Daniel-François-Esprit AUBER La Sirène Crousaud • Lorthiois • Flabat • Teyssier • Setti Mayenobe • Calatayud • Les Métaboles Orchestre des Frivolités Parisiennes • David Reiland 1 Overture 8:31 Daniel-François-Esprit

2 Act I. In the Abruzzi A(1U782B–18E71R) No. 1. Ballade: Quand vient l’ombre silencieuse 3 (Mathéa , Zerlina , Scipion , Bolbaya ) 4:57 No. 2. Quintette: Qu’une heureuse rencontre La Sirène 4 (Zerlina , Mathéa , Scopetto , Scipion , Bolbaya ) 5:58 (‘The Siren’) No. 3. Finale: Une idée, à vous Monseigneur (Scopetto , Scipion , Le Duc , Bolbaya ) – Opéra-comique in three acts (AWV 37) Couplets: Ô Dieu des flibustiers! ( Scopetto ) – by Augustin-Eugène Scribe (1791–1861) Quatuor: Ô bonheur qui m’arrive ( Scopetto , Scipion , Le Duc , Bolbaya ) 7:16 First performance: Opéra-Comique (Deuxième Salle Favart),

Paris, 26 March 1844. 5 Act II. Scopetto’s tavern in the mountains No. 4. Entr’acte – Chœur: Pour étourdir la misère Zerlina, a young peasant, sister of Scopetto ...... Jeanne Crousaud , Soprano (Scopetto , Pecchione , Chœur ) – Mathéa, a servant ...... Dorothée Lorthiois , Soprano 6 Air: Qu’est-ce donc, mes amis? ( Scopetto ) 4:43 Engraving of Auber (c. 1840) Scopetto, an adventurer ...... Xavier Flabat , 7 No. 5. Couplets: Prends garde, Montagnarde! ( Zerlina ) 2:53 8 No. 6. Duo: C’est quel qu’ouvrier? ( Zerlina , Scopetto ) 6:47 Scipion, a young mariner ...... Jean-Noël Teyssier , Tenor No. 8. Scène et Chœur: Qu’est-ce donc? Le Duc de Popoli, governor of the Abruzzi ...... Jean-Fernand Setti , 9 (Scopetto , Scipion , Bolbaya , Pecchione , Chœur ) 3:04 Nicolaio Bolbaya, director of Court pageants ...... Benjamin Mayenobe , Bass No. 9. Finale: lllustre Bolbaya, venez, on vous demande Pecchione, companion of Scopetto ...... Jacques Calatayud , Baritone (Zerlina , Scopetto , Scipion , Le Duc , Bolbaya , Pecchione , Chœur ) – Le Grand-Juge ...... Pierre de Bucy, Speaker Cavatine: Ah! je n’ose pas ( Zerlina ) 9:27 Chorus of Soldiers and Smugglers ...... Les Métaboles

