Nick Hammond
Paris Opera’s Inaugural Concert
Debut of Opera's New Conductor Bodes Well
Gala concerts rarely give a complete sense of how a new conductor is going to fare in the long term, but the early signs of the Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel’s tenure as music director of the Opéra National de Paris … Read More
Pelléas et Mélisande
Darkness and Light in Music
Recently, in an article on Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, I suggested that the only other 20th-century French opera that will stand the test of time is Claude Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande (1902), inspired by Maurice Maeterlink’s symbolist play from … Read More
Le Daim
French Davy Crockett Goes Berserk
When a French movie is described as a “comedy” and has a July release date in Paris, it almost invariably means that (1) it’s a generic film about a chaotic summer holiday with families/groups of mature male friends/bands of teens … Read More
French Music for the Stage
Theatrical Froth
After the flood of new releases of French chamber music recordings over the last couple of months, it comes as a refreshing change to have a new album of French orchestral music to review. The veteran Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi … Read More
Happy Days
Intuition of the Absurd
Note to readers: You may choose to read this analysis of Happy Days here or listen to it on the audio file at the end of the article. This week, I am going to discuss a play created by one of … Read More
Dialogues des Carmélites
An Unlikely Masterpiece
It is always an intriguing exercise to try to guess which operatic works written in this or the last century will stand the test of time. In the French repertoire, an opera like Olivier Messiaen’s sprawling Saint François d’Assise (1983), … Read More
Un Matin de Printemps
A Trio of Spring Treats
Could it be due to lockdown that so many recordings of French chamber music have been released recently? It is certainly easier and safer to bring a few musicians together, rather than a larger ensemble, especially if all the players … Read More
Gustavo Dudamel
New Maestro for the Paris Opera
In a major coup for the Opéra National de Paris, the Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel was unveiled (almost literally, given the fact that he had to remove a face mask before speaking) this week to the press at the Palais … Read More
French Music by British Artists
Sounds Across the Channel
Poignantly, just as Britain is cutting its ties – and opportunities – with mainland Europe, a number of recordings of French classical music performed by British artists have just been released. British musicians have particular reason to regret the terrible … Read More
Le Roman Bourgeois
The Quintessential Parisian Novel
Note to readers: You may choose to read this commentary on Antoine Furetière’s Le Roman Bourgeois here or listen to it on the audio file at the end of the article Many works published over the ages could justifiably make … Read More