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Thomas Beecham, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra - Grétry: Zémire et Azor (2011)

Posted By: tirexiss
Thomas Beecham, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra - Grétry: Zémire et Azor (2011)

Thomas Beecham, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra - Grétry: Zémire et Azor (2011)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 01:54:01 | 464 MB
Genre: Classical, Opera | Label: Somm Recordings | Catalog: 030-2

The operas of Grétry are seldom recorded, and even less often performed, today. The composer was for a time the personal director of music to Marie-Antoinette and there is a strong vein of pretty artificiality which can seem at best trivial in unsympathetic hands. The present recording is certainly not in such hands as Beecham had a particular liking for the music of Grétry and his contemporaries. It was presumably at his behest that this opera was chosen as part of the programme for the 1955 Bath Festival. The present issue derives from a set of private recordings on 78rpm acetates of a live broadcast of one of a series of five performances of the work.
The plot a merchant ruined by a shipwreck who seeks refuge in the house of a Prince transformed into a beast by an evil fairy. The merchant takes a rose from the Prince’s garden, and in return for this theft is condemned to sacrifice his life to the beast. One of his daughters offers her own life instead, but comes to realise that the beast - the Prince - is in fact gentle in his intentions towards her. Her sacrifice returns the Prince to his human form. If a story of sacrifice reminds you of Idomeneo or Jeptha this would be misleading, as there is little exploration of the complex human relations involved. Instead we have a delightful series of beautifully worked airs, ensembles and dance movements - including the gentle Airs de ballet which Beecham played frequently outside the opera. The result may not be Mozartian, although it is close to Les Petits Riens, but is extremely beautiful, diverting and concise. It is easy to understand what attracted Beecham to it.
Although the sound, as re-mastered by Gary Moore and Arthur Ridgwell, is adequate for its age and origin some creative listening is required but most listeners will find it tolerable. There are cuts and changes to the text in Beecham’s edition and inevitably the performance style is that of its time. I have no doubt that a modern historically informed performance would sound very different but I am also in no doubt as to the sheer beauty and character of the sounds and approach found here. It helps immensely that most of the singers are French, especially as there is spoken dialogue between most of the numbers. This is however not too extensive and the booklet includes the entire libretto with an English translation by Andrew Parker.
The result is a delightful experience which should attract not just admirers of the conductor but also those interested in this important but underrated composer. If you do not know his music it is worth sampling these discs. I would be surprised if they do not give considerable pleasure. – John Sheppard

Thomas Beecham, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra - Grétry: Zémire et Azor (2011)

Track List:

CD 1:
1. Zémire et Azor: Act I, Azor's Palace, Overture
2. Scene 1, Dialogue & No. 1 Ariette "The Storm Will Cease" (Ali)
3. Scene 1, Dialogue "What Are You Saying? The Storm Is Getting Worse" (Sander, Ali)
4. Scene 1, No. 2 Air "Misfortune Has Made Me Fearless" (Sander)
5. Scene 1, Dialogue, "Eh! Never Having Anything More Than My Life to Call My Own" (Ali)
6. Scene 1, No. 3 Ariette, "The Ghosts They Frighten Us With"
7. Scene 1, Dialogue, "Ali Has Certainly Proved Himself…" (Sander)
8. Scene 1, No. 4 Duet, "The Weather Is Lovely" (Sander, Ali)
9. Scene 2, Dialogue "Let's Go; My Family Are Waiting" (Sander, Ali)
10. Scene 2, No. 5, Air "The Poor Child Did Not Know" (Sander)
11. Scene 2, Dialogue "My Heart Is Feeling Enough" (Azor, Sander)
12. Scene 2, No. 6 Air, "Don't Go Deceiving Me" (Azor)
13. Scene 2, No. 7 Finale, "Flight of the Cloud"
14. Act II, Sander's House, Scene 1, No. 8 Trio, "Let Us Wait Up My Sisters" (Zémire, Fatmé, Lisbé)
15. Scene 2, Dialogue, "Ah! Father! What Joy to Have You Back" (Zémire, Fatmé, Lisbé)
16. Scene 2, No. 9 Ariette, "Cherished Rose" (Zémire)
17. Scene 3, Dialogue, "You Have Stayed Awake All Night" (Sander, Ali, Zémire)
18. Scene 3, No. 10 Rectitative, "I'm Going to Set Forth Once More" (Sander)
19. Scene 3, No. 11 Duet, "I Want to See Him, I Want to Tell Him" (Zémire, Ali)

Exact Audio Copy V1.3 from 2. September 2016

EAC extraction logfile from 13. August 2018, 22:52

Thomas Beecham / Gretry: Zemire et Azor (Disc 1)

Used drive : TSSTcorpDVDWBD SE-406AB Adapter: 1 ID: 2

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -8 -e -p -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "PERFORMER=%albuminterpret%" -T "COMPOSER=%composer%" %haslyrics%–tag-from-file=LYRICS="%lyricsfile%"%haslyrics% -T "ALBUMARTIST=%albumartist%" -T "DISCNUMBER=%cdnumber%" -T "TOTALDISCS=%totalcds%" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%numtracks%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" %source% -o %dest%


