le Songe

Although not released until 1993, Le Berceau de Cristal was originally the soundtrack to Philippe Garrel's 1976 film of that name, providing an appropriately hallucinatory backdrop to Nico's musings and her oneiric encounters with various pseudo-mythological characters. Le Berceau de Cristal shows continuity with 1975's Inventions for Electric Guitar, enveloping listeners in analog ambient-minimalist soundscapes that anticipate the work of subsequent generations of electronic musicians.

Although not released until 1993, Le Berceau de Cristal was originally the soundtrack to Philippe Garrel's 1976 film of that name, providing an appropriately hallucinatory backdrop to Nico's musings and her oneiric encounters with various pseudo-mythological characters. Le Berceau de Cristal shows continuity with 1975's Inventions for Electric Guitar, enveloping listeners in analog ambient-minimalist soundscapes that anticipate the work of subsequent generations of electronic musicians.

In late February 1653, just after the Fronde rebellion, the most influential spectacle of the early reign of Louis XIV was created at the Louvre: the Ballet Royal de la Nuit. Grandiose, and carefully elaborated at the highest levels of the state, the libretto by Bensérade called upon the finest artists of the time. Banishing the troubles of Night, Louis XIV danced in the Sun King costume that would henceforth be for ever associated with him. An indispensable world premiere recording!

1941 : un jeune officier allemand, cultivé et francophile, est l'hôte imposé d'un homme et de sa nièce. A cette intrusion de l’ "ennemi", ils répondront par un inaltérable mutisme : pas une phrase ne sera échangée pendant leurs longs mois de cohabitation, en dépit des tentatives du jeune homme qui aimerait partager avec eux ses convictions humanistes. Mais sous la calme surface des eaux, c’est toute «la vie sous-marine des sentiments cachés, des désirs et des pensées qui se nient et qui luttent »…

Berlioz wrote his own text for L’Enfance du Christ, which he composed in 1853 and 1854. It was first performed at the Salle Herz, Paris on 10 December 1854, with Berlioz conducting. Berlioz was not religious as an adult but remained all his life susceptible to the beauty of the religious music that had enraptured him as a child, he described this work as a Trilogie sacrée. Sir Andrew Davis conducts the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and MSO Chorus and an outstanding team of soloists in this Surround Sound SACD recording.