Bertrand Tavernier is in top form with this gripping, superbly mounted drama set against the savage Catholic/Protestant wars that ripped France apart in the 16th century. Based on a novella by the celebrated Madame de Lafayette, the action centers on the love of Marie de Mezières for her dashing cousin Henri de Guise, thwarted when her father's political ambitions force her into marriage with the well-connected Philippe de Montpensier, who she has never met. When Philippe is called away to fight, she is left in the care of Count Chabannes, an aging nobleman with a disdain for warfare, and soon becomes exposed to the sexual and political intrigues of court.
Tome 1 : De la pluie sur les cendres
Dans un royaume dissimulé aux yeux des Hommes, une princesse est mariée de force à un seigneur qui n’a que du mépris pour elle.
Leur union fera basculer un empire…
After her studies at music school, Moscow (1972–1980, diploma in Piano, Summa cum laude), Marina Tchebourkina graduated in 1984 from Academic Music College under the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (4-year cycle), where she recieved her diploma Summa cum laude in Music Theory, with specializations in Piano and in Organ…
The works on this disc are all early, dating from the first half of the composing life of Saint-Saëns that is, with the one exception of the Marche du couronnement which the composer wrote for the coronation of Edward VII in 1902. In Spartacus, the composer depicts Alphonse Pagèss tragedy on the revolt headed by the ill-fated gladiator in 73 BC by use of bold, chromatic notes, followed by a military allegro which integrates them.
Starring Angela Gheorghiu as the celebrated French actress Adriana Lecouvreur and Jonas Kaufmann as her lover Maurizio, Count of Saxony, Cilea’s verismo drama explores celebrity, romance, jealousy, and death. The trio of sublime voices is completed by Russian mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina as Adriana’s jealous rival, the Princess de Bouillon. David McVicar’s hit production – the first performance of the opera at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden for more than a century – presents the life of the French actress as a blurring of the distinction between fantasy and reality.