Pierre Chagnon (Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, 15.07.1893 - Paris, 09.03.1957): French composer, pianist and onductor. Conducted many orchestras for Columbia, composed more than 200 songs. Arletty, Fernandel, Tino Rossi, Mistinguett sang his songs.
Here a beautifully edited album with 5 25cm 78rpm records. A dive into the CHARM database tells us that the recording was made in October 1927. Furthermore, it was decided not to play the music as an orchestral suite, but as it was intended in Alphonse Daudet's play, including the 2 choirs.
The same item is used twice: no.3 and no.9 are exactly the same, even the same take number (WL634-1)! By the way, all records were recorded in 1 take!
The text in the album:
In 1872 M. Cavalho took over the Vaudeville Theatre in Paris with an idea of reviving mélodrame (i.e. a play with music, but not what we now term a musical play). He therefore engaged Alphonse Daudet to write a play and Georges Bizet to supply the incidental music. The result was "L'Arlésienne", a name which is now famous, not, rather paradoxally, through the genius of the author, but through that of the composer. The work was carefully prepared and well produced but it only ran for a fortnight. Bizet was extremely disappointed, for he thought the failure of the play meant that some of his best music would be wasted. By good fortune, however, M. Pasdeloup, the conductor of the famous Cirque d'Hiver concerts heard the music and was greatly impressed by it, and performed the Prelude, Menuet, Adagietto, and Carillon with very great succes in the form of an orchestral suite, and so laid the foundation of its popularity. The parallel between "L 'Arlésienne" and "Rosamunde" will no doubt be noticed. In both cases the names of the plays are remembered entirely on account of the musicassociated with them, while the plays themselves are dead. The main difference is that while "Rosamunde" was, by general consent, a bad play, L'Arlésienne" was a good one, ruined by unfortunate circumstances.
The novelty of the present set of records lies in the fact that the music is given, not as usual in England, as an orchestral suite, but as given in the theatre with the two choruses sung in their original form.
Georges Bizet: L'Arlésienne (1872)
1 acte 1: Prélude - ouverture 5:59
2 scene 1 acte 2: Entr'acte - Pastorale - L'Étang de Vaccares 2:24
3 scene 1 acte 2: Choeurs suivant la Pastorale 1:58
4 scene 2 acte 2: Entr'acte - La cuisine de Castelet 2:58
5 tussen acte 2 en acte 3: Intermezzo: Minuetto 2:48
6 scene 1 acte 3: Entr'acte - Le carillon 3:00
7 scene 1 acte 3: Adagietto 2:42
8 scene 1 acte 3: Farandole 2:50
9 scene 2 acte 3: Marche des Rois 1:59
Orchestre Symphonique de Paris c.b. Pierre Chagnon
78t 25 cm: Columbia 4988-4992
Matrix nrs.: (W)L 622-1; 623-1; 624-1; 634-1; 625-1; 626-1; 631-1; 633-1; 632-1; 634-1
Recorded: 14+15 X 1927
Total time: 26:38