Dutch National Opera wins diapason d'or de l'année 2019
Prestigious French award for recording of the opera L’Étoile directed by Laurent Pelly.
Dutch National Opera was among the prizewinners at the presentation of the Diapason d’Or de l’Année. The prestigious French award for the best classical music recording of the year was given in the category of opera to the recording of L’Étoile, by the French composer Emmanuel Chabrier.
The Dutch National Opera’s production of L’Étoile was performed in Dutch National Opera & Ballet, in Amsterdam, in October 2014. The Residentie Orkest was conducted by Patrick Fournillier. The main roles were sung by mezzo-soprano Stéphanie d’Oustrac (Lazuli) and tenor Christophe Mortagne (Ouf I). A crucial role was played by the Chorus of Dutch National Opera, who were called “the vocal star” of this opera by the newspaper De Telegraaf.
The presentation of the Diapason d’Or de l’Année took place on 26 November in the Collège des Bernardins, in Paris. It was broadcast live on the French radio station France Musique.
The recording of L’Étoile is a co-production by Dutch National Opera and the French producer Francois Roussillon (Fraprod). It was released on DVD by Naxos in March 2019. It is not the first time that the collaboration between Dutch National Opera and Fraprod has been acclaimed. In November, the recording of the Dutch National Opera production of Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck was nominated for a Grammy Award.
About L’Étoile
The opera L’Étoile, by the French composer Emmanuel Chabrier, is characterised as cheerful music theatre at its very best, with a large dose of black humour. The story takes place in an imaginary place, where the main characters believe that their fate is decided by the stars. Chabrier set the light-hearted texts to vivacious music.
About the Diapason d’Or de l’Année
The Diapason d’Or de l’Année is an important French award for the best classical music recording of the year. It is awarded by a jury comprised of professional journalists and critics from Diapason magazine, the leading and most widely distributed magazine in France in the field of classical music and HiFi. The award is seen as the French equivalent of the British Gramophone Awards. The recording of L’Étoile, which was released on DVD by Naxos in March 2019, had already received the monthly ‘Diapason d’Or’ award last June.
“Praise be to Pelly, king of directors”, wrote the newspaper Trouw about the French director of L’Étoile. Laurent Pelly is currently in Amsterdam, directing the new production of Gioacchino Rossini’s opera La Cenerentola (“Cinderella”), which will premiere with Dutch National Opera on 3 December.