Léo Warynski , Chorus Master 0 Act III. The ducal palace at Pescara No. 10. Entr’acte et Chœur: Les chagrins arrière! ! (Mathéa , Scopetto , Bolbaya , Pecchione , Chœur ) 4:05 Orchestre des Frivolités Parisiennes @ No. 12. Duo: Je fais mal, je le sais ( Zerlina , Scipion ) 6:09 David Reiland , Conductor No. 14. Finale et Vocalise: Voyez vous là-bas (Zerlina , Mathéa , Scopetto , Scipion , Le Duc , Bolbaya , Chœur ) 5:17 This live recording uses the performance material employed at the Théâtre des Arts de Rouen (14 April to 27 June 1849). Engraving of Scribe (after a photo by Nadar) This omitted three numbers (7, 11 & 13) and shortened the Act II finale. Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (1782 –1871) La Sirène will not detract from his air in Act 2. Now only our vocal ornamentation. It is one the most virtuosic parts that lover remains, whom we have always reserved for Auber ever composed. As the title of the work indicates, La Sirène was premiered in Paris on 26 March 1844 at prestigious employment at the Court of King Louis-Philippe a secondary role. Let us see if this young Giraud this role intends to captivate the listener, as well as the the Opéra-Comique, and was an immediate success. (as director of Royal concerts). Auber was much admired you introduced to me, and who you think augurs characters in the story, by her voice. Performances followed in the provinces and in Germany. and honoured, and on the death of Cherubini in 1842, well, will be able to sing and fill this part. This will The tenor Gustave-Hippolyte Roger created the role It remained in the repertoire during l844–52, 1861–62 and became director of the Paris Conservatoire. be a real gain, because with Giraud, Roger and of Marco Tempesta with consummate mastery. He played 1887, receiving 164 performances in all (including 17 Over a period of 17 years, Auber and Scribe achieved Mlle Lavoye we will immediately have a young the part well with his gracious cadences, but above all in performances at the Théâtre-Lyrique, 1865–66). The a series of striking successes at the Opéra-Comique and new profile for our work which is rare for the finely chiseled motifs. Marius-Pierre Audran, the second work played a hundred times at the Opéra-Comique (1823–1840) which brought them huge artistic renown. Opéra-Comique, and is almost of itself a pledge tenor Scipion, was known for his light pleasing voice. (He during its first two seasons, and was Auber’s 14th most The intimacy of their lifelong collaboration was of success. For the rest, fingers crossed, Crosnier returned to this in 1855 when he took over Roger’s popular work in the French capital. Pot-pourris of exceptional. One of Auber’s biographers recounts how [the director of the Opéra-Comique] has promised role as the hero.) The two often sing together most melodies from the opera appeared, beginning with often it was not the composer who set the librettist’s text me that Mlle Lavoye will not play in any other new engagingly. The trio of baritones (timid and boasting Adolphe Adam’s arrangement. This was a success typical to music, but Scribe rather who provided words for the piece before ours. I am working away because I character parts of the Trial type; and a redoubtable basse of French taste at the time. The composer Albert Lortzing musical ideas Auber had already composed and held in am not losing interest in it, and so am making the chantante playing a sombre and vindictive bandit steeped loved La Sirène ; the German public did not rate it as reserve in a small notebook. Their correspondence most of the situation. Yours, E. Scribe in ignorant machinations), added important elements to highly as , but there were nonetheless nine reveals that Auber himself would sometimes write words the story, and even a touch of comedy. The choruses play editions between 1844 and 1900. Heinrich Heine defined which Scribe would then recast. A letter from Scribe to There is another important element that contributed to an exuberant part, brief but full of character. the works as an ideal ‘divertissement’: Auber on 25 August 1843 captures the essence of their their great success. Auber and Scribe knew precisely for Auber’s opera is a fantastic comedy which, in the personal and artistic relationship: what singers they were writing, and the composer worked manner of traditional Italian popular theatre, abounds in La Sirène was received with resounding bravos … in close collaboration with the artists who were going to coups de théâtre , confusions and disclosures. By a The author and the composer know how to amuse At last, and not without difficulty, my dear Friend, I create his scores. This assured the effectiveness of both boisterous sequence of ruses, love and betrayal are us agreeably, and even to enchant us, or to dazzle believe I have attended to our business better composer and that of his interpreters since they devised made and undone. Desires, passions and power are at us by the luminous facets of their spirit … By their than I had at first indicated, because I have the vocal parts together in a fashion which brought to the the heart of this sensual and transgressive fable, which smiles they efface from our memories the succeeded in securing the new role for Roger. fore the qualities of the different voices. finds resolution only in the reversal of the established nightmares of the past, and all the old concerns This will give me a lot of work, but none for you, The vocal abilities of Louise Lavoye, the creator of order – social, political and hereditary. If joy and comedy that oppress our hearts; and by their coquettish considering that it is solely in my area of work that the title role, were most impressive. One critic praised her seem to be the first concern of the work, La Sirène is caresses, they brush aside from our minds, as