Meeting in Music: Massenet J

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Following the guide below you will be able to create the ultimate HQ rip and upload for sharing here at the Meeting in Music Internet Community or on your own blog if you have one.

RIPPING A CD USING EXACT AUDIO COPY (EAC)

1. Start Exact Audio Copy and load the clean and scratchless CD into you drive.
2. Pressing ALT+G will pull track and album info from the FreeDB database if this feature is set up properly.
3. If no info is found the CD is not registered in the database and you will have to type in the info manually.
4. Adjust the Drive Settings according to the model of your drive and enable the ”Create Log-file” option.
5. Adjust the Compression Settings to rip in Flac format at 768 kBit/s. Alternatively rip in the Ape fomat.
6. Rip the CD by pressing Action -> Test & Copy Image & Create CUE Sheet -> Compressed...
7. Check the log-file to see if any ripping errors or AccurateRip inaccuracies were registered.

SCANNING THE COVERS OF THE ALBUM

1. Scans of the front and back covers should be included if available as should the booklet. 300dpi is standard.

COMPRESSING THE FOLDER USING WINRAR

1. Wrap the audio files and images in a folder marked the composer and album name etc.
2. Set Compression method to ”Store” and the volume size to 200000000. Add a 3% recovery record.
3. Compress the folder using a not-too-obvious filename.

UPLOADING TO A FILEHOST AND SHARING WITH THE WORLD

Now all you need to do is to upload the rar-files to a filehost of your choice. Mega.nz is the standard and most stable option but there are many others and some services even feature upload to multiple filehosts. Finally the download links are ready to be presented on your blog.

THE MEDIEVAL ERA (600 - 1450)

At around 500 AD, western civilization began to emerge from the period known as “The Dark Ages”, the time when invading hordes of Vandals, Huns and Visigoths overran Europe and brought an end to the Roman Empire. For the next ten centuries, the newly emerging Christian Church would dominate Europe, administering justice, instigating “Holy” Crusades against the East, establishing universities, and generally dictating the destiny of music, art and literature

During this time, Pope Gregory I is generally believed to have collected and codified the music known as Gregorian Chant, which was the approved music of the Church. Much later, the University at Notre Dame in Paris saw the creation of a new kind of music called organum.

Secular music was sung all over Europe by the troubadours and trouvères of France, and it was during the Middle Ages that western culture saw the arrival of the first great name in music, Guilliame de Machaut.

THE RENAISSANCE ERA (1450 - 1600)

Generally considered to be from c.1420 to 1600, the Renaissance (which literally means “rebirth”) was a time of great cultural awakening and a flowering of the arts, letters, and sciences throughout Europe.

With the rise of humanism, sacred music began for the first time to break free of the confines of the Church, and a school of composers trained in the Netherlands mastered the art of polyphony in their settings of sacred music. One of the early masters of the Flemish style was Josquin des Prez. These polyphonic traditions reached their culmination in the unsurpassed works of Giovanni da Palestrina.

The late Renaissance also saw in England the flourishing of the English madrigal, the best known of which were composed by such masters as John Dowland, William Byrd, Thomas Morley and others.

THE BAROQUE ERA (1600 - 1750)

Named after the popular ornate architectural style of the time, the Baroque period (c.1600 to 1750) saw composers beginning to rebel against the styles that were prevalent during the High Renaissance. Many monarchs employed composers at their courts, where they were little more than servants expected to churn out music for any desired occasions. The greatest composer of the period, Johann Sebastian Bach, was such a servant. Yet the best composers of the time were able to break new musical ground, and in so doing succeeded in creating an entirely new style of music.

The instrumental concerto became a staple of the Baroque era, and found its strongest exponent in the works of the Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi. Harpsichord music achieved new heights, due to the works of such masters as Domenico Scarlatti and others. But vocal and choral music still reigned supreme during this age, and culminated in the operas and oratorios of German-born composer George Frideric Handel.

