Arias from Little-Known French Operas by Louis Niedermeyer (1802-1861): Stradella, Benjamin Godard (1849-1895): Les Guelfes, Félicien David (1810-1876): Lalla-Roukh, Henri Février (1875-1957): Gismonda, Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921): Étienne Marcel, Fromental Halévy (1799-1862): La Magicienne, Georges Bizet (1838-1875): Clovis et Clotilde and, not opera but here anyway, Alfred Bruneau (1857-1934): Geneviève, Jules Massenet (1842-1912): La Vierge, César Franck (1822-1890): Les Béatitudes and Rédemption.

Description: Gens takes this opportunity to display the maturity of her ''Falcon'' soprano, the central tessitura typical of French Romantic opera, which takes its name from Cornelie Falcon, who created the works of Meyerbeer and Halevy staged in the 1830s. Given its sponsorship by the fabulous Palazetto Bru Zane, most famous for their French romantic opera book + CD series on Ediciones Singulares, this could be either a preview of coming attractions or a “what not to look for” consolation prize. French-English texts. Véronique Gens (soprano), Munich Radio Orchestra; Hervé Niquet.