Des Lilas

During the 140 years of its existence, the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris was the most stable and the best orchestra in the city of Paris. Shortly before the Revolution, the composer Gossec and others founded the Ecole Royale de Chant (Royal Singing School) with fifteen students in 1784. The National Directory established a country-wide system of musical education with a Conservatoire Superior (the Paris Conservatoire) as the head institution. It took over the staff of the former Ecole Royale de Chant and opened in October, 1796, with 115 professors and 351 pupils. In its very first season, the Conservatoire initiated its practice of giving an annual concert featuring its prizewinning students.

A mirror for the human animal The inhabitants of the animal kingdom have long been a subject of fascination for visual artists, and a source of inspiration for composers as well. Whether voicing their affection and awe, or mocking the human animal, composers have paid tribute to our furry and feathered friends by producing masterpieces of invention, musical mimicry, and wit. Peacocks, ducks, dromedaries, pigs, butterflies, carp, cicadas, and owls are just some of the creatures in the menagerie assembled for this recording, featuring the mischievous voice of Sophie Karthäuser, deftly accompanied by Eugene Asti.

Serge Gainsbourg was the dirty old man of popular music; a French singer/songwriter and provocateur notorious for his voracious appetite for alcohol, cigarettes, and women, his scandalous, taboo-shattering output made him a legend in Europe but only a cult figure in America, where his lone hit "Je T'Aime…Moi Non Plus" stalled on the pop charts – fittingly enough – at number 69. Born Lucien Ginzberg in Paris on April 2, 1928, his parents were Russian Jews who fled to France following the events of the 1917 Bolshevik uprising.

Serge Gainsbourg was the dirty old man of popular music; a French singer/songwriter and provocateur notorious for his voracious appetite for alcohol, cigarettes, and women, his scandalous, taboo-shattering output made him a legend in Europe but only a cult figure in America, where his lone hit "Je T'Aime…Moi Non Plus" stalled on the pop charts – fittingly enough – at number 69. Born Lucien Ginzberg in Paris on April 2, 1928, his parents were Russian Jews who fled to France following the events of the 1917 Bolshevik uprising.

Most of us only think of the great Antal Dorati as a conductor, but this prominent Hungarian came from a family of musicians and started the study of music at the age of five, learning the cello a couple of years later and composition lessons beginning at 12; this in spite of the fact that he had already written several works, including three operas with original libretti, all of which he considered to be immature effords. His first composition teacher was Leo Weiner (1885-1960) who had a profound effect on Dorati's musical taste and performing background.

Released 90 years after he was born and 30 years after his death, Inégrale / Le Temps Ne Fait Rien À L'Affaire is a comprehensive 19-disc collection that contains everything any hardened George Brassens fan could possibly want. Featuring a colossal 330 remastered tracks, the unique box set includes 14 original studio albums, a compilation of live performances, and two discs' worth of previously unpublished rarities and demos alongside posthumous material recorded with the help of Jean Bertola.

Alpha is very proud to welcome this grande dame of lyric art. A great Mozartian, she also excels in Gluck, Berlioz and Offenbach and has sung with the greatest, from Claudio Abbado to Marc Minkowski or Frans Brüggens. Her rich discography features numerous repertoires but, up until now, it included only one recording of mélodies, whereas she is unanimously recognized as one of the world’s most eminent ambassadresses of the French art song. With her accomplice Susan Manoff, a connoisseur of vocal music and a tremendously sensitive pianist, she has assembled this programme devoted to songs she loves, mixing a few wellknown gems and others, quite rare, such as this superb Néère, from Reynaldo Hahn’s Muses latines.