the problem is difficult to resolve, and so I have ‘purity, the prodigious extension and flexibility of the actually a critique of power and its abuse, something that with a gentle whisk of peacock feathers, troubling not made any changes affecting a note of the voice’. This was the first time Auber had written a role for finds a deep resonance in our contemporary world. This is thoughts of the future. ( Lutèce: lettres sur la vie music; only in the finale of Act 1 which you have such a high-pitched talent, since the vocal line on several closely related to both the Italian setting and the principal politique, artistique et sociale de la France , 1855) not yet composed. When I wrote the role for occasion rises to high D, something which does not occur thematic topos of outlawry. Chollet, there was no chance of doing it any other in the parts which he had composed for the other famous Italy, the land of romance, sunshine, rugged nature and The opera is one of the 38 works issuing from the way, which disappointed me. Because Chollet, sopranos he had worked with (Geneviève-Aimée-Zoé dark passion, is the backdrop to this fable that is by turns collaboration between the composer Daniel-François-Esprit who is still good in exaggerated character roles, Prévost in Fra Diavolo , Laure Cinti-Damoreau in Le dreamlike and comical. This land is the true métier of Auber (1782–1871) and the librettist Augustin-Eugène becomes detestable as soon as he must act with Domino noir , Anna Thillon in Les Diamants de la adventure, pleasure and love. Colours, luminosity, creativity Scribe (1791–1861). Auber was already a composer of reality, verve and above all involvement. couronne ). The music reveals just how much facility and folly are the shaping factors of the mise en scène . ‘The some note when he met Scribe, who then became his Involvement is not possible with him, but now with Lavoye had in the high register, and how the composer music is not in the music, but rather vested in a half-veiled principal librettist, indeed his exclusive collaborator. Auber’s Roger I will have vivacity, engagement and a had carefully brought out this particular aspect of her skill. woman who passes through the uproar of a party, through talent was consolidated in 1825 with the hugely popular feeling for comedy. Moreover, I have positioned Notes in alt are sprinkled through the score, and diatonic the tumult of a departing regiment’ (Victor Massé, [recalling opéra-comique , Le Maçon , and even more so in 1828 with the little aria for Mlle Lavoye according to the and chromatic runs, roulades and vocalises flow through a conversation with Auber], ‘Auber et Victor Massé’ [extraits his revolutionary La Muette de Portici , which rhythmic pattern you provided, and perhaps I will her vocal part. Her role can claim great inventiveness in du discours de réception à l’Académie des beaux-arts en gained enduring international esteem and opened for him a add in for Roger a small smuggler’s song which the melodic variations and sustained improvisations of 1872], Le Figaro , 12 juillet 1884). La Sirène is a celebration, a breath of fresh air O Lord of the smugglers contains very dramatic passages, recalling Halévy’s Le intercalated in the trio De nos jeunes années . The soprano perfumed by insolence and freedom. It is a question of Lord of the contraband, Guitarrero (1841), and also daring modulations by which otherwise has few solos in this opera. But the truncated involving the spectators through farce and festivity, inducing May your hand defend us Auber evokes the marvellous, as he had done in Le cavatina in Act II ( Ah! j’ose pas la m’empêche, hélas ) them to relinquish any personal gloominess, allowing From our haughty tyrants! Cheval de bronze (1835). Many ariettes are integrated illustrates how Auber sometimes introduces melodic charm themselves to be taken up by the delicious divertissement, Magistrates and clerks of court into the ensembles and finales, imparting to the action a by a sudden shift to the mediant, or wide leaps to non-triadic like the travellers in the story, who permit themselves to be Reprimand us, every one, most effective flow and compact rhythm. notes. The downward cascading roulades of the cabalette led astray by the magical song of the siren. It is the beguiling Pretending to punish The E flat major overture is very arresting, made up relate to the melodic contour of the dominant waltz motifs. power of art that composer celebrates here, just like his Our noble profession, as it is of a beautiful sonorous song for the brass and One of Auber ’s best examples of this type of dance is in this absolute social triumph over dictatorship. This concern with When our contraband lower strings (horns, bassoons and trombones; violas, act, and already familiar from the overture ( C’est quel art and the role of the artist in society was a topic Auber and Traverses all the world! violoncellos and double basses), and an elegant series of qu ’ouvrier? ): here the central duet of the opera is realised in Scribe treated frequently (in Le Concert à la court 1824, waltzes. This Adagio introduction evokes the character of terms of a waltz modality, with beautiful unison singing. Actéon 1836, L’Ambassadrice 1836, Apart from this villainous profession, Marco Tempesta the mysterious siren, and is taken from the quartet in the (‘What melodic seduction in this dialogued phrase’ observed 1843, La Barcarolle 1845, Jenny Bell 1855). has a generous soul, noble sentiments, a tender heart. He Act I finale where the four male protagonists voice their the Revue de Deux Mondes , 6 avril–juin 1844: 173. ) Robbers, smugglers, and counterfeiters play a significant forgives his enemies, marries his sister to the young naval hopes and expectations, all associated with the siren who Act III is structured