Ensemble Contraste

About Mrs. Ugalde, a great Offenbach performer, Berlioz wrote: “I will not say that she sings like the bird sings; this comparison has always seemed unfair and unflattering to a singer, but I would say: she sings like the bird flies. If we know by heart the technical prowess of Poupée Olympia from Tales by Hoffmann or those of Eurydice in Orphée aux Enfers, we know less that virtuoso roles populate many other Offenbach works and offer a panorama very rich in the vocal skills of the "soprano colorature" of the 19th century. Jodie Devos, accompanied by the Ensemble Contraste, brilliantly confronts these difficulties to transform them into spectacular expressions of the romantic soul.

With
Jodie Devos soprano
&
The Contraste Ensemble
Arnaud Thorette, Johan Farjot direction
Arnaud Thorette violin
Antoine Pierlot cello
Jean-Luc Votano clarinet
Johan Farjot piano & arrangements

Program:

1 / Vert-Vert, Air de La Corilla: "The most beautiful worms are always bland"
2 / Mesdames de la Halle, Recitative and rondo de Ciboulette: "What noise and what fuss"
3 / Evening harmonies, transcription of the original (for cello and piano) for viola and piano
4 / Fantasio, Story and romance of Elsbeth: "Here is the whole city in celebration"
5 / The Tales of Hoffmann, Entr’acte and Barcarolle (instrumental arrangement)
6 / The Tales of Hoffmann, Air from Olympia: "The birds in the hornbeam"
7 / Potpourri in the shape of a fantasy on Orphée aux Enfers (arrangement for clarinet and piano after an arrangement for piano four hands by Hector Ollivier)
8 / Orphée aux Enfers, Couples of Eurydice: "Death seems to me smiling" With or without intermission
9 / Les Larmes de Jacqueline (for cello and piano)
10 / Le Roi Carotte, Romance de Rosée du Soir: "There he is ... it's him"
11 / La Vie parisienne, Air du Brésilien (instrumental arrangement) 12 / A husband at the door, Waltz-Tyrolean by Rosita: "I’m hearing, my beauty"
13 / Orphée aux Enfers, Menuet and Galop infernal (instrumental arrangement)
14 / Robinson Crusoé, Waltz of Edwige: "Take me to the one I adore"

Duration: 1h15 without intermission
(possibility of adding an intermission)

Production Palazetto Bru Zane - Center for French Romantic Music