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Camille Erlanger (1863-1919) : La Sorcière, opera in 4 acts and 5 tableaux on a booklet by André Sardou. With : Andreea Soare, Zoraya ; Jean-François Borras, Don Enrique ; Lionel Lhote, Ximenès ; Alexandre Duhamel, Padilla ; Marie-Eve Munger, Afrida ; Sofie Garcia, Manuela ; Servane Brochard, Joana ; Carine Séchaye, Aïcha ; Léa Fusaro, Fatoum ; Joe Bertili, Ramiro ; Maxence Billiemaz, Arias ; Daria Novik, Première Mauresque ; Eva Kubicek, Second Moorish ; Oscar Esmerode, Zaguir ; Raphaël Hardmeyer, Le Sereno, Albornos ; Joshua Morris, Cardenos, Oliveira ; Pablo Plaza, A Voice ; Mathias Lonchay, Hugo Fabrion, Oscar Esmerode, three musicians; Alban Legos, Ibarra ; Pierre Arpin, Molina ; Ivan Thirion, Calabazas ; Manuel Pollinger, Torillo ; Hugo Fabrion, A Man of the People. Orchestra and choir of the High School of Music of Geneva, direction: Guillaume Tourniaire. 3 CD B Records. Recorded in public at the Victoria Hall in Geneva on 12 December 2023. Presentation booklet in French and English. Duration : 161:00
B Records
The quality of publishing by B Records of this event disc sets the tone: it is a reappearance of the best effect of post-romantic opera The Witch by Camille Erlanger which we are witnessing, with Guillaume Tourniaire at the head of the Orchestra of the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève, and carried by top-flight performers.
In broad terms, the composer Camille Erlanger fits into his era: orchestra and excessive vocal cast (no less than 24 singers!); complexity of the harmonic language growing at the limit of tonality; obvious Wagnerian influence of musical drama with the use of “musical subjects” not to speak of leitmotif… However, this recording retracing the last opera created during this composer’s lifetime, is blatant testimony to his singularity in the French musical landscape of his time, mainly through his keen sense of “sound decor”, to the detriment of lascivious melodic impulses. and great lyrical outpourings that musicians influenced by Massenet love. Faced with this opulence, the live sound recording of this performance in Geneva is ideal: the voices sound perfectly audible, without ever drowning in the numerous orchestral tsunamis; the pit is transcribed in all its verve, in everyone as with every music stand in the Swiss phalanx, including the organ of the Victoria Hall.
At the head of the Orchestra of the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève, which particularly stands out here for the quality of its winds, Guillaume Tourniaire demonstrates an exalted approach to Erlanger’s work thanks to sumptuous effects and sonorities bubbling. The conductor’s touch is also characterized by the excellent listening guide that he offers in the accompanying booklet, i.e. 34 pages of musical extracts and explanations for each reading track, offering for purchaser of this disc an undoubtedly valuable tool in order to identify all the issues. Let us not shy away from our pleasure in reading “Return of the Witch” by Jacques Tchamkerten, and the text by Michela Niccolai “The musical trend of the time. A new dramatic path at the end of the century: naturalism on the lyrical stage”, elements of context essential to this rediscovery.
On the vocal side, what a happy moment it was to have 24 voices of such high quality brought together, regardless of the importance of the interventions attributed to each! Delirious hysterical song by Marie-Eve Munger for a possessed witch (” Often !… “first scene of act IV), luxurious Padilla as a perfectly convincing noble Alexandre Duhamel, frightening Lionel Lhote (Ximénés) as an accomplished inquisitor… Andreea Soare, in the guise of the main heroine, pulls out all the stops, strong ‘flawless technicality in the face of the dangerous intervals of his duo “Zoraya?…” (Act I, The banks of the Tagus) and with a wide range and intractable high notes in his second love duet. Her commitment depicts a vibrant and intense Zoraya, who will face a worthy partner in the person of Jean-François Borras. The sensitivity of his Don Enrique is as evident in his phrasing as in his passionate nuances, the tenor asserting all the vocal components for this demanding role.
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More details
Camille Erlanger (1863-1919) : La Sorcière, opera in 4 acts and 5 tableaux on a booklet by André Sardou. With : Andreea Soare, Zoraya ; Jean-François Borras, Don Enrique ; Lionel Lhote, Ximenès ; Alexandre Duhamel, Padilla ; Marie-Eve Munger, Afrida ; Sofie Garcia, Manuela ; Servane Brochard, Joana ; Carine Séchaye, Aïcha ; Léa Fusaro, Fatoum ; Joe Bertili, Ramiro ; Maxence Billiemaz, Arias ; Daria Novik, Première Mauresque ; Eva Kubicek, Second Moorish ; Oscar Esmerode, Zaguir ; Raphaël Hardmeyer, Le Sereno, Albornos ; Joshua Morris, Cardenos, Oliveira ; Pablo Plaza, A Voice ; Mathias Lonchay, Hugo Fabrion, Oscar Esmerode, three musicians; Alban Legos, Ibarra ; Pierre Arpin, Molina ; Ivan Thirion, Calabazas ; Manuel Pollinger, Torillo ; Hugo Fabrion, A Man of the People. Orchestra and choir of the High School of Music of Geneva, direction: Guillaume Tourniaire. 3 CD B Records. Recorded in public at the Victoria Hall in Geneva on 12 December 2023. Presentation booklet in French and English. Duration : 161:00
B Records
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