by the recurring chorus Les role in the works of these collaborators ( Fra Diavolo 1830, Le officer who has captured the fortune of the smugglers, is heard in the mountains, but remains invisible. The chagrins arrière! (modelled on the chorus of soldiers from Serment 1832, La Sirène 1844, Marco Spada 1852). This and, having made them happy, escapes by opportune Allegro non troppo waltz sequence is made up of two Hérold’s Les Pré aux clercs ), and contains the beautiful opera is about a new Fra Diavolo, Scopetto, called Marco evasion and witty revelation of his true identity. The different sets, each in several sections. The first set, with lyrical duet for the lovers, the dénouement of the imbroglio, Tempesta. There is a freedom of the spirit bound up with the dialogue is agreeable, and the episodes ingeniously its perky melody for unison clarinets and piccolos, and the final extended vocalise of the prima donna as the outlaw status, a moral libertinism, a detachment from critical disguise a certain narrative thinness. establishes the mood; the second is taken from the duet soldiers, entranced, leave their posts one by one. restraint characteristic of his activities as a robber and violator Scopetto’s sister Zerlina assumes the role of the for Zerlina and Scopetto in Act II where Scopetto must Productions outside France followed: Frankfurt 1844 (in of social codes and expectations, a multifariousness of sirens of antiquity, attracting by her singing unsuspecting guess who her lover is. A foreshortened development and German); Vienna Josefstadt 1844 (in German); London personality suggested by disguise and the power to control. travellers into ambush where they are mercilessly robbed transition leads back into the second waltz sequence, in Princess’s Theatre 1844 (in English); another English version, The type has always lived in the legends of Robin Hood, and by her brother and his companions. Her name relates her the dominant this time. A triplet figure connects this waltz Drury Lane; St James’s Theatre 1854 (in French); Berlin 1844 was explored as a metaphor for the freedom of the spirit by to the heroine of Fra Diavolo , and further back to the to the Tyrolienne – a motif relating to Zerlina’s identity as (in German); Antwerp 1844 (in French); 1844 (in Friedrich Schiller in his influential play The Robbers (1782). country girl in Mozart’s Don Giovanni . Like these a siren of the mountains. The overture is brought to a French); Würzburg 1844 (in German); Warsaw 1845 (in The smugglers of this opera provide a variant on this robber characters, she fuses traditional social subservience with climax in Allegro assai (6/8) by another whirling waltz. In Polish), also in Lvov; Graz 1845 (in German); New Orleans motif so popular with Scribe and Auber. Scopetto’s solo enterprising independence of mind, while her association all Auber’s waltzes, a square-cut 3/4 metre is present 1845 (in French); Prague 1846 (in German); Stockholm 1846 becomes a kind of outrageous credo of his way of life, and the with Hellenic mythology generates a special artistic aura (without the rhythmic elaborations, like the hemiolas, or (in Swedish); St Petersburg 1846 (in Russian); Buenos Aires ‘mission’ he sees himself fulfilling in the world economy. His and mysterious personal charisma. This finds correlative shifts between triple and duple metre, found in the concert 1854 (in French); New York 1854 (in English). aspirations are hardly less grandiose than those of the robber in her hidden presence and extraordinary musical profile waltzes of Chopin, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Glazunov). king himself, Fra Diavolo. which invest her with a quasi-supernatural mystique. Her Act I contains Mathéa’s ghostly Ballad of the Siren, Synopsis duet with her brother Scopetto, both mellifluous and and the quintet ( Qu’une heureuse rencontre ) which has a Ô dieu des flibustiers, dramatic, is at the heart of the opera. sweep and elan with its irresistible ritornelli and fluent The scene is laid in the Abruzzi Mountains, during the Dieu de la contrebande. The music in its style and character belongs to brass writing. Scopetto’s chansonnette de contrebandier , Restoration, around 1840. Que ta main nous défende Auber’s more lyrical and reflective third period. The score Ô Dieu des flibustiers! , opens the finale and becomes a De nos tyrants altiers! has all the pointed elegance and mercurial dash of his recurring motif throughout the work, appearing as solo, trio The intendant of theatres in , Nicolaio Bolbaya, is Magistrat et greffier, usual style, especially in the quicksilver ensembles, but and duet, forming the beautiful orchestral postlude to the looking for a prima donna for his troupe, since in the Chacun nous réprimande, there is expansiveness in the melodic phrases and a end of Act II, and as exhilarating finale of the work itself. region of the Abruzzi, people for some time have spoken Et prétend châtier sensibility that speaks more powerfully than in the earlier Act II is orchestrated with remarkable talent, and of hearing a wonderful female voice in the mountains. Notre noble métier, works. This is particularly noticeable in the love duet in contains the Siren’s couplets Prends garde, montagnards! Meanwhile, the Duke of Popoli has been commissioned to Lorsque la contrebande Act III. Despite a preponderance of florid writing, tailored to Mlle Lavoye’s accomplished vocal technique; the capture the chief of a flourishing smuggling enterprise, Parcourt le monde entier! especially in the finales of Acts II and III, La Sirène also moving duet between brother and sister; and a romance Scopetto, who is known as Marco Tempesta. This crafty outlaw seeks to profit from these circumstances to Zerlina is to be the prima donna , and demonstration of her Jeanne Crousaud

