Massenet: Je ne sais pas si je veille (from Werther) (Werther's entrance)

Jules Massenet, who died 100 years ago in 1912, was a French composer best known for his operas, and was widely considered in his day to be one of the greatest melodists of his time, alongside Puccini.

The Best of Massenet includes his most popular music, performed by a starry cast of artists, including Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Jonas Kaufmann, Renée Fleming, Joseph Calleja, Angela Gheorghiu and Marilyn Horne.

Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and today he is best known for the popular violin showpiece Méditation from his opera Thaïs (performed here by Nigel Kennedy), and is unfairly regarded by many as something of a one-hit wonder.

Opera and ballet aficionados have known otherwise for some time and that he is in truth one of classical music’s best-kept secrets. 2012, the centenary year of his death, is the perfect opportunity time to introduce a wider audience to the exquisite charms and beauty of his music.

Following his debut solo album earlier this year of Korean Songs, MSM releases the sensational young tenor, Wookyung Kim’s operatic arias album. The selection of the arias derives from operas based on the works of three European literature giants, Victor Hugo, Friedrich Schiller and Johan Wolfgang von Goethe.

“Wookyung Kim has a fine tenor voice and he seems to be on a mission to make everyone realise it” International Record Review

“Kim possesses an exceptionally beautiful timbre with rich resonance and Italianate lyrical tenor sound that often reminds us of a young Giuseppe Di Stefano.” Opernglas

“His youthful voice rang out with joie de vivre, loving the way the Duke’s music lies so high rather than sweating over it like most tenors do.” Financial Times