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

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

5:16

Ave Maria (Arr. for Cello and Piano)

Yo-Yo Ma, Kathryn Stott

2:43

Ah, Je Veux Vivre

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, Renée Fleming

3:43

Va! je t'ai pardonné - Nuit d'hyménée

Anna Netrebko, Nicola Luisotti, Staatskapelle Dresden, Rolando Villazón

13:23

Waltz

Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic

5:27

"Faites-lui mes aveux"

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

4:21

Faust, Act I: Avant de Quitter Ces Lieux

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

4:14

Vin ou bière (Choeur/Wagner)

Paris Opera Orchestra, Marc Vento, Chœurs de l'Opéra national de Paris, Georges Prêtre, David Bell

5:13

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

Frédéric Chaslin, Sonya Yoncheva, Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana

7:20

O légère hirondelle

Enrique Mazzola, Olga Peretyatko, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester

3:06