THE CLASSICAL ERA (1750 - 1820)

From roughly 1750 to 1820, artists, architects, and musicians moved away from the heavily ornamented styles of the Baroque and the Rococo, and instead embraced a clean, uncluttered style they thought reminiscent of Classical Greece.

At this time the Austrian capital of Vienna became the musical centre of Europe, and works of the period are often referred to as being in the Viennese style. Composers came from all over Europe to train in and around Vienna, and gradually they developed and formalized the standard musical forms that were to dominate European musical culture for the next several decades. The Classical period reached its majestic culmination with the masterful symphonies, sonatas, and string quartets by the three great composers of the Viennese school: Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven.

During the same period, the first voice of the burgeoning Romantic musical ethic can be found in the music of Viennese composer Franz Schubert.

THE ROMANTIC ERA (1820 - 1910)

The earliest Romantic composers were all born within a few years of each other in the early years of the nineteenth century. These include the great German masters Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann; the Polish poet of the piano Frédéric Chopin; the French genius Hector Berlioz; and the greatest pianistic showman in history, the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. The field of Italian opera was dominated by Giuseppe Verdi, while German opera was virtually monopolized by Richard Wagner.

Composers like Antonin Dvorak began looking for ways in which they could express the musical soul of their homelands. Legends were therefore used as plots for operas, and folk melodies and dance rhythms were frequently used as inspiration for symphonies and instrumental music.

With the continued enhancement of instruments, plus the invention of new ones, the late Romantic composers of the second half of the nineteenth-century created richer and ever larger symphonies, ballets, and concertos. Two of the giants of this period are the German-born Johannes Brahms and the great Russian melodist Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY ERA (1910 - 1960)

In the early part of the twentieth century music became either outwardly expressive (as in the early symphonic poems of Richard Strauss, the huge symphonies of Gustav Mahler, or the operas of Giacomo Puccini), or more introverted (as in the so-called “impressionist” music of Claude Debussy). The previous century’s tide of Nationalism found a twentieth century advocate in the Hungarian Béla Bartók.

In a time of deepening psychological awareness, the expressionistic music of Arnold Schoenberg and his disciples germinated and flourished for a time.

Twentieth-century music has seen a great coming and going of various movements, among them post-romanticism, serialism and neo-classicism in the earlier years of the century, all of which were practiced at one time or another by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky.

Many of the greatest and best-known composers of the century, including Russian composers Sergei Rachmaninov, Sergei Prokofiev, and Dmitri Shostakovich along with British composers William Walton and Benjamin Britten were those who wrote music directly descended from the approved models of the past, while investing these forms with a style and modernistic tone of their own.

THE LATE 20TH CENTURY ERA (1940 - 2000)

Composers of this era sought to free music from its rigidity, placing the performance above the composition. Similarly, many composers sought to break from traditional performance rituals by incorporating theatre and multimedia into their compositions, going beyond sound itself to achieve their artistic goals. In some cases the line is difficult to draw between genres. Composers were quick to adopt developing electronic technology. As early as the 1940s, composers such as Olivier Messiaen incorporated electronic instruments into live performance. Recording technology was used to produce art music, as well.

The musique concrète of the late 1940s and ’50s was produced by editing together natural and industrial sounds. Steve Reich created music by manipulating tape recordings of people speaking, and later went on to compose process music for traditional instruments based on such recordings. Other notable pioneers of electronic music include Edgard Varèse, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luigi Nono, and Krzysztof Penderecki.

As more electronic technology matured, so did the music. In the 1950s aleatoric music was first championed by American composer John Cage. Early minimalist compositions of the 1960s such as those by Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass stemmed from aleatoric and electronic music.

THE CONTEMPORARY ERA (from 1975)

In the broadest sense, contemporary music is any music being written in the present day. In the context of classical music the term has been applied to music written in the last quarter century or so, particularly works post-1975. Minimalism was practiced heavily throughout the latter half of the century and has carried over into the 21st century, with composers like Arvo Pärt, Henryk Górecki and John Tavener working in the more popular “mystic minimalism” variant.