blackmail the Duke about another claimant to his vocal prowess convinces the Duke of their authenticity. A r e e l n hereditary title, and has arranged a meeting for his enemy squad of soldiers enter, leading Scipion; Scopetto tells them i Shortly after the completion of her studies with distinction, soprano Jeanne Crousaud g ́ r e a

with the Siren of the Mountains to recover the that the ensign is the real Marco Tempesta, while reminding B undertook two demanding and contrasting principal roles – Ciboulette in Offenbach’s M -

t : a compromising documents for a ransom. Scopetto aims to the young ensign of the oath he has sworn. Scipion is o Mesdames de la Halle at the Lyon Opéra Studio and the title role in Michaël Levinas’ Le t s s o e substitute in its place the details and the portrait of Scipion, arrested in place of Scopetto. h Petit Prince at, among others, the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Lausanne Opera House, and in C a naval officer, who is likewise on the smuggler’s trail. P Geneva and Lille. Crousaud also has an interest in unusual repertoire. 1 A0ct III. The ducal palace at Pescara Overture The contrite bandits plot how to release Scipion. Still www.jeannecrousaud.com disguised as acto!rs, they organise a pillage of the palace, Act I. In the Abruzzi and make merry. Zerlina saves Scipion (they have been Dorothée Lorthiois The impresario Bolbaya is travelling with his aged ser vant drawn to each other since childhood), and out of love for e n

