Inna de Yard Days Chasing Days

‘So Romantique !’ illustrates the ‘profoundly sentimental’ side of French opera from the 1830s to the 1900s, which gradually came to be judged overwrought and was condemned to partial oblivion. ‘I am convinced that this is because the principals of interpretation were lost’, says the tenor Cyrille Dubois. ‘I have therefore put together this programme, which gives pride of place to rarities while highlighting the theatrical character and the use of registers so emblematic of the French ténor de grâce , in the hope of restoring this precious French heritage to its former glory.’ The sleuthing skills of the Palazzetto Bru Zane have assembled these treasures by Bizet, Gounod, Saint-Saëns, Auber, Halévy, Donizetti, Thomas and Delibes, the less well-known Godard, Dubois and Silver, and the virtually unknown Luce-Varlet and Clapisson. With the Orchestre National de Lille conducted by Pierre Dumoussaud, the French tenor deploys the full range of his artistry, the impressive high notes, the luminous tone and the graceful phrasing that is ‘so Cyrille’!

This new OSR recording presents the two most ambitious musical responses to Maurice Maeterlinck’s 1893 epoch-making play Pelléas et Mélisande.

Composer, conductor and organist Gabriel Pierné wrote in a wide variety of genres, from operas to pieces for solo piano. His orchestral music for the stage shows the utmost refinement and clarity as well as wit and charm in the finest French tradition. His colourful and evocative score for Ramuntcho is rich in Basque flavour with zortzico dance rhythms and village dances, all beautifully textured. Set in the 18th century, the ballet Cydalise et le Chèvre-pied reveals the full range of his inventive scoring, which remains chamber music-like in its finesse.

This was Alicia de Larrocha’s finest account of Nights in the Gardens of Spain, fully capturing the Andalusian atmosphere of this evocative score. After all, it’s not a work about landscapes and flowers – it’s about love. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos does a superb job of drawing perfume and color out of an English orchestra.

Mägo de Oz es una banda española de folk metal fundada el 7 de julio de 1988 por el baterista Txus di Fellatio en el barrio de Begoña en Madrid. Inicialmente se llamó Transilvania, en honor a la canción homónima del sexteto inglés Iron Maiden, y adoptó el nombre definitivo de Mägo de Oz en 1989.1

Commemorating the 25th anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in Quebec's history while celebrating the courage and collective humanity that emanated from it, Ice Storm Symphony (Symphonie de la tempete de verglas) takes the listener into a whirlwind of music by Quebecois composer Maxime Goulet. The program features Orchestre classique de Montreal under the direction of Jacques Lacombe performing three of Goulet's compositions: Fishing Story, What a Day, and the title work.

Re-imagining the fabled tale of a folklore favourite has been the latest creative challenge for Chris de Burgh. The compelling result breathes music and lyrical life into a centuries-old and much-loved classic. The Legend of Robin Hood finds Chris at his imaginative best, re-telling the story with cinematic vision coupled seamlessly to music of emotional depth and power. The concept for the 27th studio album by Chris emerged from his involvement in 'Robin Hood', a stage musical about the infamous Sherwood Forest nobleman and his band of outlaws. Chris was invited to contribute storylines and melodies to the musical, which will be produced later in the year."Since I was writing songs for this," he explains, "I thought 'Why not expand the story and put an album out, too?'"

The Happy Prince is a studio album by the New Zealand rock band The La De Das, released in June 1969. It was the third album from the group and is often cited as the first Australian and New Zealand concept album…

Venice was surely the capital of music and the arts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and one of the most coveted positions in the city was that of maestro di cappella at St Mark’s Basilica.