With its virtuosic arias, stunning ensembles and vivid orchestration with the colourful addition of the newly invented saxophone Thomas composed one of the most successful operas in the French repertoire. This is further enhanced by director Cyril Teste s multi-layered production, reinstating its powerful original ending, and including cinematic techniques to create a very palpable hit (bachtrack.com).

This romantic and rarely performed opera by Ambroise Thomas is now available on DVD in a new production from the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Starring Natalie Dessay and Simon Keenlyside, this Hamlet production is guaranteed to become the benchmark for all other Hamlets to come on DVD. Dessay creates a monumental performance of Ophelie, culminating in one of the most gripping Mad Scenes of all time ("Partagez-vous mes fleurs…et maintenant ecoutez ma chanson…").

This romantic and rarely performed opera by Ambroise Thomas is now available on DVD in a new production from the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Starring Natalie Dessay and Simon Keenlyside, this Hamlet production is guaranteed to become the benchmark for all other Hamlets to come on DVD. Dessay creates a monumental performance of Ophelie, culminating in one of the most gripping Mad Scenes of all time ("Partagez-vous mes fleurs! - Et maintenant écoutez ma chanson !")

Following his Rossini recital (Alpha 791), Florian Sempey shares another of his passions: his enthusiasm for the world of knights and medieval narrative. For him, “a mysterious force emanates from castles and other antique buildings; their ancient stones have always fascinated me.” Ferrum Splendidum (the Latin for ‘Resplendent Metal’) recalls the singer’s ancestors, who were blacksmiths in the Périgord region. Though not following in that family tradition, Sempey concentrated instead on forging and moulding the metal of his brilliant baritone voice.

After her triumph with the album Offenbach Colorature (ALPHA437), Jodie Devos has chosen to follow in the footsteps of one of her compatriots, the Belgian coloratura soprano Marie Cabel (1827 -1885), who at the age of twenty-six scored a phenomenal success in Adolphe Adam’s opéracomique Le Bijou perdu, which she premiered in Paris. She then took on a more dramatic role in Halévy’s Jaguarita l’Indienne, whose great Invocation with chorus (‘À moi ma cohorte!’) again hit the bullseye in a run of 124 performances over just a few months.