Mathéa and the naval ensign Scipion. Scipion and Bolbaya her, he undertakes to cover the flight of the brigands. The n Soprano Dorothée Lorthiois has been awarded diplomas from the Reims and Paris a are searching for the Siren – the first because he believes to Duke returns earlier than expected from an interview in z conservatoires, where she studied with Michèle Le Bris, Peggy Bouveret, Gerda Hartman, u S recognise in her the voice of his long-lost beloved; the latter Naples. The smugglers therefore pretend to be rehearsing Margreet Honig, Yvonne Minton, Hartmut Höll, Susan Manoff and Olivier Reboul. 2 c i r ́ because he wishes to have her talent for his theatre. an opera, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves , to gain some time d Performance highlights include Stravinsky’s Les Noces under Raphaël Pichon and e C

From a dis tance they hear a song of incredible loveliness: to stash their booty in a safe place. Their off-key sing ing, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Orchestre National de France and the Chœur de Radio : o t

Mathéa explains that this is the Siren, who lures unwary however, arouses the Duke’s suspicions. Scopetto forces o France under the direction of Kurt Masur at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She has a h trav ellers to an amb3ush laid by her brother, the bandit chief Bol baya to identify himself to the soldiers (who come at the P particular interest in French and German song repertoire, and has formed a duo with the Marco Tempesta. They meet the innk4eeper Scopetto Duke’s call) as the real Marco Tempesta. Scipion enters pianist Martin Surot, with the help of Ruben Lifschitz at Royaumont Abbey. who recognises Scipion from the past. The Duke of with a group of marines to arrest Scopetto. Mathéa then Popoli joins the party: he is upset because the Siren has produces papers to show that Scipion is in fact the rightful Xavier Flabat threatened to expose the illegitimacy of his title. In a solo Duke of Popoli and that Scopetto is his cousin. Exerting new aside, Scopetto reveals himself to be Marco Tempesta, the pressure on the Duke because of this document, Scopetto Xavier Flabat began his training at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Lille, king of the smugglers. All head for Scopetto’s inn. succeeds in securin@g a way out, and gives Zerlina in followed by studies with Christine Solhosse, Thierry Dran and Christine Schweitzer in marriage to Scipion. However, a military contingent from Paris. Flabat’s affinity for operetta led to studies with great exponents of the genre 5Act II. Scopetto’s tavern in the mountains Naples surrounds the palace and prevents Scopetto from including Jacques Taylès and Michel Ferrer. He has a particular interest in French Because their ship has been captured by the navy, the fleeing. Zerlina begins to sing, enchanting the soldiers, who repertoire, performing the role of Prince Charming in Viardot’s Cendrillon at the Opéra bandits at Scopetto’s inn are down to their last bottle of wine . desert their posts one by one to listen to her wonderful song, Royal de Wallonie and also contemporary repertoire, appearing in Steve Reich’s Three Scopetto enters with a plot to smuggle their contraband so enabling Scopetto to make his escape. Tales at , Brussels. 6through the Duke’s estate, using Bolbaya’s troupe as a front. Zerlina, the Siren, enters with the news that she is 7in love © Robert Ignatius Letellier Jean-Noël Teyssier with a young ensign whom she once saw in8 Naples. She August 2018 n a

confers with her brother about her feelings. When Scipion f Jean-Noël Teyssier was awarded a diploma in singing, opera and operetta from the f e and Bolbaya arrive at the inn, they are soon joined by the Bibliography t Conservatoire de Strasbourg, where he undertook his training among singers and with S

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Duke and his 50 Calabrese cacciatori who return empty Les Frivolités Parisiennes. La Sirène o choral conductors, attending masterclasses with Donald Litaker, Gianni Cappelletto, Karl- t o

handed from their search for the smugglers. Zerlina instantly (Compiègne: Le Théâtre Impérial, Jan. 2018) h Peter Kammerlander, Hélène Delavault, Béatrice Uria-Monzon, François Le Roux recognises in Scipion her officer, but the smugglers identify Letellier, Robert. Daniel-François-Esprit Auber: P (Académie Francis Poulenc), and studying bel canto repertoire with Antonio Juvarra. him as the ensign who seized their ship. Scopetto saves him The Man and His Music (Newcastle: Cambridge from death at the9 cost of an oath that Scipion will not reveal Scholars Publishing, 2010) their identities. After Scipion leaves, Scopetto forces Malherbe, Charles. Auber. Biographie critique . Bolbaya to declare that the bandits are his opera troupe; (Les Musiciens célèbres) (Paris: Librairie Renouard, 1911) Jean-Fernand Setti Léo Warynski n s u e

l Baritone Jean-Fernand Setti had his training at the École Normale de Musique de Paris Chorus master and principal assistant Léo Warynski conducts a wide variety of repertoire, taking a r o b B

‘Alfred Cortot’ where he studied with Jean-Philippe Courtis, and obtained his upper particular interest in opera, symphonic repertoire and contemporary music. He undertook his training a l t ́ e e

diploma in 2016 with a unanimous jury vote. He joined the opera studio of Mireille Laroche u as a conductor with François-Xavier Roth at the Conservatoire de Paris, subsequently working with M n

: and was able to profit from the advice of different opera specialists, including Yves Sotin, a various ensembles including the Orchestre des Lauréats du Conservatoire in Paris, Ensemble o t M

o : h professor of singing at the Conservatoire de Paris, Charlotte Gauthier, head of singing and o Modern, Remix, and the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln. In 2016 he conducted Ahmed Essyad’s opera t P o

accompanist, and tenor Jean-Pierre Furlan. h Mirida at the Opéra national du Rhin, made his debut leading Ensemble Intercontemporain and the P following year directed the orchestra of the Opéra de Rouen and the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia. www.leowarynski.fr Benjamin Mayenobe

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n Orchestre des Frivolités Parisiennes o t a i

l After studying musicology, jazz piano and choral conducting in Aix-en-Provence and singing in o r e h e i h t P the choir of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, baritone Benjamin Mayenobe completed his The Orchestre des Frivolités Parisiennes was founded by two of its o s S A

conservatoire diploma in 2014, and became a member of the Opéra de Rouen from 2014 to musicians, Benjamin El Arbi and Mathieu Franot, with the intention of s e a l

2016. He has appeared at the Capitole de Toulouse, the Victoria Hall, Geneva and the m performing and showcasing French light theatre music with likeminded i o x c i Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne, and at opera houses in Lausanne, Versailles, Metz, Fribourg a musicians. The orchestra has a residence at the Théâtre Impérial de N M

and Rouen. In 2012 he was named Révélation Artiste Lyrique by ADAMI, and in 2016 Lyric : Compiègne and the Théâtre de Saint-Dizier, and is a partner of the o t

Discovery of the Pacific Music Festival (PMF) in Japan. www.benjaminmayenobe.com o Théâtre National de l’Opéra-Comique. www.lesfrivolitesparisiennes.com h P Jacques Calatayud

A native of Toulouse, Jacques Calatayud studied in his home city, earning diplomas in piano, solfège and chamber music. He first studied singing with Helmut Lipps and Mady Mesplé, David Reiland subsequently joining the Opéra Studio in Strasbourg, where he was a pupil of Suzanne Sarroca. R

He has been a member of the Opéra de Lille and the Angers Nantes Opéra, and has an affinity D Belgian-born conductor David Reiland has been leader of the Orchestre

