Desmarest was something of a frustrated genius. A precocious musician, he had a great career on opera from 1693 to 1698. His destiny was broken when he kidnapped the love of his life and fled to... more

Nearly a century before Gluck, another opera called Iphigenie en Tauride - same plot, same protagonists - had immense success on the opera stage. This 'first' Iphigenie has rather a curious history.... more

In this recital, Véronique Gens and Hervé Niquet bring back to life a neglected aspect of France's Romantic heritage: songs with orchestral accompaniment. Aside from a few pieces by Debussy and... more

Véronique Gens's version of La Voix humaine has been eagerly awaited! This 'lyric tragedy in one act' might have been written for her, so ideally suited are her feeling for language and her dramatic... more

The sorceress Armide, infatuated with the valiant knight Roland, but desperate for Roland to return her love, tries at all costs to lure him into her arms. At the same time, the courageous Herminie... more

Massenet's Werther is one of those masterpieces that were rejected or shunned at the time of their creation. Sketched in the 1880s, the score was turned down by the director of the Opera-Comique and... more

When Atys was first performed before the court in 1676, Lully was at the peak of his triumph: his tragedie lyrique became "the King's opera," so highly did the monarch esteem it's quality. The chords... more

The original concept of Lea Desandre's Amazone is based on music of the Baroque period written specifically on the subject of the Amazons, the mythical race of female warriors. Amazone has been... more

'The rehearsals for La Vie parisienne are almost driving me insane', wrote librettist Ludovic Halevy a few days before the work's first performance. The artists of the Palais-Royal company were... more

Between 1803 and 1968, the Grand Prix de Rome marked the zenith of composition studies at the Paris Conservatoire. In Maurice Ravel's time the competition included an elimination round (a fugue and a... more

Ean-Marie Leclair's Scylla et Glaucus provides an excellent opportunity for György Vashegyi, a luxury cast and music scholars at the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles to revisit the French... more

Abundant though it is, César Franck's vocal music (operas, sacred music, oratorios, mélodies) does not occupy a prominent place in the current repertory. His instrumental compositions - headed by the... more