(Photo: courtesy of Vannina Santoni) Jules Massenet completed more than 30 operas over the course of his career, scoring numerous successes. Within a few years of his death, however, his reputation had faded. Today, apart from “Werther,” “Manon” and to a lesser extent “Thaïs,” most opera-goers would struggle to name more than one or two other titles. Opera companies reinforce {…}
Looking like a doppelgänger of Sir Adrian Boult, Hercule Poirot or the Monopoly Man, André Charles Prosper Messager (1853-1929) was an extraordinary musician whose memory, at least in Anglophone countries, has sadly slipped into oblivion. It is hard to believe that this immensely accomplished pianist, organist, composer, director of both the Opéra de Paris and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden {…}
Charles Gounod (1818-1893) is probably best known for his opera “Faust” or perennial arrangement of Bach’s “Ave Maria,” which countless choir boys have crooned with cherubic innocence if not perfect intonation. In fact the pious Parisian composer was extraordinarily prolific having written twelve and a half operas (“Maître Pierre” was not completed), six oratorios, three ballets and countless masses, motets and {…}