Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet wrote more than thirty operas and a lasting body of songs. On these discs his lyric gift appears in the hypnotic mélodies Être aimé and Amoureuse, and in the long-breathed Méditation from Thaïs for violin.
Manon and Werther are the stage works most often revived, intimate lyric dramas rather than grand spectacle. Thaïs supplies the Méditation, a serene violin cantilena that has become a concert favourite far beyond the opera house. Massenet wrote with a practical sense of the theatre and of the singing voice, favouring fluent melody and soft, refined orchestral colour. His mélodies share that controlled lyricism: precise in form, warm in line, and shaped so that singer and pianist meet without overstatement. The same melodic ease draws violinists back to the Méditation again and again.
Compositions by Jules Massenet appear on
After the Deluge (Original Soundtrack)
Award-winning Australian film composer Cezary Skubiszewski’s soundtrack to the acclaimed mini-series After the Deluge. Scored for orchestra and choir, it ranges from haunting violin solos to 40s jazz, Irish airs and on-screen band pop.
Wordless Meanings
In the beginning there was harmony – before anyone asked “What sort of music do you play?”, before everyone grew too busy to listen, before music became ‘the industry’. Somewhere along the way, harmony was lost in a cacophony of meaningless words.
Poème: Music for the Romantic Violin
The internationally renowned violinist Miwako Abe and the pianist David McSkimming play works by French composers active in Paris at the end of the nineteenth century, sometimes inspiring each other and occasionally forming rivalries.
Moonlight Reflections
A recital album full to the brim with exquisite art song, this recording gathers hidden treasures and classic favourites performed by Opera Australia star Stacey Alleaume.