Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de Perles – Julie Fuchs

   in Opera Now (Jul, 2018)
Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles also crops up in a less familiar version, as we are used to hearing music that was nipped and tucked many times for about 30 years following the 1863 premiere. The original autograph score has disappeared into a private collection, so the reconstructed version (by Hugh Macdonald, 2014) is as good as it’s going to get for now. Consequently, opera’s prime example of premature ejaculation, the famous duet for tenor and baritone (after which many audiences sadly realise the peak has already been reached early in the evening), veers offmidstream in a completely unexpected direction. This recording is live, from concerts in Lille last year, …