Mandoline. Dans les salons fin-de-siècle

Description

After the success of Mandolin on Stage, dedicated to the most iconic mandolin concertos of the 18th century and recorded with Il Pomo d'Oro under the direction of Francesco Corti, Raffaele La Ragione returns with a third album for Arcana. With the collaboration of pianist François Dumont (who plays on a precious 1896 Pleyel for the occasion) and the exceptional participation of soprano Sandrine Piau, he recounts a fascinating chapter of French musical history. Between the 1880s and 1890s, Paris indeed discovered a true passion for the mandolin, a craze fostered by concerts organized at the Trocadéro during the 1878 World's Fair. In the salons of high society, the Neapolitan mandolin became a symbol of elegance and exoticism, evoking the atmospheres of southern Italy and immediately captivating poets and composers. Produced in collaboration with the Fondation Palazzetto Bru Zane, the album brings together original pieces, period arrangements drawn from French operas and operettas, as well as vocal pages dedicated to the mandolin, restoring all the sonic charm of a fin-de-siècle salon.