Background
Félicien David was born on the 13th of April 1810 at Cadenet, in the department of Vaucluse. His father died when the boy was six and left him an impoverished orphan.
(French opera owes much of its obsession with exoticism to...)
French opera owes much of its obsession with exoticism to the pivotal figure of Felicien David, a pioneer of 'musical Orientalism'. His opera Lalla Roukh, first performed to huge acclaim in 1862, was the catalyst for the explosion in operas set in the 'Exotic East'. The fairy-tale plot revolves around an Indian princess who travels to Bukhara (part of modern Uzbekistan) to meet the man to whom she is to be given in marriage. Along the way she falls in love with the minstrel Noureddin who is, in fact, the King of Bukhara in disguise. David's evocative and magical orchestration is harnessed to memorable melodies, including Lalla Roukh's deftly harmonized arias 'Sous le feuillage sombre' and 'O nuit d'amour'.
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(Conducted by Laurence Equilbey and featuring the renowned...)
Conducted by Laurence Equilbey and featuring the renowned Accentus choir and Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, this new recording of one of the French masterpieces of the mid-19th c. is to a real discovery. Felicien David spent 4 years in Egypt and Algeria before returning to Paris, where he composed this romantic ode symphonie (1844) which joined the orientalist trend that was ongoing in several of the arts of the time. The immediate, phenomenal success of this work ultimately had a detrimental on his future career. This 2CD Naive set features performances both for, and without, voice.
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(Solistes de l'Ensemble Baroque De Limoges (Andrés Gabetta...)
Solistes de l'Ensemble Baroque De Limoges (Andrés Gabetta, violon - Maï Ngo, violon - Pierre Franck, alto - Christophe Coin, violoncelle - David Sinclair & Yann Dubost, contrebasse)
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(Excerpt from Vingt Cinq Mélodies pour Chant Et Piano Abo...)
Excerpt from Vingt Cinq Mélodies pour Chant Et Piano About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Félicien David was born on the 13th of April 1810 at Cadenet, in the department of Vaucluse. His father died when the boy was six and left him an impoverished orphan.
As a child David showed unusual musical precocit. His good voice enabled him to study as a choirboy at the Church of Saint-Sauveur in Aix-en-Provence, which he left at the age of 15 with a sound knowledge of music, and a scholarship which enabled him to study literature at a Jesuit college. However, after three years, he abandoned these studies to pursue a musical career.
David was for a time employed in an attorney’s office, but quitted his service to become chef d’orchestre in the theatre at Aix, and chapel-master at Saint Sauveur. Then he went to Paris, being provided with £100 a year by a rich uncle. After having studied for a while at the Paris Conservatoire, he joined the sect of Saint Simonians, and in 1833 travelled in the East in order to preach the new doctrine. After three years’ absence, during which Constantinople and Smyrna were visited and some time was spent in Egypt, he returned to France and published a collection of Oriental Melodies. For several years he worked in retirement, and wrote two symphonies, some chamber music and songs.
On the 8th of December 1844 he suddenly leapt into fame through the extraordinary success obtained by his symphonic ode Le Désert, which was produced at the Conservatoire. In this work David had struck out a new line. He had attempted in simple strains to evoke the majestic stillness of the desert. Notwithstanding its title of “symphonic ode, ” Le Désert has little in common with the symphonic style. What distinguishes it is a certain naïveté of expression and an effective oriental colouring. In this last respect David may be looked upon as the precursor of a whole army of composers. His succeeding works, Moïse au Sinai (1846), Christophe Colomb (1847), L’Éden (1848), scarcely bore out the promise shown in Le Désert, although the second of these compositions was successful at the time of its production.
David now turned his attention to the theatre, and produced the following operas in succession: La Perle du Brésil (1851), Herculanum (1859), Lalla-Roukh (1862), Le Saphir (1865). Of these, Lalla-Roukh is the one which has obtained the greatest success. In 1869 he was made librarian at the Conservatoire instead of Berlioz, whom subsequently he succeeded as a member of the Institute.
(Solistes de l'Ensemble Baroque De Limoges (Andrés Gabetta...)
(Conducted by Laurence Equilbey and featuring the renowned...)
(Excerpt from Vingt Cinq Mélodies pour Chant Et Piano Abo...)
(French opera owes much of its obsession with exoticism to...)
(The Cambini String Quartet-Paris displays three unknown m...)
(Trio n° 1 - Quatuor n° 3 - Pensée - Le Caprice - L'absenc...)
(CD)