June Recording of the Month: Les Martyrs

Our June Recording of the Month is Donizetti’s first grand opera Les Martyrs starring Joyce El-Khoury as Pauline and Michael Spyres as Polyceute.

Recorded in 2014, with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment led by Sir Mark Elder, our award-winning recording was based on a new critical edition of the score by Dr. Flora Willson who recently presented our first live stream from the Wigmore Hall. Not only did Flora restore the opera’s original French text but she also worked on reinstating numerous musical passages that had not been heard since the opera’s first performance in Paris in 1840.

Head over to our YouTube channel here to listen to Pauline’s joyous aria ‘Severe existe!… un dieu sauveur… ‘ as well as to discover more about this opera: