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Date: | Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:10:57 -0800 |
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Take a look at the news release issued by Melba Recordings at
http://www.melbarecordings.com.au/content/view/435
Also, the following is from Grove Music Online:
Helene ('Helen').
Poeme lyrique in one act by Camille Saint-Saens to his own
libretto; Monte Carlo, 18 February 1904.
Saint-Saens was among the many critics of Offenbach's La
belle Helene who objected to the operetta's lax moral tone
and its trivialization of the ancient world. In his own
treatment of the story of Paris and Helen he aspired to
a more serious and exalted level, even though the opera
displays the triumph of Eros and celebrates sexual passion
more strongly than any other of Saint-Saens' operas. Helene
was the first of his operas composed for the theatre at
Monte Carlo then under the enterprising direction of Raoul
Gunsbourg. It is also the first for which he wrote his own
libretto, in strongly poetic rhyming verse. Melba sang the
title role, and it shared a double bill with Massenet's
veristic La Navarraise. Apart from the two principal
characters, the opera has scenes for Venus [Venus] (soprano),
who tries to persuade Helen (soprano) to abandon Menelaus
for love, and for Pallas (contralto), who warns her of the
dreadful events that will ensue if she abandons Sparta for
Troy. Helen heeds the words of Venus, not Pallas, and sets
sail with Paris [Paris] (tenor) in an ecstatic embrace.
Best,
Gary Hoffman
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