BERNARD CAVANNA (b.1951): Raphaël, Reviens!.

Description: An 'opera for young people', "Raphaël, come back!" is presumably described as such because the libretto, by Michel Beretti, concerns the search for a meaningful path in life of an adolescent character and the influences upon him; a perennial theme that may be presumed to have some resonance for anyone around that age. The music is mostly straightforwardly tonal, though not without some degree of dissonance, and recitative passages are accompanied by drone material of ambiguous tonality. A work of chamber scale, incorporating the versatile accordion (which also lends a certain appropriate colloquial air to the proceedings), the narrative is presented in clear, uncluttered vocal lines, eschewing grandly 'operatic' gestures in favor of direct and unadorned storytelling. French-English libretto. Thierry Grégoire (countertenor), Vincent Billier, Laurent Bourdeaux (baritones), Olivier Dumait (tenor), Patricia Gonzales (soprano), Samuel Gangneron (narrator), Noëmi Schindler (violin), Christophe Roy (cello), Pascal Contat (accordeon).