Boieldieu is remembered most for his bewilderment before Beethoven’s symphonies and his confession that he only liked “music that soothes me”. I can’t recall a production here of his Walter Scott-inspired La dame blanche (1825) since Anthony Besch’s John Lewis Opera one in the 1950s. In his day, this past master of opéra-comique was a European name. The first act is a bit routine, but musical and dramatic interest increases with the arrival of the veiled white lady, excellently sung by Annick Massis, and we are kept well entertained by Boieldieu’s tunefulness and woodwind-felicitous orchestration. The bright tenor of Rockwell Blake, as Georges Brown (the local castle’s lost heir), lacks ideal mellifluousness, but Mireille Delunsch, Sylvie Brunet and Laurent Naouri are in good form.

EMI 3951182 (2 CDs)

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