JULES MASSENET (1842-1912)
Intégrale des mélodies pour voix et piano
(Complete Mélodies for voice and piano)
ATMA Classique and Festival Classica are very pleased to present the largest lyric cycle ever undertaken in Canada: a 13-CD set of the complete mélodies by the prolific French composer Jules Massenet (1842-1912). This box set comprises a total of 333 songs, including 13 unpublished songs and 31 that have never been recorded.
Jules Massenet Complete Mélodies for voice and piano represents one of the most ambitious projects devoted to French melody in the history of modern recording. Under the artistic direction of baritone Marc Boucher, who is also featured as a singer, the project brings together some of Quebec's most beautiful voices accompanied by Olivier Godin on an 1854 Érard piano.
Artists
KARINA GAUVIN / SOPHIE NAUBERT / ANNA-SOPHIE NEHER / MAGALI SIMARD-GALDÈS, sopranos
JULIE BOULIANNE / MICHÈLE LOSIER, mezzo-sopranos
FLORENCE BOURGET / MARIE-NICOLE LEMIEUX, contraltos
FRÉDÉRIC ANTOUN / ANTOINE BÉLANGER / ANTONIO FIGUEROA / EMMANUEL HASLER /
JOÉ LAMPRON-DANDONNEAU / ÉRIC LAPORTE, tenors
MARC BOUCHER / JEAN-FRANÇOIS LAPOINTE / HUGO LAPORTE, baritones
JEAN MARCHAND / MARIE-ÈVE PELLETIER, narrators
ANTOINE BAREIL, violin
STÉPHANE TÉTREAULT, cello
DAVID JACQUES, guitar
VALÉRIE MILOT, harp
OLIVIER GODIN, 1854 Érard piano, harmonium, harpsichord
The Érard piano
The Érard piano Purchased from Pianos Nebout & Hamm in Paris and fully restored by the company’s director, Jacques Nebout. Under his exacting standards, the original parts from 1854, such as the soundboard, ivory keyboard, and hammers, were preserved. The strings and felts were replaced using materials that faithfully reproduce a rich gamut of sonorities from the period.
ATMA Classique and Festival Classica express their sincere thanks to Marie-Christine Tremblay and Jacques Marchand for their financial support and for the loan of the piano for the entire recording cycle. The producers gratefully acknowledge the support of Marie-Paule Rouvinez.
The collection of this remarkable corpus was possible thanks to the devoted musicological research and texts of five Massenet scholars, Jacques Hétu (Canada), JeanChristophe Branger, François Le Roux, Hervé Oléon, and Catherine Scholler (France). These enriching texts are available in a digital booklet on the ATMA Classique website.
ATMA Classique has established a sterling reputation around the world for recordings with superb sound quality, featuring distinctive programs performed by some of the world’s finest musicians.
Festival Classica Inc.
335 Curzon Ave.
Saint-Lambert QC J4P 2V4