| Helene | Nuit Persane Gala Concert Reviews |
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Prague Music Chronicle - The French in Prague (March 2008) "If all goes well, then after the longest professional career eighty-year old Guillaume Tourniaire will be given a New Year concert in the Vienna Philharmonic, just like Georges Prêtre, ignored in France for a number of years, and all music critics will once again lament how could such excellent maestro have been ignored by his motherland..." Právo Daily (Prague) - Musical Magic of Persian and Greek Nights (March 2008) "Last year Tourniaire recorded both pieces for Australian musical publishing house Melba Recordings and in Prague he preferred a concert performance instead of a scenic one. This was logical indeed, since the dramatic quality of Hélène by Saint-Saëns is fully contained in richly graded romantic music..." Prague Post - Note Worthy (6 February 2008) "Vandamme showed the score to Tourniaire, who was immediately taken by it. “I thought, how is it possible that such beautiful music was not played for so long?” he says. Tourniaire agreed to record it for Vandamme with the Orchestra Victoria in Melbourne last October. He brought the score to Žádná, who liked not only the music but the potential it held for an anniversary program." Lidové Noviny Daily (Prague) - Smart Celebration in the State Opera (February 2008) "Guillaume Tourniaire, a young Chief Conductor, is the soul of the project... The combination of Nuit Persane and Hélène was an excellent and carefully considered idea... In both these pieces Saint-Saëns proves to be a master of cultivated music form... 5 stars (*****)" Mlada Fronta Daily (Prague) - Marble-sculptured story about Helen of Troy (February 2008) "the song cycle Nuit Persane... intriguing... Saint-Saëns induces a finely piquant atmosphere of love... and proves to be a master of refined melody."
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