Jean RACINE Phèdre - in French
Olivier Werner - Hippolyte
Denis Manuel - Théramène
Geneviève Esménard - Œnone
Natacha Amal - Phèdre
Dominique Marcas - Panope
Karine Fellous - Aricie
Agnès Proust - Ismène
Marc Zammit - Thésée
mise-en-scène - Jean-Marie Villégier
Théâtre Nationale de Strasbourg
prise de son - Raymond Burger
rec 24-25 Oct 1991, Théâtre Nationale de Strasbourg, L'Illustre-Théâtre DDD
K617 022/023 [CD1 77.30; CD2 59.20]

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Let me declare one thing from the outset: my decayed schoolboy French left me scrabbling rather pathetically after the meaning of what was said.

What I can report about this 2 CD set is that it preserves a dedicated stage production complete with an audience afflicted with the usual maladies of shuffles and coughing - it was, after all, October when the recording was made!

The parts are played with feeling and clarity. The whole production declares its exclusively Francophone values. The notes are in French only. The text is not printed although it is presumably easily enough available - not least on the internet.

I can imagine such a set forming a stylistic cleansing for any serious student of French and also easing study and enjoyment of the play for both students and a more general audience especially in France itself, D.O.M. and beyond.

The CDs are separately tracked but this advantage is diluted by the fact that the tracks are described only on the CDs themselves. Thus:-

Acte I
Track 1 Scènes 1/2
Track 2 Scène 3
Track 3 Scènes 4/5
Acte II
Track 4 Scène 1
Track 5 Scènes 2/3
Track 6 Scènes 4/5/6
Acte III
Track 7 Scène 1
Track 8 Scènes 2/3/4
Track 9 Scènes 5/6
CD2
Acte IV
Track 1 Scène 1
Track 2 Scènes 2/3/4
Track 3 Scènes 5/6
Acte V
Track 4 Scène 1/2
Track 5 Scènes 3/4
Track 6 Scènes 5/6
Track 7 Scènes 7

The notes are only in French.

Rob Barnett

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