Masterworks of the Late 19th Century in France

This is a fascinating and infuriating release for the reasons exposed already. There is a lot of vocal and choral, even dialogues but no texts, not even liner notes. Unfortunately, including those would have made this box set expensive. Still, for non-francophone listeners, this gives limited pleasure in particular pieces, such as Bizet's 'Djamileh', Bruneaus 'Lazare', Saint-Saens 'La Lyre et la Harpe' and even Debussy's 'Martyre'. The other problem I find is that some of this music is just not very good and remains grounded. There is hardly first class Saint-Saens, comparatively speaking. Bizet's opera-comique 'Djamileh' is arguably the weakest performance and recording. Schmitt's 'Salammbo', while interesting, sounds much longer than it is.I don't want to be too critical on Sony's box sets since I have enjoyed their availability and affordable price (you get what you pays for) but the idea does notwork well in text-bound works. Obscure works without liner notes remain semi-obscure!For me, the most interesting disc of the ten is the Alfred Bruneau (1857-1934), especially the 34-minute oratorio 'Lazare' (based on Emile Zola). You can hear how the composer tries to be' hip', even outrageous, with not much success. On the other hand, your interest does not linger (if only texts were available). The Requiem leaves also a good impression. Now here is a neglected French composer that might deserve further exploration.

This is a great opportunity to acquaint yourself with many rare works in performances that are at least serviceable. However, Sony Classical really blew it (intentionally) by not including any supporting materials whatsoever. They could have put texts and commentaries online, at least, and given us the URL. I guess they think this is just background music.

Some nice discoveries herein: mélodies and arias with orchestral accompaniment by Gounod, Massenet,Saint-Saëns, and Roussel. As usual with Sony Classical Masters boxed sets, there are no texts, translations, or program notes of any kind.

Very fine performances of many French works that I wasn't familiar with.

Good job! Thanks!

This is another invaluable SONY budget box, gathering together rare repertoire from a rather rare conductor, Jacques Mercier. SONY is not at all forthcoming about of recording origins (other than simple recording dates and locations). I have found that most of this material was recorded by French RCA in the 90s, while the Roussel and Schmitt discs were originally from an obscure label, Conseil Regional France, distributed by MPO France. Some of these discs have been available in the U.S., reissued on RCA Red Seal; others have been sporadically issued on RCA France box sets - all in variable sound. Most of it has been long out of print and expensive to try to obtain, either on the used market or imported from Europe.I am not an expert on the majority of music contained within this box - mostly French choral/vocal works. Arias, Requiems, Cantatas, etc. from composers such as Saint-Saens, Bizet, Bruneau and Debussy, are sure to delight lovers of this type of music, and all are works I will want to explore as time permits.However, what drew me to this set are the 3 discs of (mostly) orchestral works, which have been very hard to find elsewhere. Indeed, this entire box costs much less than the single disc of Roussel Orchestral Suites, which has only been available as a rare, collector's import. Thus I snagged up this box for that disc alone!And it is a real find. Disc 3 contains the most rare of Roussel orchestral output, in splendid performances and lovely sound. Disc 4 gives us the more common Bacchus et Ariane Suites 1 and 2 (I'm not sure why they are still labeled as "suites", both combined include essentially the entire ballet), plus various songs for solo voice and orchestra. Mercier is a natural in this music and his orchestra plays very well indeed. The ballet is not as well recorded as the companion Roussel set of Suites (recorded at different sessions) - it lacks a bit of spaciousness and amplitude in climaxes, and the acoustic sounds drier and slightly artificial.Another real find is on Disc 6, which contains three orchestral suites from the film score, Salammbo, by Florent Schmitt. This disc has been available elsewhere and might be found on some collectors' shelves. But for those not familiar, it is gloriously and richly orchestrated rhapsodic orchestral music - grandiose in scope, glitteringly scored, with a chorus adding extra color in two short sections. It sounds typical of this composer (and reminiscent of classic, epic film scores such as those from Rozsa's Ben-Hur and King of Kings). But in this context it also reminds one very much of the orchestral music of Roussel. It is very well recorded.I have two complaints of the box, however. First, and it's a major one - for a collection of choral works, it is unforgivable that SONY did not include a booklet with text/lyric translations. This is a serious impediment for listeners such as I who are not familiar with these works. Second, while it is nice to have a modern recording of Debussy's complete Le Martyre de Saint-Sebastien, this recording includes the shockingly intrusive and completely unnecessary narration (in French). It wouldn't be so bad if the narrator simply spoke in between sections; but - no!; the score calls for him to often interject over the music and even to shout over the full orchestra and choir at climatic moments. Just when one settles in to a few minutes of glorious Debussy music, suddenly without warning the narrator screams and shouts into the room. It is jolting, unnerving and completely ruinous to the music. Charles Munch recorded this work back in 1956 with the Boston Symphony for RCA; and while he included some narration, I do not recall this much of it overlaying the music. This is some of Debussy's most innovative and glorious compositions and I would gladly have paid more for this box set to have an additional disc included which contained the music without narration. (The narrator was almost certainly recorded separately and interpolated on later by the engineers, thus making it very easy to omit). I also would have gladly paid more for this set to have a booklet included which provided translations to assist one in getting to know the large quantity of quite unfamiliar choral works contained here.With those two caveats, I can recommend this box set to those who know and enjoy these French choral works, and also to those interested in the 3 discs of orchestral works, especially considering its low asking price. The remaining 7 discs are surely worthy of exploration. If only SONY had seen fit to provide useful documentation to help us in that endeavor.

