Jean-Philippe Rameau Les Indes galantes opera-ballet to a libretto by Louis Fuzelier. Choreographed and directed 2014 by Laura Scozzi at the Bordeaux National Opera. Stars Amel Brahim-Djelloul (Hébé/Fatime/Phani), Benoît Arnould (Bellone/Alvar), Eugénie Warnier (Roxane), Olivera Topalovic (Amour/Zima), Judith van Wanroij (Emilie/Atalide), Vittorio Prato (Osman), Anders Dahlin (Valère/Tacmas/Carlos/Damon), Nathan Berg (Huascar), and Thomas Dolié (Adario). Christophe Rousset conducts Les Talens Lyriques and the Choeur de L'Opéra National be Bordeaux (Chorus Director Alexander Martin). Sets by Natascha Leguen de Kerneizon; costumes by Jean-Jacques Delmotte; lighting by Ludovic Bouaud. Directed for TV by Olivier Simonnet; produced by Jean-Stéphane Michaux. The publisher Alpha-Classics is a French company, and the keepcase material is in French. Sung in French. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A with ‽ designation for extensive nudity.
Jean-Philippe Rameau's first hit was the opera Hippolyte et Aricie from 1733. In 1735, Les Indes galantes (The Amorous Indies) was his first opera-ballet. It's a package of 5 mini-operas: a prologue followed by 4 independent pieces, each running from roughly 30 to 40 minutes. The Prologue is set in a mythological garden (here the Garden of Eden). Bellone, the God of War, enters the Garden and leads the men off to the joy of combat. Amour then sends the women off to observe 4 stories about love; director Scozzi assigns this task to 3 lady comedians called the “love tourists.”
Read MoreMozart y Mambo concert with classical music, Latin jazz, and high-jinks by Sarah Willis. Maybe the most famous french horn player since Dennis Brain, Willis is a member of the Berlin Philharmoniker. She is not the principal horn player there, nor does she claim to be a horn concert soloist. So why is Sarah famous? Well, she is an exponent of the quantum theory of existence, which allow her to be many different places at the same time. Her true mission appears to be an ambassador for classical music to all peoples in all countries, and she does this with truly world-class use of jet airplanes and Internet social media. (We love her especially because she was a supporter of the Saito Kinen and the Mito Chamber Orchestras, which made some of our treasured recordings from NHK.)
In 2020, it was Cuba that got the Sarah Willis treatment when she recorded a 55 minute CD of classical music and Latin dance tunes at the Oratorio San Felipe Neri in Havana. Here’s the program . . .
Read MoreMonteverdi 💓 Vespro della beata vergine (Vespers for the Blessed Virgin). Recorded 2014 at the Versailles Chapelle Royale. Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists. Olivier Schneebeli conducts the Juvenal Choir of the Versailles Center for Baroque Music. Directed for TV by Stéphan Aubé; produced by Frédérick Allain. Sung in Latin. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: A
Read MoreHandel Alcina opera to a libretto by an unknown author and Handel Tamerlano opera to libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym. Both operas directed 2015 by Pierre Audi at la Monnaie using (we think) the same support staff for a coordinated package. Christophe Rousset directs Les Talens Lyriques (Concert Master Gilone Gaubert-Jacques). Costumes by Patrick Kinmonth.
Alcina stars Sandrine Piau (Alcina), Maite Beaumont (Ruggiero), Angélique Noldus (Bradamante), Sabina Puértolas (Morgana), Chloé Briot (Oberto), Daneil Behle (Oronte), Giovanni Furnaletto (Melisso), and Éduoard Higuet (Astolfo). Alcina directed for film by Stéphan Aubé.
Tamerlano stars Christophe Dumaux (Tamerlano), Jeremy Ovenden (Bajazete), Sophie Karthäuser (Asteria), Delphine Galou (Andronico), Ann Hallenberg (Irene), Nathan Berg (Leone), and Caroline D'Haese (Zaida). Tamerlano directed for film by Myriam Hoyer.
Released 2016, disc has 5.1 sound output. Grade: NA
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