Camille Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse & Leo Hussain

• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921): La princesse jaune:
• 1Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: I. Ouverture06:57
• 2Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: II. Dialogue. Kornélis ! Kornélis ! Entrerai-je ?00:56
• 3Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: III. Air. Outsou Sémisi Kamini02:49
• 4Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: IV. Dialogue. Bonjour cousin !...00:57
• 5Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: V. Air. J’aime, dans son lointain mystère04:43
• 6Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: VI. Dialogue. Ah ! C’est trop !00:35
• 7Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: VII. Air. Je faisais un rêve insensé03:52
• 8Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: VIII. Dialogue. C’est peut-être la mort !00:09
• 9Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: IX. Vision. Vision dont mon âme éprise04:08
• 10Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: X. Dialogue. Eh bien ! Mais il est là !00:20
• 11Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: XI. Duo. Ah ! Quel nuage d’or s’ouvre devant mes yeux !09:40
• 12Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: XII. Chanson. Sur l’eau claire et sans ride02:55
• 13Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: XIII. Duo (suite). Je ne comprends rien à ta poésie !...05:19
• 14Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: XIV. Mélodrame. Il repose et sa fièvre est calmée !02:21
• 15Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune: XV. Duo. Ce doux mot qu’ignorant de moi-même07:05
• Mélodies persanes:
• 16Saint-Saëns: Mélodies persanes: I. Prélude01:49
• 17Saint-Saëns: Mélodies persanes: II. La Brise02:23
• 18Saint-Saëns: Mélodies persanes: III. La Splendeur vide05:47
• 19Saint-Saëns: Mélodies persanes: IV. La Solitaire02:48
• 20Saint-Saëns: Mélodies persanes: V. Sabre en main03:59
• 21Saint-Saëns: Mélodies persanes: VI. Interlude03:08
• 22Saint-Saëns: Mélodies persanes: VII. Au cimetière04:30
• 23Saint-Saëns: Mélodies persanes: VIII. Tournoiement02:38
• Total Runtime01:19:48

Info for Camille Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune

That globetrotting composer Camille Saint-Saëns wrote La Princesse jaune in 1872, exemplifying the current craze for all things Japanese. Kornélis, played by the tenor Mathias Vidal, dreams only of the Land of the Rising Sun. Under the influence of a hallucinogenic potion, he becomes infatuated with Ming, a fantasy princess. His cousin Léna – the soprano Judith van Wanroij – despairs of this passion and does not dare to confess her own feelings to Kornélis, who eventually comes to his senses. The running time of this opera enables us to offer a coupling in the shape of a previously unrecorded version of Saint-Saëns’s six Mélodies persanes, thus extending the guiding thread of a yearning for exotic horizons in another direction. Leo Hussain conducts the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse in both works.

Judith van Wanroij, soprano
Mathias Vidal, tenor
Philippe Estephe, baritone
Jerome Boutillier, baritone
Eleonore Pancrazi, mezzo-soprano
Artavazd Sargsyan, tenor
Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse
Leo Hussain, conductor

Recorded at the Halle aux Grains in Toulouse (France) from 11 to 13 February 2021

Leo Hussain
British conductor Leo Hussain has established himself as a leading interpreter in his generation of Mozart, the second Viennese school and great 20th century masterpieces, breathing life into new scores and bringing fresh perspective to programming the core romantic repertoire with his musical intellect and curiosity. He was formerly Music Director of the Opéra de Rouen and Salzburg Landestheater, and now conducts many of the world’s top orchestras and opera houses.

Highlights of the 2021/22 season include Cimarosa L’Italiana in Londra for Oper Frankfurt, Berg Wozzeck for Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and on the concert platform, Delibes Lakmé for Teatro Real and Lortzing Der Waffenschmied at the Theater an der Wien.

Most recently, he has returned to the Theater an der Wien to conduct Massenet Thaïs, made his house debut at Kungliga Operan for Bizet Carmen and returned to The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden to conduct Die Zauberflöte, Strauss Salome at Theater an der Wien, the Hamburger Symphoniker, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oper Frankfurt, Gothenburg Opera, made his debut with the Norwegian National Opera and conducted a new production of Korngold Die Tote Stadt at Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, following his debut at San Francisco Opera. These follow performances with the Kammerakademie Potsdam, Wiener Symphoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker at Mozartfest Würzburg, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, DSO Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Prague Philharmonia, Gulbenkian Orchestra and Royal Danish Orchestra. Outside Europe he has conducted the West Australian and Tasmanian symphony orchestras and Auckland Philharmonia, the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra at the Tokyo Spring Festival.

He conducts most seasons at the Theater an der Wien and in 2016 he made his critically acclaimed debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Enescu Oedipe, described by the Sunday Times as "a musical performance of overwhelming impact" and leading to an immediate re-invitation. Other notable operatic successes include Strauss Capriccio for Santa Fe Opera, Britten The Rape of Lucretia for Glyndebourne Festival Opera and productions at La Monnaie, English National Opera, and the Bavarian and Berlin state operas. He enjoys a strong relationship with the George Enescu Festival with recent concert performances of Berg Wozzeck and Schoenberg Gurrelieder.

Early success at the Salzburg Festival, where he assisted Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker, and Valery Gergiev and the Vienna Philharmonic, led to worldwide symphonic debuts and close working relationships with these and other conductors including Daniel Barenboim and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Leo Hussain studied at Cambridge University and London’s Royal Academy of Music.

Booklet for Camille Saint-Saëns: La princesse jaune