Massenet: Il est doux, il est bon (from Hérodiade)

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.

2012 is the centenary of Jules Massenet’s death. Several of his operas have received important revivals this year

Unlike most other Massenet albums released this year this 2CD set celebrates equally his orchestral music (now becoming familiar once again in the concert hall after several years of neglect) and his operas.

Although the performances were recorded in the mono era, the majority of vocal extracts stem from a golden period of French music-making (1910s-1930s) and the orchestral recordings have been rated by critics as sonically ahead of their time.

Singers include Edmond Clément, Ninon Vallin, Georges Thill, Emma Luart, Bidu Sayão, Marcel Journet, Fanny Heldy and Cesare Valletti in roles they made famous. Jean Fournet, Albert Wolff, Robert Irving and Sir Thomas Beecham conduct the works for orchestra.

These rare historical recordings include some made by Gramophone and Tipewriter (G & T) in 1904 in Paris with Debussy playing the accompaniment to his own works. Mary Garden was born in Scotland but grew up in Chicago and won a scholarship to study in Paris. She established herself as the favourite singer of Debussy, Massenet and Charpentier. These recordings follow her exceptional career.

Her appearances as Desdemona in Barcelona,Vienna and Tokyo, to say nothing of her Trovatore Leonora in Washington, have shown very clearly that the lirico spinto soprano, Krassimira Stoyanova has succeeded in filling a gap on the international stage.

Stoyanova, who will also shortly be heard in the METDon Giovanni, is at home in more than just Italian repertory: a good half of the arias featured in this, her first operatic recital, are devoted to French repertoire, including Rachel in La juive - the part in which she made her international breakthrough. With its guitar accompaniment, the coloratura aria from Il Guarany is one of the rarer arias here, completing a lively portrait of this versatile and expressive performer.