In the manuals of music history he is usually only mentioned in passing, the French composer François Adrien Boieldieu (1775-1834), often in a row with his contemporaries and fellow countrymen Auber and Grétry. That is very meager for someone who could call himself one of the most important French composers in his day and who had a big name especially in the field of opera, with Weber and Schumann
… as admirers. But Boieldieu's serious operas were soon overshadowed by Meyerbeer's spectacle pieces, while Rossini was now considered the king of comic opera. To be fair, Boieldieu may not have been a great composer, but his opera comique "La Dame Blanche" is still a pleasant and enjoyable work to listen to. The work was written in 1825 on a libretto by Eugène Scribe, based on Walter Scott's novel The Lady of the Lake. Scott's novel has been stripped of its edges and reduced to a love story with a happy ending, all interspersed with the mysterious background of the Scottish Highlands. Boieldieu's strength lies mainly in his happy melodic invention. He always manages to base his arias on small melodic fragments that linger so easily in the memory that they are soon involuntarily hummed in front of them. This and the beautiful orchestration mean that this music still has an irresistible charm. The soloists, the Choeur de Radio France and the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, conducted by Marc Minkowski, bring Boieldieu ' s music very beneficial for the spotlight. (JG) _more
