Since 1986, Belgian Philippe Boesmans has been composer-in-residence at Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels and has had four operas produced there. Julie is based on Strindberg's 1888 play Miss Julie , with a German libretto by Luc Bondy (who directed the production), and Marie-Louise Bischofberger, and was premiered there in 2005. This recording comes from that production. In every way, it stands up to the high standards for which the theater is known: scrupulous musical preparation, remarkably polished performances on the ...
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Since 1986, Belgian Philippe Boesmans has been composer-in-residence at Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels and has had four operas produced there. Julie is based on Strindberg's 1888 play Miss Julie , with a German libretto by Luc Bondy (who directed the production), and Marie-Louise Bischofberger, and was premiered there in 2005. This recording comes from that production. In every way, it stands up to the high standards for which the theater is known: scrupulous musical preparation, remarkably polished performances on the part of the singers and orchestra, and careful attention to the dramatic elements of the opera. Boesmans' music is very much in the modernist tradition, but it is so finely calibrated to illuminate the drama that it's likely to seem easily accessible to the attentive listener. His vocal writing is not traditionally melodic, but it seems like such a visceral, spontaneous expression of the characters' feelings that it sounds entirely natural. Swedish mezzo-soprano Malena Ernman is...
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