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About Dukas: Ariane Et Barbe-Bleue
Amazon.com This strange, French-impressionist work (it is taken from a play by Maeterlinck, who wrote Pelleas et Melisande) will remind listeners of both Wagner and Debussy. Only 20 bars of music are given to Bluebeard; this is an opera about his feminist wife, Ariane, who discovers his former wives behind the locked doors and attempts to free them. (Melisande is one of them.) They decide to stay. The work is exquisitely scored for large orchestra and is all-of-a-piece: a psychological drama with great color that flows. The role of Ariane is difficult and long> Soprano Lori Phillips (the role is normally taken by a mezzo) is up to the task, singing with expression and urgency if not very lovely tone in the more tender passages. Best is Patricia Bardon in the second-largest role, that of Arianes Nurse. Dukas's orchestration demands both great playing and great sonics, and Leon Botstein and the BBC Symphony supply the first and Telarc the second. This is a unique work, and this performance is rewarding. --Robert Levine About the Artist Telarc's Botstein-led recording of Ernest Chausson's Le Roi Arthus, released in July 2005, was also inspired by a concert performance of the opera given by the American Symphony Orchestra under Mr. Botstein. It, too, received accolades. Three reviews from the three most widely-read English language music periodicals stand out especially, including Gramophone's Editor's Choice: "What a treat!...Superbly led by Leon Botstein, the huge forces give the heady score their all." Botstein's commitment to unusual repertoire choices is well matched to Telarc's, in symphonic as well as operatic works. Among the other operas that Botstein has pioneered is Richard Strauss' Egyptian Helen, in the news lately because of the Metropolitan Opera's new production starring Botstein's own Helen, Deborah Voigt, in the title role. Recorded by Telarc from the American Symphony Orchestra performance, the "Helen" set became a Billboard top-five bestseller.