This set came as a breath of fresh air after a long binge on German classical music; a palate cleanser, as it were. While the title might better have been “Forgotten French Masterworks”, going from one disk to the next brought to mind Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get next, but they’re all wonderful in their own ways. And all share that particularly French quality of being immediately approachable. Mercier and his orchestra obviously love and believe in this music; I can’t imagine much better performances of this difficult to find repertoire. My only regret is what other reviewers have pointed out: online texts for these works are also difficult to find, and Sony could have done more to help. But I heartily recommend the box nonetheless: a wonderful look into what else was out there in the heyday of French classical music.

Very interesting and rare repertoire, badly let down by appalling presentation. There is not even a booklet which other companies issuing large box sets manage to provide. Compare with the large Messian box produced by SWR Klassiks which has notes on each piece. Sony really needs to pull it's collective socks up. I assume that texts and translations were available with the original issues. Even if these were made available on line, it would be better than nothing. One star knocked off for this egregious blunder.

À part le premier CD, qui vous fournira, entre un quinzième Panis angelicus et un vingtième Ave Maria de Gounod, quelques “french sacred songs” (de Massenet, notamment) propres à dispenser, via la belle voix de Françoise Pollet, l’apaisement spécial que procure la musique religieuse, quand elle n’est pas trop profane; en exceptant peut-être aussi quelques partitions orchestrales de Roussel, ce petit coffret me semble plus propre à satisfaire des curiosités qu’à donner des joies. Mention spéciale au “Martyre de Saint Sébastien”, tout spécialement insupportable, avec texte intégral de d’Annunzio, et, même signés Debussy, à peu près l’équivalent des chants scouts qu’on peut ouïr de nos jours en poussant la porte d’une église. Ici, confessons une tare qui, je crois, est assez répandue : je suis un amateur, ou, pis encore, un collectionneur de requiems : “pis encore”, parce que la plupart me semblent affreux, et que néanmoins je persévère. Je crois que nous sommes nombreux (notamment parmi les vieillards qui aimeraient choisir à loisir la musique de leurs propres funérailles) à attendre un énorme coffret de messes des morts rares ou inédites, et que les commerçants, comme toujours, sont à la traîne, le flair étant rarement au service de l'avidité. Toujours est que je n’avais empletté ce coffret que pour ouïr le Requiem d’Alfred Bruneau, l’ami de Zola, lequel Requiem me parut, comme prévisible, à mille pics sous celui de Fauré, pourtant assez proche dans le temps. Une surprise m’attendait pourtant, dans la seconde moitié du disque Bruneau, avec l’oratorio ou drame lyrique “Lazare”, dont je n’attendais guère ou rien, et dont le poème est de Zola soi-même. (J’ai oublié de préciser que les textes, quand textes y a, sont chantés par des Français (Françoise Pollet et Nathalie Dessay au premier rang), donc compréhensibles avec un peu d’attention, ce qui n’est pas toujours à leur avantage). Vous connaissez l’histoire, ou du moins son début, modifié et alourdi, puisque toute la famille supplie Jésus, qui finit par se laisser fléchir : « Lazare, lève-toi! », bis, ter, quater. Ça marche comme dans l’Évangile de Jean; l’ennui, c’est que le ci-devant mort, lui, ne l’entend pas de cette oreille : « Ô Jésus, je dormais si bien!… C’était si bon, ce grand sommeil noir, ce sommeil sans rêve »… Et il poursuit assez longuement sur ce thème à première écoute absurde – on ne JOUIT pas du néant – mais qui me paraît traduire assez bien les sensations qu’on éprouve au sortir d’une anesthésie générale, du moins quand on s’en réveille sans douleur. Bref, c’est un complet “requiem æternam” qui nous est évoqué là, SANS “lux perpetua”, et l’originalité, c’est de le PRÉFÉRER à une vie qui, après tout, n’était pas si pénible (« je me suis donné tout entier à la joie d’être »). Je ne sais si Zola traduit là son sentiment personnel. Mais Lazare, lui, supplie mère, femme, enfant, de le laisser revenir à son repos, dans “l’immensité noire, l’infini du silence”, prière qu’ils renvoient à Jésus, acquis d’avance, et il suffisait de demander : « Lazare, rendors-toi! » quatre fois de nouveau. Et le mort re-meurt en remerciant. Il y a matière à se claquer les jambons, comme eût dit feu Béru, ou à sourire devant cette pas-si-légère modification du dogme chrétien, qui ne donne aucune réponse au “dur désir de durer” de l’ego. Je ne ferais pas de cette œuvre musicalement datée, et à peu près nulle mélodiquement parlant, ma berceuse favorite. L’idée de base est d’ailleurs un peu noyée dans le pathos. Mais ce n’est pas mon genre de trouver un objet formidable dès lors que je le possède, et cette rareté-là, je ne suis pas mécontent d’en avoir fait l’emplette. Il y en a quelques autres, d’ailleurs (de Saint-Saëns, notamment) que peut-être je n’ai pas écoutées assez attentivement.

I would have given 4 stars if the terrible soprano voice (FP) on almost half of the records had been exchanged to any of the other sopranos in this box. Otherwise, it is a recommendable set, as it contains rarities well worth listening to and hard to find elsewhere. The asked price around 2 Euros/disc is OK. But all in all, this is not the best set musicians I have heard in recordings of French music for voices and orchestra.

Le boitier est arrivé totalement écrasé (je l'ai signalé à la poste mais n'ai pas eu de réponse). En plus, il manque un CD (volume 8)!

On oublie souvent que Jacques Mercier est notamment dans la musique française un très grand maestro !