L’arrangement

Hot on the heels of Richard Galliano’s Live in Marciac CD (which I reviewed here a few weeks ago) comes another Galliano album, this time with a quartet featuring vibist Gary Burton. The interplay between the two leaders is reminiscent of the duets which Gary Burton recorded with Chick Corea. Here Burton’s vibes are paired with a different keyboard instrument, but the result is a similar meeting of two brilliant musical minds…

The dazzling pianist Élisabeth Pion joins Arion Baroque Orchestra conducted by Mathieu Lussier in exploring rarely performed works by French composer Hélène de Montgeroult (1764-1836). A contemporary of Mozart, this artist fascinates modern listeners both for her trailblazing career and for her contribution to the development of the French piano repertoire.

Debussy's song cycle Ariettes oublieesof 1888 set six poems from Paul Verlaine's collection Romances sans paroles, beginning with C'est l'extase and Il pleure dans mon coeur - penetratingly poetic images of love's ecstasy and rainlike tears of despair. The six Ariettesare the departure point for the arrangement realized in 2012 by British composer Robin Holloway in response to a request from the San Francisco Symphony. Holloway has altered their order while adding a further four Debussy songs, binding the whole work together with brief orchestral links and a feverish epilogue, 'con moto agitato'. This world first recording is given by French soprano Vannina Santoni, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under the baton of Mikko Franck. The Finnish conductor, a great admirer of Debussy, here also presents the master's bewitching masterpiece La mer, first heard in Paris in 1905.

This four disc set from Erato opens with Gluck’s three act lyric tragedy Iphigénie en Aulide, his first original ‘French’ opera for the fashionable Paris Opéra. In 1773 Gluck had been persuaded that he could establish himself at the Paris Opéra (also known as L’Opéra) by François du Roullet, an attaché at the French Embassy in Vienna. Baille du Roullet provided Gluck with the libretto for Iphigénie en Aulide, based on the tragedy of Racine and founded on the play of Euripides. Initially the Director of L’Opéra hesitated in accepting Gluck’s score. Fortunately he had a influential ally in Marie-Antoinette, the Queen of France, to whom he had taught singing and harpsichord. The first staging of Iphigénie en Aulide was at the Paris Opéra in 1774.

Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection.
Appearing Alan Stivell
As I have written in my review of "81" I have missed Branduardi in the 80s, but the label has reprinted the whole collection in a nice price series so at least in Italy you can find all his 70s and 80s production at 5euro each.