G. Charpentier - Louise / Cotrubas · Domingo · Bacquier · Berbié · NPO · Prêtre

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Louise was a popular sensation upon its 1900 premiere and has been championed by divas from Mary Garden to Beverly Sills. Even so, it is infrequently encountered these days, though the popularity of its soprano aria "Depuis le jour" always keeps audiences curious about the rest of it. And the answer is that this starkly realistic story of a working-class Paris girl falling in love with a poet against her parents' wishes--like much verismo opera--has aged strangely. The novelty of its realism has worn off (the idealized vision of Paris is a tad corny), and its plainspoken sentiments play strangely amid the lush, Wagnerian orchestration. These characters aren't Tristan and Isolde, though the music sometimes seems to think so. Nonetheless, it's a great vehicle for singers, and this cast features both Ileana Cotrubas and Placido Domingo in the early spring of their careers. Jane Berbie and Gabriel Bacquier sing with Gallic authority as Louise's parents, and conductor Georges Prêtre surely knows his way around this music. --David Patrick Stearns

G. Charpentier - Louise / Cotrubas · Domingo · Bacquier · Berbié · NPO · Prêtre, Music, Gustave Charpentier, Georges Prêtre, Ileana Cotrubas, Plácido Domingo, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Gabriel Bacquier, Jane Berbié, Classical, Classical Music, Opera, Opera / Operetta / Oratorio, Opera/Operetta, Romantic Opera
G. Charpentier - Louise / Cotrubas · Domingo · Bacquier · Berbié · NPO · Prêtre
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • The "Other" Opera Set in Bohemian Paris
  • Ileana Cotrubas and Placido Domingo cast their usual spell.
 G. Charpentier - Louise / Cotrubas · Domingo · Bacquier · Berbié · NPO · Prêtre
Gustave Charpentier , Georges Prêtre , Ileana Cotrubas , Plácido Domingo , New Philharmonia Orchestra , Ambrosian Opera Chorus , Gabriel Bacquier , and Jane Berbié
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000279H
Release Date: 1991-02-08

Tracks:

  1. Louise: Act I: Prelude
  2. Louise: Act 1, Scene 1: O coeur ami! o coeur promis!
  3. Louise: Act 1, Scene 2: Moi, je vous avais remarque
  4. Louise: Act 1, Scene 3: C'etait mon adoree!
  5. Louise: Act 1, Scene 4: Bonsoir! La soupe est prete?
  6. Louise: Act 1, Scene 4: Une lettre? Oui, une lettre du voisin
  7. Louise: Act 1, Scene 4: O mon enfant, ma Louise
  8. Louise: Act 2: Prelude
  9. Louise: Act 2, Premier Tableau, Scene 1: Dire 1u'en c'moment y a des femmes
  10. Louise: Act 2, Premier Tableau, Scene 2: Les bons lits! Les belles robes!
  11. Louise: Act 2, Premier Tableau, Scene 3: C'est ici? C'est la qu'elle travaille?
  12. Louise: Act 2, Premier Tableau, Scene 4: Elle va paraitre, ma joie

Tracks:

  1. Louise: Act 2, Premier Tableau (suite): La caneus', racc'modeus' de chais's!
  2. Louise: Act 2, Premier Tableau, Scene 5: Bonjour! Bonjour! Comment vas-tu?
  3. Louise: Act II, Premier Tableau, Scene 6: Pourquoi te retourner?
  4. Louise: Act 2, Premier Tableau, Scene 7: Laissez-moi, ah! de grace!
  5. Louise: Act 2, Premier Tableau, Scene 8: Marchand d'habits! avez-vous des habits
  6. Louise: Act 2, Interlude
  7. Louise: Act 2, Second Tableau, Scene 1: La! la! la! C'est enervant!
  8. Louise: Act 2, Second Tableau, Scene 2: Quell' drol' de fanfare!
  9. Louise: Act 2, Second Tableau, Scene 3: Qu'est-c' qui lui prend?
  10. Louise: Act 3, Prelude
  11. Louise: Act 3, Scene 1: Depuis le jour ou je me suis donnee
  12. Louise: Act 3, Scene 1: Louise est heureuse? Trop heureuse!
  13. Louise: Act 3, Scene 1: Ainsi tout enfant a le droit
  14. Louise: Act 3, Scene 1: Ah! Prends-moi vite, vite

Tracks:

  1. Louise: Act 3, Scene 2: Ils sont la?
  2. Louise: Act 3, Scene 3: Par Mercure aux pieds legers
  3. Louise: Act 3, Scene 3: O jolie! Soeur choisie!
  4. Louise: Act 3, Scene 4: Je ne viens pas en ennemie
  5. Louise: Act IV, Prelude
  6. Louise: Act 4, Scene 1: Tu devrais te rapprocher de la fenetre
  7. Louise: Act 4, Scene 1: Voir naitre une enfant
  8. Louise: Act IV, Scene 1: Louise! Louise! Quoi? Viens m'aider!
  9. Louise: Act 4, Scene 2: Bonsoir, pere
  10. Louise: Act 4, Scene 2: Tout etre e le droit d'etre libre
  11. Louise: Act 4, Scene 2: Qu'il vienne vite, vite, mon bien-aime
  12. Louise: Act 4, Scene 3: Louise! Louise!

