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The remarkable Hypermnestre by Charles-Hubert Gervais is the latest unremembered early 18th-century French opera to be recorded afresh for Glossa, and conducted by György Vashegyi.

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.

Fantasio is considered one of Offenbach’s most beautiful and refined works. A heady cocktail of charm, gracefulness and gentle melancholy, of bad-tempered jokes and poetry, Fantasio marks the crucial step in Offenbach’s path towards The Tales of Hoffmann. Among the least known of Offenbach’s works it received only 10 performances following its very brief run in Paris in 1872 before it was dropped from the repertoire. This recording marks the world premiere studio recording of the complete opera using the new critical edition by Jean-Christophe Keck.

A Baroque West Side Story, Tancrède tells of the absolute but impossible love between two young people brought together by their passion but separated by their origins. We are in the time of the Crusades: Tancredi is the champion of the Frankish army, and Clorinda the passionaria of the Saracen troops. In the labyrinth of sentiments, sorcerer Isménor's magic wand confuses the issues, luring the two heroes into the enchanted forest to better prepare their downfall. With Tancrède, André Campra (1660-1744) established himself as one of the great opera composers between Lully and Rameau.

Un cadre prometteur dans une boîte de jeu vidéo en quête d’émotions après une rupture brutale. Un patron puissant qui entraîne son employé dans les recoins les plus pervers de l’esprit humain. Une actrice désabusée ne reculant devant rien pour atteindre son objectif. La réalisation d’un jeu vidéo top secret qui tourne au cauchemar. Un bourreau oublié surgissant du passé pour saccager des vies…