David: Lalla Roukh Fiset

• Félicien David (1810-1876): Lalla Roukh (1862) Opéra-comique in two acts
• 1Ouverture09:15
• Act I
• 2Scenes 1-3: Scene et Choeur: C'est ici le pays des roses (Chorus, Bakbara, Kaboul, Noureddin, Baskir)08:22
• 3Scene 5: Melodie: Sous le feuillage sombre (Lalla Roukh)03:41
• 4Scene 6: Couplets: De pres ou de loin (Baskir)01:43
• 5Scene 7: Choeur: Voici le repas du soir (Chorus)02:33
• 6Scene 7: Ballet: La nuit tombe (Chorus)04:59
• 7Scene 7: Choeur danse: Bayaderes plus legeres (Chorus)03:06
• 8Scene 8: Scene, Dieu, c'est lui! Quatuor, Je n'ose lever les yeux (Lalla Roukh, Baskir, Mirza, Noureddin, Chorus)04:12
• 9Scene 8: Romance: Ma maitresse a quitte la tente, Scene, et Reprise du Choeur (Noureddin, Baskir, Lalla Roukh, Mirza, Chorus)06:53
• 10Scene 10: Couplets: Si vous ne savez plus charmer (Mirza)03:02
• 11Scene 12: Duo, La nuit en deployant ses ailes (Lalla Roukh, Noureddin)06:37
• 12Scene 12: Ballade, Lorsque l'etoile du ciel sans voile, Duo (Noureddin, Lalla Roukh)03:24
• 13Scene 13: Ronde de Nuit et Final du 1er Acte, La nuit au manteau sombre (Chorus, Bakbara, Kaboul, Baskir, Lalla Roukh, Mirza)06:16
• Act II
• 14Scene 1: Entr'acte02:40
• 15Scene 1: Recitatif: Enfin…Air, O nuit d'amour (Lalla Roukh)07:14
• 16Scene 2: Duettino, Loin du bruit, loin du monde (Lalla Roukh, Mirza)05:10
• 17Scene 4: Choeur: Ces joyaux, ces parures (Chorus, Lalla Roukh, Baskir, Mirza)04:04
• 18Scene 6: Couplets: Ah! funeste ambassade (Baskir)02:38
• 19Scene 8: Barcarolle et Ensemble: O! ma maitresse (Noureddin, Baskir, Bakbara, Kaboul, Mirza)03:57
• 20Scene 9: Duo bouffe: Tout ira bien demain (Noureddin, Baskir)04:49
• 21Scene 10: Romance: Fuyez, fuyez (Noureddin)03:08
• 22Scene 10: Duo: Non, non, le ciel lui-meme (Lalla Roukh, Noureddin)02:48
• 23Scene 12: Marche et Final: Gloire, honneur (Chorus, Baskir, Lalla Roukh, Mirza, Noureddin)06:29
• Total Runtime01:47:00

Info for David: Lalla Roukh

French opera owes much of its obsession with exoticism to the pivotal figure of Félicien 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 8660338-39 memorable melodies, including Lalla Roukh’s deftly harmonized arias ‘Sous le feuillage sombre’ and ‘O nuit d’amour’.

“The big strength of his debut recording by Opera Lafayette of Washington DC is that all the principals have such firm, clear voices...Marianne Fiest as the heroine has a bright, perfectly placed soprano, attacking even the most exposed notes with precision...A most attractive package.” (Gramophone Magazine)

“Ryan Brown does well by David's opera and its tuneful music.” (International Record Review)

“Marianne Fiset is supremely elegant in the title role, and there are strong, sharply characterised performances from Nathalie Paulin and Bernard Deletré as the comic servants, Mirza and Baskir.” (The Guardian)

Marianne Fiset, soprano
Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, tenor
Nathalie Paulin, soprano
Bernard Deletré, bass-baritone
David Newman, baritone
Andrew Adelsberger, bass-baritone
Opera Lafayette
Ryan Brown, conductor

No biography found.

Booklet for David: Lalla Roukh