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Another beautiful opera from the pen of Saint-Saens. It is indeed a verismo-eque story, but it seems as if Saint-Saens was illustrating how the tradition of Romanticism could very effectively illustrate even a libretto of this type. Mark Thomas's comment that this opera is vintage Saint-Saens hit the nail on the head! It would certainly be fascinating to see, as well as hear. thank you.

The symphonic poems are all wonderful, no clunkers! The ones that I love particularly are "From the cradle to the grave", "Prometheus", Mazeppa, Festklange, Orpheus, [I will end up mentioning all of them!]- I would highly recommend Solti's recordings of the Liszt symphonic poems, and also Michael Halazs on Naxos- both very idiomatic. Solti includes a sizzling performance of the Mephisto Waltz Number 1 - most exciting! thank you!

One of the intriguing aspects of L'Ancetre it is possible that Saint-Saens may have used bolder dissonances than in earlier works- in Rees's biography ["Saint-saens, A Life"] de Lassus, the Librettist described the music [Saint-Saens would play excerpts for him while they were making changes to the ending] as having"resonances like cracked saucepans"! Sounds remarkable. As to the other operas that have come to light, I find that Henry VIII, Ascanio and Etienne Marcel are masterpieces- and would make great experiences on the opera stage. Proserpine also, even if the libretto is slightly old fashioned. Happily there are good recordings of live performances of each. If I may, I would recommend each highly. Also, Chandos issued a fine recording of a Swiss-Italian live performance of La Princesse Jaune- a delightful bauble; it is paired with a fine performance of the Suite Algerienne!

I am happy to submit the recording of Saint-Saens' "Ascanio" as the top discovery for 2018. The opera is magnificent- the characters spring to life, and the music is beautiful, powerful and completely captivating. All of the people involved have the musical skill and in the case of the singers, the voices to tackle this major work. I would place Ascanio in the same league as Saint-Saens' Henry VIII - a great work! Strongly recommended- I cannot imagine anyone who is interested in Romantic period music not enjoying this superb opera.

I just received my copy of Ascanio and have listened to it twice so far. It is indeed a magnificent work, and a fine recording with a very good cast, able to realize their roles. Listening to it brought back thoughts of Debussy's comment that Saint-Saens entered the opera house as an confirmed symphonist- which Debussy meant as an insult, but is in fact a compliment. And Saint-Saens, rather fed up with the "Wagnerian" controversy of the time said that the listener should let the "river of music carry him along, without being too concerned about the chemistry of the water". This is a great opera, indeed a little slow to get underway but a thrilling, captivating work. And Ascanio, along with Henry VIII, Etienne Marcel and Proserpine, fills out a major gap in appreciating Saint-Saens style and approach to opera. thank you! Thanks to fine cast and most of all to conductor Guillaume Tournaire for his dedication to this brilliant work!

The Ballet music from Ascanio has been recorded on a disk entitled "Elan: Ballet Music from Operas by Saint-Saens" along with selections from Henry VIII, Etienne Marcel and Les Barbares, with the same maestro who is at the helm of this complete recording, Guillaume Tourniaire. A fine recording on the Melba label.

The excerpts posted on Youtube are very impressive, music is excellent. When I think back to when I began to be aware of Saint-Saens music in the 1960's it is hard to believe how far we have come in re-discovery of great music! Never thought that I would live to see this day! I hope a more accessible recording might be forthcoming.

The continuation of the "faint praise" for "Fredegonde" in biographies of Saint-Saens is hard to comprehend; Guiraud also needs to be given more credit.

It seems that earlier opinions of the piece are just repeated.  thank you.

I can't see the point of buying any of the Naxos series when you can get the lot with Serebrier so ridiculously cheaply.

May I suggest two reasons, one general, one specific. This may be my "madness" but when I become interested in a composer, or work, I want to have more than one recording, to compare different approaches. I am certainly going to add the complete set by Serebrier despite the fact that I have his recordings of the Glazunov 4, 5, 7 and 8. The specific problem is with Serebrier's recording of the Glazunov Fifth [widely considered his symphonic masterpiece], which [in my opinion] is unsuccessful: his continuous and exaggerated changes of tempo , accelerations followed by big ritards, ruins the grand sweeping themes of the first movement. Perhaps an excess of love? I hate to be critical because Serebrier is clearly a champion of Glazunov. In any event, I would not suggest Serebrier as a one and only recording for ones collection, but instead as a second set. Fedoseyev [also available at a bargain price] or Rozdestvensky provide solid alternative performances. Anissimov on Naxos may have fixed bag sonics, but I have greatly enjoyed his approach to the works of Glazunov, also.

The Glazounov series on Naxos, including all of the symphonies lead by Alexander Anissimov are also well worth investigating. His recording of the Symphony Number 6 is very good, in that he takes the middle movements slowly which really imparts a weight to these movements that can sound like charming parts of a ballet, particularly after the magnificent first movement.

 I enjoyed reading MartinH's reply " But it's Fedoseyev - one of the most vulgar, unmusical barbarians ever to wield a baton. Anyone who would butcher Tchaikovsky's Manfred the way he did should be banished from concert halls forever." Of course, now I want to hear what Fedoseyev does with, or to- Manfred, perhaps my favorite of the Tchaikovsky symphonies.

Manfred is something of a special case since there is a tradition of conductors making changes to it-particularly the last movement. I have attended performances where the end of the last movement- the peroration with organ- was replaced with a reprise of the coda of the first movement. The magnificent conclusion of the first movement is so good, I was happy to hear it repeated! Is this barbarism? Perhaps- but it was wonderful to hear. 

May I put in a recommendation for the set lead by Fedoseyev- also a bargain on Brilliant Classics. The recordings were made between 1974-1982 so the sound is not "state of the art" but very serviceable. The orchestra had a very idiomatic sound, without coarseness, and Fedoseyev's realizations are excellent, outstanding in 5 and 7. Indeed in 5 and 7, [two of my favorites] I find him unsurpassed. All are very good.

This is wonderful news! I believe that this is Saint-Saens' essay in "verismo" and I am eager to hear it. Everything that Saint-Saens composed is, in my opinion, well worth hearing- more than once, so I am hoping for a recording. thank you!

I had read in the past that "Kassya" was the last, unfinished opera by Leo Delibes and that Massenet completed it. In Demar Irving's [recent] biography of Massenet, he suggests that the libretto was flawed and the basic cause of the lack of success. I am delighted that it is going to be revived so that it can be heard again.

This is a delightful work, rather in the style of Glazunov- I have a performance by Antal Dorati, which is excellent. Happy to hear that it continues to get attention. 

I have been listening to Liapounov's grand and colorful Symphony #2, a live recording from 1998 with the great Evgueni Svetlanov leading the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and I am so thankful- while there may be clouds on the horizon, we are in a Golden Age for recordings of Unsung [and "Semi-sung"] composers. I remember back in ca. 1970 you could not find a recording of any of the Glazounov symphonies- I finally found a Russian Cultural shop in NYC [I was a member of the Glazounov Society of America and the president was a wonderful guide, who had ferreted out the source] and was able to get a couple of recordings, by special order. It was not until 1975 that EMI/Angel brought out Fedoseyev's recordings of the Glazounov symphonies- not all of them, but at least 4,5 and 6. The notes were astonishing- condescending, full of left handed complements, etc. - why do [or did] record companies undermine the sales of their records with unenthusiastic support? Happily, now we have competing sets of nearly everything that Glazounov wrote; and that is just one example.

While I agree that there may be troubles ahead, the world of Classical Music is so much richer today than it was before the age of CD and the internet.