L'ami de Mon Amie

Les Pêcheurs de Perles is best known for its glorious duet, but Georges Bizet’s opera has much more to offer. This live recording more than ever brings out the brilliance of this oriental story about love, duty and friendship. In the last 150 years, Bizet’s piece has mainly been heard in editions that stray from the composer’s original composition. This album – on the contrary - offers the first recording in history of the 1863 premiere version, reconstructed and published by Bärenreiter in 2015. Les Pêcheurs de perles contains a quintessentially French blend of lyricism, exoticism and drama, and the four soloists (Julie Fuchs as Leïla, Cyrille Dubois as Nadir, Florian Sempey as Zurga and Luc Bertin-Hugault as Nourabad) belong to today’s best performers for this specialist repertoire.

Bizet - The Pearl Fishers (Les Pêcheurs de perles) - Jean Fournet
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC (single files) | 2 CD | 400 MB | scans @ 300dpi | Time 01:46:05 | Philips

In 1950 stond Fournet voor het eerst voor het Concertgebouworkest in Amsterdam en het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest. Bovendien werd hij chefdirigent van het Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest. In de jaren vijftig maakte hij de destijds veelbesproken opnamen van onder andere Fauré's Requiem en van Bizet Les pêcheurs de perles. In 1958 werd onder zijn leiding de opera Pelléas et Mélisande voor het eerst uitgevoerd in Japan. In 1961 werd hij chefdirigent van het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest in Nederland, welke positie hij tot 1978 bekleedde. Daarna droeg hij tot zijn overlijden bij dit orkest de titel Chef d'Orchestre Permanent Invité.

Bizet is more than Carmen. In his opera Les pêcheurs de perles you find melodies to die for and not only the vocal music is beautiful, but also the orchestral and ballet pieces too. The opera includes “Warhorse” romance in every tenor’s repertoire: “Je crois entendre encore”, the tenor-baritone duet “Au fond du temple saint”. The tenor “has the most beautiful romances, some of which are nothing less than exceptional, and able to ensure Bizet’s eternal fame.”

Bizet is more than Carmen. In his opera Les pêcheurs de perles you find melodies to die for and not only the vocal music is beautiful, but also the orchestral and ballet pieces too. The opera includes “Warhorse” romance in every tenor’s repertoire: “Je crois entendre encore”, the tenor-baritone duet “Au fond du temple saint”. The tenor “has the most beautiful romances, some of which are nothing less than exceptional, and able to ensure Bizet’s eternal fame.” (Corriere della sera)