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–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6

[CTDB TOCID: I9Q3hdHPa.DdhnarIvX2YRKntLA-] disk not present in database
Submit result: I9Q3hdHPa.DdhnarIvX2YRKntLA- has been uploaded


==== Log checksum D49839C87BB16DDC5062DAC04E8C6F7B38FA72563324AF18B48F37EE22796C4C ====

CD 2:
20. Act III, Scene 1, No. 12 Air, "Ah What a Torment It Is" (Azor)
21. Scene 1, "Cruel Fairy, Cut Short Either My Life or My Punishment" (Azor) - Scene 2, Dialogue "Well, Here We Are; Now I'm Off: Farewell!" (Ali, Zémire)
22. Scene 2, No. 13 Duet "Reassure My Father" (Zémire, Ali)
23. Scene 2, Dialogue "Esclave, Éloigne-toi" (Azor, Ali)
24. Scene 2, No. 14 "Entrance of the Spirits"
25. Scene 2, Allegro (Passepied)
26. Scene 2, Airs de Ballet
27. Scene 5, Dialogue "Heavens!" (Zémire, Azor)
28. Scene 5, No. 15 Air, "The Moment One Loves" (Azor)
29. Scene 5, Dialogue, "Alas, I Cannot Get Over My Surprise" (Zémire, Azor)
30. Scene 5, No. 16 Air, "The Warbler With It's Young" (Zémire)
31. Scene 5, Dialogue, "Your Singing is a Lament, to Be Sure" (Azor, Zémire)
32. Scene 6, Dialogue, "Alas! How Sad He Looks!" (Zémire, Azor) - No. 17 Trio, "Ah! Let Me Mourn for Her" (Sander, Fatmé, Lisbé)
33. Scene 7, Dialogue, "Oh! Cruel beast!" (Zémire, Azor)
34. Scene 7, "Don't Forget the Soul That Is Here Waiting for You" (Azor) - No. 18 Larghetto
35. Scene 7, No. 19 "Entr'acte"
36. Act IV, Scene 1, No. 20 Ariette "I'm Still Trembling from the Sight" (Ali)
37. Scene 2, Dialogue "Look! Here Comes Our Sister! (Fatmé, Lisbé, Sander)
38. Scene 2, No. 21 Quartet, "Ah! I'm Still All a-Quiver" (Zémire, Sander, Fatmé, Lisbé)
39. Scene 3, No. 22 Air, "The Sun Has Disappeared Under the Sea" (Azor)
40. Scene 3, No. 23 Air, "Azor! Azor! In Vain I Call Out to You" (Zémire)
41. Scene 5, Dialogue, "Zemire!" (Azor) - Scene 6, Dialogue, "Father! Sisters! Supreme Happiness" (Zémire, Sander)
42. Scene 6, No. 24, Final Chorus, "Love, Love" (All)
43. Scene 6, "The Ballet Ends the Action. Reprise of Passepied"

Exact Audio Copy V1.3 from 2. September 2016

EAC extraction logfile from 13. August 2018, 23:41

Thomas Beecham / Gretry: Zemire et Azor (Disc 2)

Used drive : TSSTcorpDVDWBD SE-406AB Adapter: 1 ID: 2

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -8 -e -p -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "PERFORMER=%albuminterpret%" -T "COMPOSER=%composer%" %haslyrics%–tag-from-file=LYRICS="%lyricsfile%"%haslyrics% -T "ALBUMARTIST=%albumartist%" -T "DISCNUMBER=%cdnumber%" -T "TOTALDISCS=%totalcds%" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%numtracks%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" %source% -o %dest%


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Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 4.2 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 7E11893A
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Copy OK

No errors occurred


AccurateRip summary

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Track 2 not present in database
Track 3 not present in database
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Track 6 not present in database
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None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database

End of status report

–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6

[CTDB TOCID: lmB8n22DJG1TUoGkcvjoQhhMMs4-] disk not present in database
Submit result: lmB8n22DJG1TUoGkcvjoQhhMMs4- has been uploaded


==== Log checksum 59FF9989F2488B813032956BE60E77A1EA38025457113D95E230B7592A23DC76 ====

Performers:
Bernard Lefort (Sander, a merchant -Baritone-)
Michel Hamel (Ali, his servant -Tenor-)
Michel Sénéchal (Azor, a fearsome beast -Tenor-)
Sander’s daughters: Huguette Boulangeot (Zémire -Soprano-)
Arda Mandikian (Fatmé -Soprano-)
Claire Duchesneau (Lisbé -Soprano-)

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (Leader: Hugh Maguire)
Sir Thomas Beecham, Bart., C.H. (Conductor)

Thanks to the Original ripper (unknown)!

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