Provencal Passion

The main work on this disk of music by Bizet is L'Arlesienne. It is a project by Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre - Grenoble. I don't often comment on the presentation but the package is in the form of a hardback book with fine reproductions of stunning Provencal based paintings by Van Gogh, Gauguin and Joan Mitchell. After some deliberation as descibed in the notes, Minkowski decided to present the two versions of the suite produced from Bizet's incidental music to the stage play based on the tragic tale of unrequited love for the flighty girl from Arles. These two suites are Bizet's own plus that arranged after his death by Ernest Guiraud. Sandwiched between these two versions are the original incidental music with vocal additions sung by the Choeur de l'Opera National de Lyon under chorus master Alan Woodbridge. Bizet's wonderfully evocative and melodic music is given a totally idiomatic and life enhancing performance and the closing Farandole, for all its familiarity, sends shivers of pleasure down the spine. Also on the disk are the even more familiar Prelude and Entractes from Carmen, which are given equally committed prformances and provide a lively opener to the main event.