Hélène and Nuit persane

03/01/2009
Greg Barns
Hobart Mercury (Australia)

The French composer Camille Saint-Saëns is best known for his wonderfully accessible Carnival of the Animals and his Organ Symphony. But fortunately Orchestra Victoria, with a fine cast of singers, has decided to record Saint-Saen's opera Hélène and his Nuit Persane, a choral and orchestral work. Hélène, the story of Helen of Troy, is rich with melody and colour and is beautifully directed by young French conductor Guillaume Tourniaire. Soprano Rosamund Illing fits the bill as Hélène and leads an excellent cast of Australian talent.