Michel Plasson & Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse

Henri Sauguet stampeded in the musical milieu when he was barely twenty, as co-founder with his mentor Erik Satie of the ephemeral École d’Arcueil. His orchestral music, inspired by the Six, is very French in tone: light, elegant, not demonstrative but straightforward. Sauguet earnt his biggest successes in ballet, his most revered score being the rarely recorded Les forains (The Carneys), choreographed by Roland Petit, empathic depiction of a modest troop of street artists. Featuring conductor Michel Plasson & coupled with the Tableaux de Paris, a set of lovely pictures of the most emblematic places of the capital.

Accompagné par l'orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, le pianiste français renouvelle l'approche de ces deux concertos. Bon nombre d'interprètes en avaient en effet donné une interprétation de plus en plus épaisse et romantique, ce qui est en contradiction avec l'écriture de ces oeuvres, davantage inspirées par la légèreté et le modernisme de "l'esprit français" des années 20-30. Le jazz, si présent dans le Concerto pour la main gauche, par exemple, est révélateur de la pensée de Ravel. Le piano de Duchâble est plus que brillant : il est incendiaire, volatile, merveilleusement aérien. La qualité de la tenue rythmique, le sens des contrastes, l'humour, si souvent présent chez Ravel, sont magnifiquement restitués.

Second and last volume of our Albéric Magnard cycle (the first ever to be put on record) by French romantic trailblazer Michel Plasson. Very German in tone, his symphonies hide treasures of beauty despite their seeming austerity. The fascinating Hymn to Justice is a powerful work inspired by the Dreyfus affair that shook France at the end of the 19th-century.

Diva is an entertaining and attractively packaged compilation of Angela Gheorghiu's EMI recordings made between 1996 and 2002. All of the selections have appeared on previous releases, but some of them only in the context of complete operas. As a one-disc snapshot of Gheorghiu's career so far, Diva does pretty well, and it would make a good first choice for anyone looking to get to know her work.

Discs of this type featuring star soloists, more often than not a tenor, are not in short supply. This one, recorded a decade ago as a vehicle for Roberto Alagna and first issued by EMI, scores over many alternatives because of two factors: the programming and the quality of execution. Any programme focusing on French chants sacrés of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is almost bound to include Gounod’s often performed Ave Maria, written after Bach’s famous prelude in the ‘Well-tempered clavier’. To place it at the beginning – as here – is apt and allows the musical content to diversify from that point. Gounod’s representation is extended with three further contributions that pay testament to the importance not only of his compositional voice but also his deeply felt beliefs, which he sought to convey through his music.

This 6CD set contains 100 tracks of popular organ music from the catalogues of EMI Classics and Virgin Classics performed by some of the world’s finest organists on a wide variety of instruments from all over the UK and Continental Europe.

Roberto Alagna - L'Enchanteur (2016) {2CD Set Warner Classics 0825646390229}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 666 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 353 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 70 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2016 Parlophone / Warner Classics | 0825646390229
Classical / Romantic / Opera Aria / Tenor

Roberto Alagna is the kind of ‘opera singer’ who can sing for all with such infectious pleasure that all we can do is sit back and enjoy. And so happy are we to listen to him that there’s only one thing we feel we should say to him: thank you. This collection features aria from Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti, Gounoud, Massenet, Bizet, Berlioz, Offenbach and Bernstein.

During the Belle Époque, Jules Massenet rose to become France’s leading composer of opera, as notable for his acute dramatic sense as for the refined sensuality of his music. Encompassing three decades of his career, and settings as diverse as Biblical Judea and the Paris of Massenet’s time, the seven operas in this box range from the enduringly popular Manon and Werther through works occasionally revived for star singers (Thaïs and Don Quichotte) to three fascinating rarities (Hérodiade, Le Jongleur de Notre Dame and Sapho). They represent nearly 40 years of recording history and feature a host of celebrated singers and conductors from France and around the world.