Au salon de Joséphine

The musical culture that Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), Empress of the French and Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife, developed with her family and at court kept pace with fashion and even shaped the French musical taste of the period. Joséphine organised weekly concerts at the Château de Malmaison, her preferred residence, that featured many of the most famous musicians in Paris and Europe. Informal musical soirées were also held on an almost daily basis. This recording presents excerpts from operas of the period transcribed for chamber performance, in which the most passionate emotions are expressed alongside nostalgic romances and alternate with instrumental works to recreate the spontaneity of a musical evening in Joséphine’s salon. This original project offers music lovers an immersion in a musical universe that is largely unknown to audiences today.

Coline Dutilleul – mezzo-soprano
Aline Zylberajch – fortepiano
Pernelle Marzorati – harp