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for Mozartian repertoire, singing the roles of Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro , Guglielmo in Così fan t de Chambre du Luxembourg since 2012, chief conductor of the United o

tutte , and Leporello in Don Giovanni . h Instruments of Lucilin since 2009 and artistic advisor and first guest P conductor at the Opéra de Saint-Etienne since 2014. Reiland studied at www.jacquescalatayud.com the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, the École Normale de Musique de Paris ‘Alfred Cortot’ and the Mozarteum University Salzburg, completing Choeur Les Métaboles his studies under Pierre Boulez as an assistant at the Lucerne Festival, and with David Zinman, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Jorma Panula Established in 2010 by Léo Warynski, the Choeur Les Métaboles brings together young and Peter Gülke. In Salzburg, Reiland met Alexander Müllenbach, with professional singers to perform a cappella repertoire from the 20th and 21st centuries. A whom he studied composition. Reiland is also an established composer versatile ensemble, it has been involved in a number of commissions and new works. and saxophonist, and his works Initium for saxophone and organ and The ensemble has also performed Baroque repertoire, including Handel’s Dixit Asgard for brass and percussion have been performed in Austria and Luxembourg. Among his numerous projects and Dominus and Bach motets. The choir are regularly invited to perform at festivals in concerts as an assistant to the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment he has worked alongside Sir Simon Rattle, Iván France and abroad, and have appeared at the Festival Musica, Strasbourg, the Fischer, Sir Mark Elder, Sir Roger Norrington, Vladimir Jurowski and Frans Brüggen. www.davidreiland.com Ribeauvillé Early Music Festival, the Musicales de Normandie, Rouen and the Saison Photo: Hugues Caldagues Musicale at Royaumont Abbey. lesmetaboles.fr This recording was made possible thanks to generous sponsorship from Fondation Orange, Caisse des dépôts and Fondation Singer Polignac

A co-production with Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne (Eric Rouchaud, director)

Construction began on this architectural gem in 1867 on the orders of Napoleon III – it was intended to be a place of entertainment for him and his court while they were in residence at the Palais de Compiègne, north of Paris. The building fell into neglect, however, and its inauguration only finally took place in 1991. The Théâtre Impérial is exceptional in terms of both its size and its acoustics: the renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini went as far as to say that it was better in this respect than the Vienna Musikverein, considered by many to have the finest acoustics in the world. Auber earned international adulation in the late 1820s for his revolutionary grand opera La Muette de Portici and by the time he composed La Sirène , the success of which inspired pot- pourris of its melodies, he occupied a central place in French musical life. The mysterious siren of the title is part of a plot that abounds in fantastic comedy, love, betrayal, farce and festivity in the lineage of Italian popular theatre. The German poet Heinrich Heine wrote that ‘ La Sirène was received with resounding bravos … The author and the composer know how to amuse us agreeably, and even to enchant us, or to dazzle us by the luminous facets of their spirit.’ Daniel-François-Esprit

AU(178B2–18E71) R La Sirène Opéra-comique in three acts (AWV 37) (1844) Libretto by Augustin-Eugène Scribe (1791–1861) Zerlina, a young peasant, sister of Scopetto ...... Jeanne Crousaud, Soprano Mathéa, a servant ...... Dorothée Lorthiois, Soprano Scopetto, an adventurer ...... Xavier Flabat, Tenor Scipion, a young mariner ...... Jean-Noël Teyssier, Tenor Le Duc de Popoli, governor of the Abruzzi ...... Jean-Fernand Setti, Bass Nicolaio Bolbaya, director of Court pageants ...... Benjamin Mayenobe, Bass Pecchione, companion of Scopetto ...... Jacques Calatayud, Baritone Les Métaboles Léo Warynski, Chorus Master Orchestre des Frivolités Parisiennes • David Reiland WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING 1 2 4 5 9 0 @ Overture 8:31 – Act I 18:11 – Act II 26:54 – Act III 15:31

A detailed track list can be found on page 3 of the booklet. The French libretto can be accessed at www.naxos.com/libretti/660436.htm Recorded live: 26 January 2018 at the Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne, France Producer and editor: Etienne Graindorge • Engineer: Gaëtan Juge • Booklet notes: Robert Ignatius Letellier A co-production with Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne Cover: Stage design for Act II of La Sirène by Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri (1782– 1868)