Saint-Saens / Herve Niquet Phryne CD

To mark the centenary of the death of Camille Saint-Sa?ns, the Palazzetto Bru Zane offers a chance to discover one of his most performed and admired operas in his lifetime, presented here in a rare version. Completed in 1893 and premiered the same year at the Op?ra-Comique, the piece amusingly recounts the love affair between Nicias and Phryn?, who dupes the old archon Dicephilus in order to avenge his cruelty. It's witty melodies and delightful orchestration made the opera an immediate success in Paris and then throughout France. It was enriched with recitatives composed by Andr? Messager in 1896 to promote it's career in theatres abroad. Herv? Niquet's dashing interpretation brings out to the full the qualities of the Orchestre de l'Op?ra de Rouen Normandie and the Chúur du Concert Spirituel, thus providing a sparkling backdrop for the virtuosic soprano voice of Florie Valiquette, the refined lyricism of the tenor Cyrille Dubois and the vocal authority of Thomas Doli?'s baritone.