For many years, it was only
Manon
and
Werther
that were heard among
Massenet
's operas, but his reputation appears to be on the rise, and his champion, conductor
Laurent Campellone
, has recorded a good number of them.
Ariane
, from 1906, is one of the last to receive its recorded premiere. The
Palazzetto Bru Zane
label, specializing in obscure French opera, does a typically fine job here; the sound is superb, and the cast of singers, led by the soprano
Amina Edris
in the lead role, offers several revelations. In his later operas,
often attempted to put a French stamp on the newer styles of the day, and here, it is
Wagner
who gets this treatment; the opera is built around a set of motifs de rappel (or "reminiscence motifs"), whose parentage in
's leitmotifs is clear. This structure is shoehorned into the durable machinery of French opera. There are big entrance scenes, a pantomime, and plenty of spectacular stage machinery to go with the love triangle plot involving Ariane (Ariadne), Phedre (Phaedra), and Theseus, who gets to take on the Minotaur in a grand scene with Wagnerian bass trumpet and bass trombone.
's orchestration is impressive throughout. The work does not have the inevitability of truly great art, but it is in no way dull, and anyone with any interest in French opera should hear it for the singers alone; enough of those listeners have already weighed in and put the album on classical best-seller lists in the late summer of 2023. ~ James Manheim