Recently there has been increasing stylistic variety, with far too many schools of composition to name or label. However, in general, there are three broad trends. The first is the continuation of modern avant-garde traditions, including musical experimentalism. The second are schools which sought to revitalize a tonal style based on previous common practice. The third focuses on non-functional triadic harmony, exemplified by composers working in the minimalist and related traditions.

2/29/2020

Massenet - Sapho - Opera d'Oro Grand Tier

Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912)

Ludmilla Andrew, Alexander Oliver, George MacPherson

Nelson Taylor, Jenny Hill, Laura Sarti

BBC Orchestra & Chorus

dir: Bernard Keefe

Opera d'Oro - Grand Tier (2004) OPD 7015 2 CDs

Live rec. London, September 1973 ( Good sound)

[flac & cue, inlays, booket & disc scans]

3/09/2019

Massenet - Manon - Victoria de los Angeles

Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
Victoria de los Angeles, Henri Legay
Michel Dens, Jean Borthayre, Liliane Berton,
Choeurs et Orchestre du Théâtre National de l'Opéra -Comique
dir: Pierre Monteux
La Damoiselle élue (Debussy) - Les Nuits d'été ( Berlioz)
Boston Symphony Orchestra - dir: Charles Munch
Testament SBT3203 (2000) 3CD mono ADD rec. 1955&1956
[flac&cue;cover, inlays,booklet&disc scans]

READ MORE...

9/08/2017

Mélodies françaises

Mélodies françaises Volume 2
Saint-Saëns
Massenet
Gounod

José van Dam
Jean-Philippe Collard
EMI Classics CDC 7548182
1993
(flac & scans)
READ MORE...

8/17/2017

10 OPERAS FRANÇAIS – Les années Pathé [10 CDs]

10 OPERAS FRANÇAIS (extraits)
Les années Pathé
1961-1970

EMI Classics 7243 5 73089 2 2 stereo

Coffret 10 CDs
(P)1998

Currently out-of-print

FLAC, cuesheets, logs, scans, booklet

CD 1 - Iphigénie en Tauride (Glück) : Gorr, Gedda, Blanc, Quilico
CD 2 - Alceste (Glück) : Rubio, Gedda, Bianco
CD 3 - Médée (Cherubini) : Gorr, Chauvet, Esposito, Bianco
CD 4 - Guillaume Tell (Rossini) : Guiot, Gedda, Blanc
CD 5 - La Damnation de Faust (Berlioz) : Gorr, Gedda, Souzay
CD 6 - Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) : Gedda, Carteri, Dens, Rouleau
CD 7 - Lakmé (Delibes) : d'Angelo, Berbié, Gedda, Blanc
CD 8 - Mignon (Thomas) : Rhodes, Esposito, Vanzo, Roux

CD 9 - Hérodiade (Massenet) : Crespin, Gorr, Lance, Dens, Mars
CD 10 - Thaïs (Massenet) : Brumaire, Dens

Orchestres et choeurs divers, direction : Georges Prêtre, André Cluytens, Pierre Dervaux, Alain Lombard, Jean-Claude Hartemann

3/23/2017

French Opera Recitals

Grands Duos D'Amour De L'Opéra Français
Richard Margison (tenor) & Lyne Fortin (soprano)
Quebec Symphony Orchestra
Simon Streatfeild
1987
DDD SMCD 5072

Carmen: Parle–moi de ma mere; Les contes d'Hoffmann: C'est une chanson d'amore; Faust: Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir; Manon: Et je sais votre non / Nous vivrons a Paris; Romeo et Juliette: La cellule du frere Laurent & Va, je t'ai pardonne / Nuit d'hymenee; Le Cid: O souverain, o juge, o pere

[FLAC & Covers]

