Charles Gounod Essentials

Charles Gounod Essentials

Apple Music Classical

The operas of Charles Gounod are sumptuous affairs, with ripe banks of rhythmic strings; soft, pillowy harmonies; and the fragrant (and distinctly French) melodic aura of doomed romance. Best known for the operatic retelling of tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet or Faust, Gounod crafts lilting phrases and arresting climaxes that bring out the high drama in these familiar tales, lending them fresh piquancy. His most familiar melody is perhaps the slowly unfolding Ave Maria, a magic spell of unwinding beauty he cast over Bach's Prelude in C Major.

IV. Sanctus. Andante

Chœurs René Duclos, Heinz Hoppe, Franz Crass, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Jean-Claude Hartemann, Pilar Lorengar

5:16

Ave Maria (Arr. for Cello and Piano)

Kathryn Stott, Yo-Yo Ma

2:43

Ah, Je Veux Vivre

Renée Fleming, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras

3:43

Va! je t'ai pardonné - Nuit d'hyménée

Rolando Villazón, Staatskapelle Dresden, Anna Netrebko, Nicola Luisotti

13:23

Waltz

Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic

5:27

"Faites-lui mes aveux"

Yves Abel, Elīna Garanča, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna

4:21

Faust, Act I: Avant de Quitter Ces Lieux

Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Russia Philharmonia, Russia Spiritual Revival Choir, Constantine Orbelian

4:14

No. 19, "Où suis-je?...O ma lyre immortelle"

Sonya Yoncheva, Frédéric Chaslin, Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana

7:20

O légère hirondelle

Enrique Mazzola, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Olga Peretyatko

3:06