Saint-Saëns La princesse jaune

[Alan Howe]

...forthcoming from Bru Zane:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8939036--saint-saens-la-princesse-jaune

I hadn't realised that a recording already exists on Chandos:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7922905--saint-saens-la-princesse-jaune-the-yellow-princess-etc

[TerraEpon]

And a fine recording it is.

This new one...what makes me curious is the text about "a previously unrecorded version of Saint-Saëns's six Mélodies persanes" -- certainly it's been recorded on this CD:
https://www.amazon.com/Saint-Sa%C3%ABns-Tassis-Christoyannis-Jeff-Cohen/dp/B01LQCBYIM amoung at least some of them recorded elsewhere.

Or did it mean orchestral versions? Three of them are here:
https://www.amazon.com/Saint-Sa%C3%ABns-Christoyannis-Orchestra-Svizzera-Italiana/dp/B073LY2887 -- the liner notes imply (though don't definitively state) he only orchestrated those three.

[eschiss1]

Does anyone have Teller-Ratner volume 2? Surely her entry on these works could clear this up in a New York second, as the word "version" seems to contain the secret.

[eschiss1]

Looking at the Durand page- has Calvocoressi's translation been recorded? (Durand's catalog also mentions the derived chorus and orchestra Nuit persane Op.26bis written in 1891.)TerraEpon- is Nuit persane what's on that orchestral CD? La brise, La fuite, Les cygnes?

[TerraEpon]

Looking at the Durand page- has Calvocoressi's translation been recorded? (Durand's catalog also mentions the derived chorus and orchestra Nuit persane Op.26bis written in 1891.)TerraEpon- is Nuit persane what's on that orchestral CD? La brise, La fuite, Les cygnes?

No, just direct orchestrations of three songs from Op. 26.

However, 26bis IS on this set: https://www.amazon.com/Saint-Saens-Helene-Persane-Rosamund-Illing/dp/B01KB1Z5FW/ which I'd highly recommend except for that price, yikes.

[BerlinExpat]

Camille Saint-Saëns La Nuit Persane, Op.26 bis with words by Armand Renaud dates from 1891. It is a new work completely separate from the Mélodies for voice and piano, Op. 26 of 1870.
After lots of searching I have come to the conclusion that the "bis" in the opus number for the orchestral version of La Nuit Persane was probably given by a publisher. The manuscript bears no opus number. The work is for tenor, alto, narrator, mixed chorus and orchestra and is structured as follows with La Fuite and Les Cygnes being composed in 1891 for the new work:
Première partie : LA SOLITAIRE :
La Brise
La Solitaire
La Fuite
Deuxième partie : LA VALLÉE DE L'UNION :
Au Cimetière
Les Cygnes
Troisième partie : FLEURS DE SANG :
Sabre en main
Quatrième partie : SONGE D'OPIUM :
Tournoiement

Only La splendeur vide from 1870 appears not to have been orchestrated.

[eschiss1]

Ah. The Durand Catalogue says (p.15) "D'après les Mélodies persanes, Op.26." I am aware that the catalog is- not infallible, but that was the source of my confusion. The same poet is used, and perhaps despite the confusing phrasing they just mean some of the texts are in common despite different names. See IMSLP page for Nuit persane too.

[Alan Howe]

Beware the tenor on the Bru Zane! The Chandos is much better sung.

[M. Yaskovsky]

You've already bought it and listened to it?

[Alan Howe]

Nope - but the few excerpts available tell us everything we need to know. Chandos tenor - steady, mellifluous; Bru Zane tenor - wobbly, less sensitive.

[Mark Thomas]

I agree, go for the Chandos if you don't want to be irritated by the tenor's delivery.