Amazon.com

Louise was a popular sensation upon its 1900 premiere and has been championed by divas from Mary Garden to Beverly Sills. Even so, it is infrequently encountered these days, though the popularity of its soprano aria "Depuis le jour" always keeps audiences curious about the rest of it. And the answer is that this starkly realistic story of a working-class Paris girl falling in love with a poet against her parents' wishes--like much verismo opera--has aged strangely. The novelty of its realism has worn off (the idealized vision of Paris is a tad corny), and its plainspoken sentiments play strangely amid the lush, Wagnerian orchestration. These characters aren't Tristan and Isolde, though the music sometimes seems to think so. Nonetheless, it's a great vehicle for singers, and this cast features both Ileana Cotrubas and Placido Domingo in the early spring of their careers. Jane Berbie and Gabriel Bacquier sing with Gallic authority as Louise's parents, and conductor Georges Prêtre surely knows his way around this music. --David Patrick Stearns

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The "Other" Opera Set in Bohemian Paris.......2005-07-09

LOUISE is an opera that may be known today as a work with only one hit "Depuis le jour" to its credit, but at one time it was a staple at the great opera houses of the world and was reputed to be a favorite of the Metropolitan Opera's Sir Rudolf Bing who could never remember its name and referred to it as "the one with the girls and the sewing machines."

The case for its revival could be strong. It has a moving story. It tells the story of a poet who falls in love with a seamstress set in Bohemian Paris. While it sounds like a LA BOHEME rip off, the occupations of the main characters and the setting are all the two operas have in common. Louise, the main character loves Julian, a poet, but is torn between running off to Paris with the love of her life and her domineering parents who disapprove of their daughter's choices in life. The opera also has a lush score and a wide array of interesting minor characters. It is unlikely the work will resurface all that soon. It is a long work, nearly three hours not including intermissions, a number of strong voices are needed to make the opera work, and the vast sets needed would make it costly. The only hope would be recordings and since this set is getting harder to find, that may not be a solution either.

This particular recording is one of the few recordings of this work, studio or otherwise. With Ileana Cotrubas and Placido Domingo as Louise and Julian respectively, who recorded the work at the height of their careers, led by conductor Georges Prete, it is almost guaranteed that the set will be a musical treat and it is indeed. It is also strengthened by some of the best known performers in the French repertoire namely Gabriel Bacquier, Jane Berbie, and Michel Senechal.

If you love French opera and are an avid collector, this set is a must for your collection, but the cost may make it prohibitive for anyone other than die hard French opera enthusiasts. Hopefully it will be re-released at a more reasonable price. If it is, I am sure many will rediscover this work and fall in love not only with its best known aria, but the many duets, street scenes, and lush orchestral passages that make this opera a beautiful work.

5 out of 5 stars Ileana Cotrubas and Placido Domingo cast their usual spell........2000-02-14

The chemistry between Ileana Cotrubas and Placido Domingo is particularly present in this wonderful recording of Charpentier's Louise. Cotrubas never sounded more radiantly beautiful as her creamy soprano expresses Depuis Le Jour, and her obvious intelligence and artistic refinement make this recording the essential Louise. Domingo sounds heroic and, as ever with Cotrubas, sings the role of the ardent lover with utter conviction. Simply the best.

Track Listings:

  1. Gabrielli: Glory of Venice [Import]
  2. Giacomo Puccini: Madama Butterfly - Mirella Freni / José Carreras / Teresa Berganza / Juan Pons / Ambrosian Opera Chorus / Philharmonia Orchestra / Giuseppe Sinopoli
  3. Glinka: Russlan and Ludmilla; Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé
  4. Godowsky's Studies on the Chopin Etudes
  5. Great Arias & Ensembles from Your Favorite Operas
  6. GUÉDRON: Le consert des Consorts - Le Poème Harmonique - Vincent Dumestre
  7. Gustav Mahler: Symphonie No. 1
  8. H.I.F. Biber: Violin Sonatas - Romanesca (Andrew Manze / Nigel North / John Toll)
  9. Handel: L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato / Gritton, McFadden, L. Anderson, Agnew, N. Davies; King
  10. Handel: Overtures & Sinfonias [Import]

Track Listings

track listings

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Simon Barere At The Carnegie Hall

Parklife [Import]

Pete Fountain's New Orleans

Boom Boom [Import]

Them Changes [Import]

The Boys from Syracuse (1963 London Cast) [Cast Recording]

Top 10 of Classical Music: Baroque [Box set]

River of Dreams [Import] [Original recording remastered]

Stravinsky: Chamber Works & Rarities [Import]

Taking a Chance on Love [CD-single] [Import]

Que Sentimiento [Import]

Super Bronco

Hotter Than July

1938-1940