Classique du Thé

This wonderful disc is a collaboration between Les Charbonniers de l'Enfer (an a cappella ensemble that specializes in the traditional songs of Quebec and Acadia) and La Nef (a trio that specializes in both early and contemporary classical music). The title refers to the crossing of waters both great and small by centuries of sailors; the program combines traditional seafaring songs with accounts of the Seven Years' War and its attendant sea battles. Many of the songs are in the unison, call-and-response style that will be familiar to fans of traditional Quebecois music, and sound very much like early recordings by La Bottine Souriante accompanied by a string section.

Désiré-Emile Inghelbrecht's six suites of piano pieces entitled La Nursery are among the most unjustly neglected masterworks of French impressionism. All but the third and fourth suites first appeared in 1905 and undoubtedly provided direct inspiration for Claude Debussy's Children's Corner, composed in 1908 and likewise included as filler on this fine ATMA Classique disc featuring Canadian pianist Lise Boucher. These solo versions of Inghelbrecht's signature work have not appeared on compact disc before – the earliest versions of these works were intended as teaching pieces and were scored out for piano four-hands.

Inédit en France, le livre d’Eugene B. Sledge, Frères d’armes, est considéré comme le témoignage de référence sur la guerre du Pacifique par les historiens et les cinéastes. Sledge a vingt ans quand, avec ses camarades de la 1re division des Marines, il débarque sur la petite île de Peleliu, où vont se dérouler de furieux combats contre les troupes japonaises. Ce sera ensuite l’assaut sur l’île d’Okinawa, dont la conquête va coûter 50 000 hommes, tués ou blessés, aux Américains, 25 000 autres étant évacués pour stress post-traumatique. …

Lucie Maud Montgomery brosse ici le portrait singulier d'une petite fille au caractère bien trempé, qui affirme haut et fort son désir d'exister et d'être heureuse malgré les aléas de son existence. Anne, la maison aux pignons verts est un grand classique de la littérature canadienne. Il fut notamment adapté à la télévision sous le titre "Anne, le bonheur au bout du chemin" (1985) et plus récemment par Netflix sous le nom "Anne with an E". Écrit par l'auteure canadienne Lucy Maud Montgomery, dont l'enfance a inspiré l'histoire d'Anne, le roman rencontre dès sa sortie en 1908 un immense succès. …

The classical decoder! Clément Lebrun is a born pedagogue: in just a few words, this inspired all-rounder makes the greatest works of classical music accessible… In this programme intended for all ears, he tells the story of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique , movement by movement, with the enthusiastic participation of the Orchestre de Paris (conducted by Quentin Hindley), which we also hear perform the work in its entirety under the direction of its eminent former music director Paavo Järvi. Classical is Fantastic!