Album review: Alain Altinoglu, Choeur et Orchestre Opéra National Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon, Massenet: Thérèse (Palazzetto Bru Zane/Ediciones Singulares)

The Palazzetto Bru Zane in Venice has become the centre for a revival of the French Romantic repertoire, recording and releasing a series of “opera books” containing music and libretto alongside essays explicating the circumstances surrounding the work – vital in the case of Massenet's Thérèse if your knowledge of revolutionary France is patchy. There's a sudden, pleasing appearance of a harpsichord minuet during a reminiscence scene. It's an odd but effective balance of wistful recollection and terrified apprehension, a tragedy of devotion and sacrifice which ends with the heroine joining her husband on the tumbril.

Download: Leur Devoir!; Tu Venais sur Ce Banc; Il est Sauvé!