MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
AmazonUK AmazonUS


Reynaldo HAHN (1875-1947)
Ciboulette (1923)
Mady Mesplé (soprano) - Ciboulette; José Van Dam (bass-baritone) - Duparquet; Nicolai Gedda (tenor) - Antonin; Colette Alliot-Lugaz (mezzo-soprano) - Zénobie; Francois Le Roux (bass) - Roger; Monique Pouradier-Dutell - Francoise; Jean-Christophe Benoit (bass) - Le Pęre Grenu; Le Marquis; and several others
Ensemble Choral Jean Laforge, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo/Cyril Diederich
rec. Salle Garnier, Monte-Carlo, 16-24 September 1981, 21-23 June 1982.
EMI CLASSICS 3951282
[56:34 + 58:08] 
Experience Classicsonline


Reynaldo Hahn is probably best known for some of the most charming French songs - or mélodies as they are commonly called in French. Interestingly, though, his ancestry was anything but French. His father was German - the family name reveals as much – and his mother was Venezuelan. In 1878, when Reynaldo was three, the family left Venezuela and headed for Europe, never to return. Hahn established himself in Paris where he soon became prominent as the most Parisian of composers, despite his cosmopolitan background. He was a decent pianist and had a lovely voice and became a celebrity in the salons. From an early age he had composed songs and it was in the double - or rather triple - capacities of composer, singer and accompanist that he became a ‘darling’ of the Parisian audiences. He got his formal musical education at the Paris Conservatory, where he became a close friend of Massenet, whose favourite pupil he was. Undoubtedly he learnt a thing or two about ingratiating melodies and lush harmonies from his mentor. He was a man of the theatre, composing incidental music, ballets, a couple of operas and several very popular operettas. The first of these - and his greatest success - was Ciboulette (1923) followed two years later by Mozart.
 

As a conductor he specialised in Mozart, so that second operetta seems to have been very close to his heart. I can’t say that there is much in the away of Mozartean influence in Ciboulette, but Massenet and Offenbach are godfathers and there are a few dashes of Lehár as well. Like Offenbach, another typically French composer with German background, he is more prone to write spirited ensembles than solo songs but there are a few ravishing couplets and several charming duos. His orchestration is rather transparent and he is firmly rooted in the late 19th century harmonic language; there is little in the way of impressionism. The general Gallic tone has Spanish spice in the second act. Like Debussy and Satie he was also caught by the new American rhythms: cake-walk or ragtime. In general he is at his best in some of the finales; the one to the first tableau of act I is particularly riveting. The big ensemble in 3/4-time in the middle of the second tableau (CD 1 tr. 16) is extremely charming. 

The Monte-Carlo forces are truly at home in this music. Their playing and choral singing under the experienced Cyril Diederich is inspired and idiomatic. The all-French cast also deliver their lines and the copious spoken dialogue with verve and relish. I know José Van Dam is Belgian, but as such he belongs to the French idiom, and Nicolai Gedda, fluent in at least seven languages, has always had a special affinity for French. By the time these recording sessions were held he was a bit over 55 and had lost a little of the youthful bloom, but one has to travel far to hear more lively and stylish singing and acting. Mady Mesplé was also in her early fifties but her bright tones are as unmistakably French as ever. Few sopranos have ever been so at home in this kind of repertoire, Natalie Dessay being the only true inheritor. As for Van Dam he has rarely sung with such lyric beauty. Just listen to his Couplets in the first tableau (CD 1 tr.5), so soft and beautiful and with wonderful legato. Colette Alliot-Lugaz and Francois Le Roux also make the most of their roles. 

There may not be the same spirit in this music as in some of Offenbach’s most infectious creations, but Hahn was definitely one of the best in the genre during the first half of the 20th century. 

To follow the rapid dialogue and the intricate ensembles one needs to be rather fluent in French - or have access to a libretto. EMI state in the booklet and the back cover of the jewel-box that full libretto and English translation are available at the EMI classics website. I wasn’t able to find it though, and when I typed ‘Ciboulette’ in the search function there was no hit. The booklet has a very condensed synopsis giving the outlines of the story but to savour this delightful operetta properly one has to understand even the details. I hope this will be corrected in due time. In the meantime lovers of French operetta can at least enjoy the charming music, performed by an outstanding cast.

Göran Forsling 


 

 
 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.