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Special offer. Saint-Saëns: Phryné

Florie Valiquette (Phryné), Cyrille Dubois (Nicias), Thomas Dolié (Dicéphile), Anais Constans (Lampito), Francois Rougier (Cynalopex), Partick Bolliere (Agoragine/Un Heraut), Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen Normandie, Choeur du Concert Spirituel, Herve Niquet

Saint-Saëns: Phryné

Awards:

Florie Valiquette is a winning Phryné, and Cyrille Dubois all that you could hope for in a French tenor as her beloved Nicias – their Act II duet deserves to be much better known.

BBC Music Magazine, April 20224 out of 5 stars

More reviews

Special offer. Saint-Saëns: Phryné

Florie Valiquette (Phryné), Cyrille Dubois (Nicias), Thomas Dolié (Dicéphile), Anais Constans (Lampito), Francois Rougier (Cynalopex), Partick Bolliere (Agoragine/Un Heraut), Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen Normandie, Choeur du Concert Spirituel, Herve Niquet

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This release includes a digital booklet

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Awards:

Florie Valiquette is a winning Phryné, and Cyrille Dubois all that you could hope for in a French tenor as her beloved Nicias – their Act II duet deserves to be much better known.

BBC Music Magazine, April 20224 out of 5 stars

More reviews

About

To mark the centenary of the death of Camille Saint-Saëns, the Palazzetto Bru Zane offers a chance to discover one of his most performed and admired operas in his lifetime, presented here in a rare version. Completed in 1893 and premiered the same year at the Opéra-Comique, the piece amusingly recounts the love affair between Nicias and Phryné, who dupes the old archon Dicephilus in order to avenge his cruelty. Its witty melodies and delightful orchestration made the opera an immediate success in Paris and then throughout France. It was enriched with recitatives composed by André Messager in 1896 to promote its career in theatres abroad. Hervé Niquet’s dashing interpretation brings out to the full the qualities of the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Normandie and the Chœur du Concert Spirituel, thus providing a sparkling backdrop for the virtuosic soprano voice of Florie Valiquette, the refined lyricism of the tenor Cyrille Dubois and the vocal authority of Thomas Dolié’s baritone.

  • Release date: 11th Feb 2022
  • Label: Bru Zane
  • Catalogue number: BZ1047
  • Length: 64 minutes

Contents and tracklist

Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte I, Introduction
Work length1:15
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte I, Scène 1: Récit et choeur. Le peuple athénien
Work length3:48
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte I, Scène 2: Choeur et récit. C’est Phryné
Work length3:58
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte I, Scène 3: Récit. Trouverai-je toujours
Work length2:56
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte I, Scène 4: Récit et duo. Bonjour, mon cher oncle
Work length4:46
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte I, Scène 5: Récit, arioso et choeur. Quelle destinée est la mienne
Work length4:46
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte I, Scène 6: Récit et finale. Je suis las de la vie
Work length2:52
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte I, Scène 7: Suite du final. Phryné, je vous rends grâce
Work length9:33
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte II, Introduction
Work length1:45
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte II, Scène 1: Duo. Nicias !
Work length4:08
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte II, Scène 2
Work length6:23
Récit. Qui vient là ?
Track length1:33
Suite, air et trio. Un soir, j’errais sur le rivage
Track length4:50
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte II, Scène 3: Récit et ariette. J’aperçois Dicéphile
Work length3:43
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte II, Scène 4: Récit et couplets. Voyons ! mon petit inventaire
Work length2:02
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte II, Scène 5
Work length11:06
Récit. Seigneur, est-ce bien moi
Track length6:45
Suite, apparition et récit. C’est Phryné !
Track length4:21
Saint-Saëns: Phryné, Acte II, Scène 6: Choeur final. Salut et gloire
Work length1:21

Spotlight on this release

Awards and reviews

  • Presto Editor's Choice
    February 2022
  • International Classical Music Awards
    2023
    Nominated - Opera

April 2022

Florie Valiquette is a winning Phryné, and Cyrille Dubois all that you could hope for in a French tenor as her beloved Nicias – their Act II duet deserves to be much better known.
4 out of 5 stars

April 2022

Hervé Niquet conducts with considerable elegance and panache…Very enjoyable and beautifully done.

February 2022

On the strength of this exuberant recording, it's easy to see why Saint-Saëns's 1893 opéra-comique about a courtesan's bid to expose the hypocrisy of an apparently puritanical elder statesman enjoyed such popularity during the composer's lifetime, and all the more surprising that the piece hasn't maintained a foothold in the repertoire. Valiquette is utterly beguiling as the eponymous heroine, whether playing to the gallery with insouciant pyrotechnics or sharing sweet nothings with Dubois's ardent Nicias.
Katherine Cooper
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