Saint-Saens: Proserpine (complete opera)
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CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Saint-Saens: Proserpine (complete opera)
Véronique Gens, Marie-Adeline Henry, Frédéric Antoun, Andrew Foster-Williams / Munchner Rundfunkorchester, Flemish Radio Choir, Ulf Schirmer
[ Bru Zane Ediciones Singulares / 2 CD/Book ]
Release Date: Saturday 20 May 2017
This item is currently out of stock. We expect to be able to supply it to you within 2 - 4 weeks from when you place your order.
The protagonist of Saint-Saëns' Proserpine, premiered at the Opéra-Comique on 14 March 1887, is no reincarnation of the ancient goddess, but a Renaissance courtesan well versed in culpable amours. According to the composer, she is 'a damned soul for whom true love is a forbidden fruit; as soon as she approaches it, she experiences torture'. Yet for all the innocence of her rival Angiola, the unexpected happens: 'It is the bloodthirsty beast that is admirable; the sweet creature is no more than pretty and likeable.' Visibly enraptured by this delight in horror, Saint-Saëns indulges in unprecedented orchestral modernity, piling on the dissonances beneath his characters' cries of rage or despair. He concluded thus: 'Proserpine is, of all my stage works, the most advanced in the Wagnerian system.' The least-known, too, and one which it was high time to reveal to the public, in its second version, revised in 1899.
Book Contents:
• Marie-Gabrielle Soret, From genesis to reception
• Gérard Condé, A look through the score
• Camille Saint-Saëns, A few remarks on Proserpine
• Hugh J. Macdonald, Proserpine, Goddess of the Underworld
• Synopsis
• Libretto
• Cast - Tracklist
"The cast is led by Véronique Gens in the title-role, her ever-expressive colouring of text superb, from scornful and haughty courtesan to desperate lover…Frédéric Antoun is a stylish Sabatino…Andrew Foster-Williams's biting baritone makes for a splendid Squarocca…The Munich Radio Orchestra impress, particularly in the pulsating entr'acte depicting Proserpine's flight back to Florence." Gramophone
"Frédéric Antoun is a bright, not exactly nuanced Sabatino and Jean Teitgen a warm and sympathetic Renzo, but the main prize goes to Véronique Gens for her utterly superb singing of the title role" BBC Music
