Pierre Alexandre Nicolas

On croit tout savoir de l'eau, de cet élément qui est essentiel à la vie… Ce n'est pas le cas ! De nombreux chercheurs, dont Pierre Nicolas, ont étudié l'eau et y ont trouvé des choses extraordinaires.

This disc is part of a remarkable series on France's Alpha label, pairing mostly Baroque repertories with detailed presentations of visual artworks that are either contemporary with the music or otherwise somehow related to it. You can get a good education in art of the seventeenth century just by buying these discs as they appear. Look at the dramatically lit detail from a 1663 painting by Lubin Baugin on the cover of the disc (the entire painting, along with other details, is reproduced inside).

Quel roman que celui de la longue relation – trois siècles – qui tant de fois attira, unit, opposa, réconcilia la Russie et la France !
La Russie, État-continent qui s’étend en Europe et en Asie, s’est toujours revendiqué puissance européenne. Et l’Europe, pour la Russie, fut d’abord et toujours la France. Celle de Louis XIV, des Lumières, de la Révolution et de l’Empire, des idées, de la langue, de la culture, de la liberté et de la puissance. …

Sandrine Piau and Véronique Gens have a longstanding rapport and dreamed of making a recording together. Here they pay tribute to two singers who, like them, were born within a year of each other, Mme Dugazon (1755-1821) and Mme Saint-Huberty (1756-1812): both enjoyed triumphant careers in Paris, inspiring numerous librettists and composers. Gluck even nicknamed Saint-Huberty ‘Madamela- Ressource’, while ‘a Dugazon’ became a generic name for the roles of naïve girls in love, and later of comical mothers. Rivals? They very likely were, given the quarrelsome spirit of the operatic world of the time, even if they never crossed paths on stage.

Sandrine Piau and Véronique Gens have a longstanding rapport and dreamed of making a recording together. Here they pay tribute to two singers who, like them, were born within a year of each other, Mme Dugazon (1755-1821) and Mme Saint-Huberty (1756-1812): both enjoyed triumphant careers in Paris, inspiring numerous librettists and composers. Gluck even nicknamed Saint-Huberty ‘Madamela- Ressource’, while ‘a Dugazon’ became a generic name for the roles of naïve girls in love, and later of comical mothers. Rivals? They very likely were, given the quarrelsome spirit of the operatic world of the time, even if they never crossed paths on stage.

An extraordinary enterprise … As an experience of the sounds and styles of French organ culture this boxed set, it seems to me, is indispensable … the body of music is mostly, here, not created but simply made alive by the apt choice of instruments … it is a resource to which to return with delight.

Vladimir Cosma - Soundtrack Collection (1968 - 2004)
MP3 224-320 kbps | Tracks: 241 | 11:27:04 | 1.17 GB (+3% Rec.)
Genre: Soundtrack

Vladimir Cosma was born in Bucharest, but even at a young age he moved to France and at first played the cello with Nadia Boulanger, where he became addicted to the genre of "musical illustration."
It is not surprising that the young talent drew the attention of the master of French comedy Yves Robert, and in 1968 Cosmas wrote his first soundtrack for his film "Blessed Alexander." Long-term cooperation with Robert quickly made Cosmas famous comedians in the environment - it works with Francis Weber, Gerard Uri, Claude Zidi and Pascal Thomas, wrote the music for most of the films with Pierre Richard, Gerard Depardieu, Louis de Funes and the other kings of the French comedy.

Vladimir Cosma became a highly regarded and hugely prolific soundtrack composer for the French cinema in the 60s and 70s.
Cosma is a stellar example of the rich traditon of French movie composers, from Auric to Delerue to Desplat. Like them, he seems to effortlessly breathe melodies.