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12/30/2016

Maurice Handford - Halle Encore

01. Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
02. Khachaturian: Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia
03. Gounod: Judex from 'Mars et Vita'
04. Hamish MacCunn: Overture. Land of the Mountain and the Flood
05. Puccini: Intermezzo from 'Manon Lescaut'*
06. Puccini: Intermezzo from 'Cavalleria Rusticana'*
07. Satie: Gymnopedie No.1. Lent et douloureux
08. Satie: Gymnopedie No.3. Lent et grave
09. Massenet: Meditation from 'Thais' (Martin Milner- violin)
10. Albinoni - Giazotto: Adagio in G minor (Martin Milner- violin; Ronald Frost- organ)
11. Pachelbel: Canon in D
12. Welsh Trad. (arr. George Weldon): Suo Gan
13. Barber: Adagio for Strings

Halle Orchestra conducted by Maurice Handford

EMI Classics for Pleasure 5749452 (recorded June 1979 and May 1980*; this CD release 2001)

Total time: 76'16

(flac and scans)
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10/03/2016

Massenet: Manon (ballet) - Bonynge

Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
Manon
(Ballet, arr. Lucas & Gaunt)
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Richard Bonynge
DECCA 470 525-2 (2 CD, 2002, rec. 1985)

(flac & scans) READ MORE...

10/02/2016

Delibes: Sylvia - Bonynge

Léo Delibes (1836-1891)
Sylvia, complete ballet
Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
Le Cid, ballet music*
New Philharmonia Orchestra
National Philharmonic Orchestra*
Richard Bonynge
DECCA 448 095-2 (2 CD, 1996, rec. 1972 & 1975)

(flac & scans) READ MORE...

11/20/2015

Opera Favourites #1 - French and German (and a sprinkle of Belcanto)

Having dedicated my last post to the summit of musical theatre of all times (the Ring des Nibelungen), it may be now interesting and insightful to alight on a few operas I love dearly, by looking at them from a Wagnerian perspective.

Fundamental masterpieces for the stage like the greatest Classical opera (Fidelio) or the greatest Romantic one (Der Freischütz) must always be kept in mind when approaching Wagner, as they provided critical inspiration, both in musical and theatrical terms, to the great Master's aesthetics moulding; down to the singing technique, whereby - for instance - the great Don Ferrando or Kaspar scenes are clearly anticipating of some of Wagner's most powerful villains' characterization.

Next to these German milestones, four intense operatic diamonds by Wagner's French contemporaries, who managed to use Wagnerian technique whilst often maintaining structures evolved from the Grand Opéra genre, combined with a supremely French flair and elegance, suave melodic élan and rich harmonic textures.

A handful of true favourites of mine follows: Purcell's sublime Baroque masterpiece, Gluck's (not so)early Classical dramatic genius, Humperdinck's compelling fairy tale, whose masterful score, orchestration quality and melodic invention are an always welcome reminder of how this composer has been a lot more than a Wagner disciple and imitator. Finally, a powerful contrast between Janáček's dark-toned early masterpiece and Lehár's quintessentially Viennese decadence...

Georges Bizet
Carmen

Jennifer Larmore, Thomas Moser, Angela Gheorghiu, Samuel Ramey, Nathalie Boissy, Natascha Petrinsky, Maurizio Muraro, Jean-Luc Chaignaud, Jan Zinkler, Ulrich Reß.

Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper & Bayerisches Staatsorchester

Giuseppe Sinopoli

Teldec 0630-12672-2 (1995)

9/09/2015

Jean Martinon - Dvorak, Massenet and Meyerbeer Dance Music

01. - 08. Antonin Dvorak - Slavonic Dances, op.46 [36'06]
09. Antonin Dvorak - Slavonic Dance in C major, op.72 no.7 [3'05]
10. - 16. *Jules Massenet - Le Cid. Ballet Music [18'14]
17. - 24. *Giacomo Meyerbeer (orch. Constant Lambert) Les Patineurs. Ballet [20'38]

London Symphony Orchestra and *Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jean Martinon

Decca Eloquence Australia 476 2742 (recorded October 1959 and *May 1958; CD issued 2004)
(flac and scans)
READ MORE...