Stéphane le Chemin Rework

"Percé jusques au fond du coeur" ("Pierced to my heart's depths") is a tragic proclamation of Le Cid's voice, at last put to music by "Mr Charpentier, famed for a thousand works that charmed all of France". This collection of courtly arias, serious songs and drinking songs, played both at the Court of Louis XV and in the inner circles of the French bourgeoisie, is a marvellous maze on the Map of Tendre developed by Charpentier, a poet-musician whose sophistication vies with an irresistible sense of theatricality! Under the direction of Stéphane Fuget, the cream of French vocalists restores the original aura of these gems, with glittering ornamentation.

Le nozze di Figaro is one of the most successful comic operas ever. Director David Bösch is a born storyteller. He likes to focus on the classics, and is known for his poetic approach. In this new production of Le nozze di Figaro, the hectic, bubbly story of Figaro’s eventful wedding party is visually interpreted in a revolving stage set.

Composer Joseph Guy Ropartz enjoyed a lifespan that cut across an enormous territory of French music; when he was born, Jacques Offenbach had just premiered La belle Hélène and the year he died, Henri Dutilleux rolled out his second symphony. Ropartz also achieved an astounding rite of passage in his own work, starting out deep inside the Franck school, but also embracing impressionist language and ultimately emerging as the chief tone poet of his native region, Brittany; late in life Ropartz flirted with neo-classicism. Before the advent of CDs, recordings of Ropartz's music were so seldom made that they were almost unknown; however, just 25 years into the digital era practically all of his 200 works have been recorded.

Le nozze di Figaro is one of the most successful comic operas ever. Director David Bösch is a born storyteller. He likes to focus on the classics, and is known for his poetic approach. In this new production of Le nozze di Figaro, the hectic, bubbly story of Figaro’s eventful wedding party is visually interpreted in a revolving stage set.

The Song of the Earth is Gustav Mahler's most personal composition, as the composer himself revealed. It takes on all it's twilight hues with Stéphane Degout's vocal performance. Ardently conducted by Maxime Pascal, Le Balcon delivers a performance which sets the standard, using Arnold Schönberg's pared-down transcription in the royal acoustic setting of the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Le Balcon and the Saint-Denis Festival have a long history, which began in 2014 with a recital by the soprano Julie Fuchs in the Music Pavilion of the Maison Education de la Légion d'honneur. Since then, all Le Balcon's concerts given in the Basilica of Saint-Denis have left their mark on our respective histories: whether it be Monteverdi's Vespers in 2015 (with a sound system and an electric guitar in the orchestra, a historic first for this repertoire), the final scene of Stockhausen's Samstag aus Licht in 2016 (impressively rigorous, it literally transfixed the audience) or Mahler's seventh symphony in 2017. Freedom, innovation, creativity but total respect for the works and composers are the words that immediately come to mind when thinking of Le Balcon, whose collective ad-venture is the basis of a faultless career.

This is a reissue of Donna Brown’s performances of beautiful songs by Debussy. They are settings of poems by Verlaine, Bourget, Banville, de Musset, Mallarmé and Peter. This soprano is known for the floating angelic quality of her voice and the intelligent musicality of her interpretations.

This Grappelli box set bringing together 37 titles, including 23 previously unreleased, celebrates the violinist's friendship with the pianist, composer, arranger and conductor Gérard Gustin. A first album, entirely unpublished, produced by Sacha Distel in 1970, allows us to hear Stéphane in a “string” context. A setting that perfectly suits this gentleman of the violin. The two quartet sessions brought together in the second volume present another aspect of the discographic collaboration between the two men, which spanned almost ten years. As a bonus, a new unpublished quintet session from 1961, with guitarist Pierre Cullaz.

This Grappelli box set bringing together 37 titles, including 23 previously unreleased, celebrates the violinist's friendship with the pianist, composer, arranger and conductor Gérard Gustin. A first album, entirely unpublished, produced by Sacha Distel in 1970, allows us to hear Stéphane in a “string” context. A setting that perfectly suits this gentleman of the violin. The two quartet sessions brought together in the second volume present another aspect of the discographic collaboration between the two men, which spanned almost ten years. As a bonus, a new unpublished quintet session from 1961, with guitarist Pierre Cullaz.

This Grappelli box set bringing together 37 titles, including 23 previously unreleased, celebrates the violinist's friendship with the pianist, composer, arranger and conductor Gérard Gustin. A first album, entirely unpublished, produced by Sacha Distel in 1970, allows us to hear Stéphane in a “string” context. A setting that perfectly suits this gentleman of the violin. The two quartet sessions brought together in the second volume present another aspect of the discographic collaboration between the two men, which spanned almost ten years. As a bonus, a new unpublished quintet session from 1961, with guitarist Pierre Cullaz.