Stefan Plewniak - Scylla & Glaucus - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Jean-Marie Leclair, a pure product of the 18th century, was at the crossroads of styles, cultivating a virtuosic art combining melodies à la française and Italian virtuosity stemming from Corelli and Vivaldi. He was 49 when he undertook his first (and only) lyric tragedy Scylla et Glaucus. In the greatest French tradition, this work combines sumptuous numbers of sentimental outpourings with frightening scenes of fury and terror, in which the orchestra, with forceful passages, plays a dazzling role. A veritable masterpiece, revealing the obvious influence of Rameau, Scylla et Glaucus left a strong mark on French opera. First performed at the Académie Royale de Musique in 1746, this opera, which had a run of 17 performances and enjoyed great success, was only rediscovered in the 1980s (by John Eliot Gardiner in Lyon). For this re-creation, recorded at the Royal Opera and featuring in the Alpha/ Château de Versailles collection, Sébastien d'Hérin, a connoisseur of Rameau and that era, has surrounded himself with top-notch performers, including the promising amorous duo of Anders Dahlin and Emöke Barath, for a resurrection of what the great musicologist Cuthbert Girdlestone considered 'probably, along with those of Rameau et Gluck, the finest French opera of the century'. Album Tracks 1. Ouverture 2. Reine de la Nature 3. Sarabande 4. Air Gracieux 5. Quel Bruit Soudain 6. Redoutable Vénus 7. Quel Tonnerre 8. Symphonie Pour la Descente de Vénus 9. Pour Vous Dont Je Reçois Et L'encens Et Les Voeux 10. Des Nations Il Triomphe Sans Peine! 11. Dans Un Auguste Fils 12. Gigue 13. Venez, Qu'amour Vous Couronne 14. Passepied 15. Votre Zèle Pour Moi Brille Assez 16. Non Je Ne Cesserai Jamais 17. Que Votre Empressement 18. Marche Des Bergers Et Des Silvains 19. Aimez, Nymphe Charmante 20. Air Des Sylvains 21. Musette 22. Nos Bois Save

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 Baroque operatic canon and emerge with a fresh new take on this established work, the violin virtuoso and composer's single offering for the Paris Opéra. For this recording György Vashegyi has made use of the original performing manuscript of the batteur de mesure, one consequence being that the dramatic structure of the work is tightened here, water-god Glaucus (Cyrille Dubois) convinces the reluctant nymph, Scylla (Judith van Wanroij) of his intentions towards her, but only once he has been to visit the wicked sorceress Circé (Véronique Gens) in search of magical assistance. A bad move, which culminates in a broken Glaucus looking out over the strait of Sicily towards a newly-formed rock formation... Called Scylla. Vashegyi's Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra, and supporting singers, are on hand to do justice to the resulting French Baroque emotional panoply of rustic and demonic dances, welcomed and spurned love arias, and choral and divine interventions. Album Tracks 1. Ouverture [03 56] 2. Prologue Reine de la Nature (Le Chef Des Peuples, Chorus) [01 44] 3. Prologue Sarabande [01 09] 4. Prologue Air Gracieux [01 21] 5. Prologue Quel Bruit Soudain (Le Chef Des Peuples, Propetide 1, Propetide 2) [01 00] 6. Prologue Recitative Redoutable Vénus (Le Chef Des Peuples) [00 30] 7. Prologue Recitative Quel Tonnerre! (Le Chef Des Peuples) [00 39] 8. Prologue Symphonie Pour la Descente de Vénus - Recitative Cessez de Braver Ma Puissance (Vénus) [02 39] 9. Prologue Pour Vous Dont Je Recois Et L'encens Et Les Voeux (Vénus, Chorus) [02 05] 10. Prologue Des Nations Il Triomphe Sans Peine (Le Chef Des Peuples) [00 54] 11. Prologue Dans Un Auguste F

With one exception, this CD box contains my complete piano works from 2010 to 2020, which are being released on CD for the first time. Operas 76, 86 and 116 are dedicated to Ana-Marija Markovina, who also premiered them. (Stefan Heucke)This CD-Box is a great stroke of luck. Stefan Heucke's work is an impressive testimony to the musical interweaving of genres and themes, of new and historical forms and techniques of expression, of music and literature. The fact that Heucke's complete piano works from 2010 to 2020 are being released on CD for the first time with this CD box set makes one literally 'sit up and take notice'. The compositions are brilliantly performed by pianist Ana-Marija Markovina. Both Stefan Heucke and Ana-Marija Markovina have known one another for a long time; their collaboration is a stroke of luck for the music scene in this country and beyond.