French Romantic Cantatas

Karine Deshayes (mezzo-sopraan)
Opera Fuoco, David Stern
Programma:
1. Médée: Ouverture 07:15
2. Velléda 19:22
3. Ariane 21:58
4. Médée, Act II, Scene 4: Ah ! Nos peines seront communes (Néris) 08:37
5. Sémiramis: Ouverture 06:46
6. Circé 13:15
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This recording, produced by the Bru-Zane Foundation and released by Zig-Zag Territoires, is an invitation to discovery: that of Romantic French cantatas by Cherubini, Hérold and Boisselot in the company of an exceptional guide, mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes, and with the attentive complicity of Opera Fuoco and its conductor, David Stern

Composed between 1789 and 1836, these scores bear witness to a genre, the French Cantata, very much present during the Baroque era and restored to favour in the 19th century as a sort of alternative to the Italian stage, generally perceived in France as being overly exuberant.

So discoveries combined with the pleasure of again finding the splendid voice – particularly well adapted to this repertoire – of Karine Deshayes.