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Godard, B: Dante

Edgaras Montvidas, Véronique Gens, Jean-François Lapointe, Rachel Frenkel

Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Ulf Schirmer

There is much that is strong and much that is beautiful…Edgaras Montvidas and Véronique Gens make a fine pair of lovers, their ardent duet in Act 2 being one of the high spots…There’s excellent...

Godard, B: Dante

Edgaras Montvidas, Véronique Gens, Jean-François Lapointe, Rachel Frenkel

Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Ulf Schirmer

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There is much that is strong and much that is beautiful…Edgaras Montvidas and Véronique Gens make a fine pair of lovers, their ardent duet in Act 2 being one of the high spots…There’s excellent...

About

CD2 +Book

Dante Alighieri, born in Florence in 1265, was at once a poet and an important political figure of his time. His celebrated Divine Comedy relates his supposed descent to Hell and slow ascent to Paradise. Godard’s operatic treatment of his life (1890) skilfully juxtaposes the political milieu – crowd scenes in Florence and the quarrel between Guelfs and Ghibellines – with the expression of the courtly love he feels for Beatrice, betrothed to his friend Bardi.

The most remarkable element of the opera is the integration of a ‘Vision’ that is nothing less than a synthesis of the Divine Comedy set to music. Its third act is built around a fantasy ‘Hell’ and ‘Paradise’, featuring an Apparition of Virgil, Chorus of the Damned, Infernal Whirlwind, Divine Radiance and Apotheosis of Beatrice. Godard is here at the peak of his melodic inspiration and compositional mastery, in a style that brings Gounod up to date and need not fear comparison with Massenet.

Contents and tracklist

Act I: Malheur à vous
Track length3:51
Act I: Guelfes ou Gibelins, qu'importe (Dante, Chorus)
Track length3:29
Act I: Il a raison (Chorus)
Track length2:42
Act I: Ah! puisse la voix populaire (Dante, Bardi)
Track length6:27
Act I: Ah! de tous mes espoirs (Dante)
Track length4:06
Act I: Courage, Béatrice (Béatrice, Gemma)
Track length6:01
Act I: Le peuple a rendu sa sentence (Béatrice, Gemma, Dante, Bardi, Chorus)
Track length3:26
Act I: Quand ils vont aux dangers (Béatrice, Gemma, Dante, Bardi, Chorus)
Track length1:52
Act I: Voici notre drapeau (Béatrice, Gemma, Dante, Bardi, Chorus)
Track length2:20
Act II: Nos généreux espoirs (Bardi)
Track length5:08
Act II: Gemma! (Gemma, Bardi)
Track length2:57
Act II: À lui, dès son enfance (Gemma, Bardi)
Track length4:53
Act II: Paroles de haine (Béatrice)
Track length4:02
Act II: C'est lui! (Béatrice, Dante)
Track length4:52
Act II: Cher Gonfalonier de justice (Béatrice, Dante, Bardi, Chorus)
Track length3:39
Act II: C'en est fait! (Béatrice, Dante, Bardi, Chorus)
Track length1:57
Act II: Maintenant, vous pouvez remettre (Béatrice, Dante, Bardi, Hérault, Chorus)
Track length3:56
Act III: Tarentelle
Track length4:31
Act III: Allons, amis (Hérault, Chorus)
Track length1:47
Act III: Ô maître (School Boy, Chorus)
Track length4:54
Act III: Encore un jour qui tombe (Dante)
Track length5:24
Act III: C'est chose bien fragile (Dante, Hérault)
Track length3:03
Act III: La nuit! (Dante)
Track length2:12
Act III: Toujours! (Dante, Hérault, Chorus)
Track length2:58
Act III: Ah! (Dante, Hérault, Chorus)
Track length3:25
Act III: Deux êtres vont là-bas (Dante, Chorus)
Track length3:18
Act III: Gloire à celui qui rayonne (Béatrice, Dante, Chorus)
Track length2:27
Act III: Je vais dans l'azur sans voiles (Béatrice, Dante, Chorus)
Track length3:31
Act III: Entr'acte
Track length1:55
Act IV: Ah! (Dante, Bardi, Chorus)
Track length3:30
Act IV: Pardonnez-moi! (Dante, Bardi)
Track length4:12
Act IV: Prélude
Track length3:30
Act IV: Elle se rend à la chapelle (Gemma)
Track length1:48
Act IV: Au milieu de vous (Gemma)
Track length3:12
Act IV: Je viens te retrouver (Béatrice, Gemma)
Track length1:33
Act IV: Ah! que tu me fais mal (Béatrice, Gemma)
Track length2:10
Act IV: C'est moi que l'on appelle (Béatrice, Gemma)
Track length0:56
Act IV: De l'éternel sommeil (Béatrice)
Track length4:19
Act IV: Je n'ose lui parler (Béatrice, Gemma, Dante)
Track length2:00
Act IV: Ô l'ineffable et pure ivresse (Béatrice, Gemma, Dante)
Track length1:33
Act IV: Nous allons partir tous deux (Béatrice, Dante)
Track length2:14
Act IV: Partons (Béatrice, Gemma, Dante, Bardi)
Track length4:43

Spotlight on this release

Awards and reviews

January 2018

There is much that is strong and much that is beautiful…Edgaras Montvidas and Véronique Gens make a fine pair of lovers, their ardent duet in Act 2 being one of the high spots…There’s excellent support from Rachel Frenkel and Andrew Foster-Williams, and Ulf Schirmer directs his Bavarian forces with the zeal of a missionary.

March 2018

Godard's score is certainly grand and expansive, with long melodic structures and some rousing climaxes, particularly at the end of the opera's four acts. [Véronique Gens] she seems effortlessly to breathe her role rather than sing it, the words emerging with firmness and clarity while embedded evenly in her limpid tone. Hers is a performance of astonishing beauty.

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