Cyrille Dubois - So Romantique ! - Presto Music

There are some absolute gems in this classy treasure-trove charting the history of the French ténor de grâce from the 1830s to the 1900s: listen out for the foreshadowings of Lohengrin (premiered five years later) in the first extract from Louis Clapisson's Gibby la cornemuse, or the verismo-ish sweep of arias from Charles Silver's Myriane and Théodore Dubois's Xavière. Cyrille Dubois's elegant phrasing, immaculate diction and inherent sweetness of tone provide enormous pleasure throughout.