Ernest Alder L'Opéra concertant Saint-Saëns • Thomas • Auber • Meyerbeer • Massenet Trio Hochelaga Anne Robert, violin • Paul Marleyn, cello • Stéphane Lemelin, piano ACD2 2652 • Trio Hochelaga has become interested in the Swiss composer and conductor Ernest Alder (1853-1904).   Now a forgotten figure in the history of music, Alder was once considered “a distinguished musician, known especially for his many clever arrangements for string quartets”, (Le Menestrel).   He wrote graceful musique de salon for piano, as well as choral and orchestral works, but it is as an arranger – especially of Romantic operas – that he is being rediscovered today. • The trio arrangements on this disc are of arias from classic 19th-century French operas such as Les Huguenots (1836) by Giacomo Meyerbeer; Mignon (1866) by Ambroise Thomas; Werther (1893) by Jules Massenet; and Samson et Dalila (1877) by Camille Saint-Saëns.   Several of these arrangements were for one or two pianos, but the instrumental line-up that seems to have inspired Alder most was that of the trio – either piano, violin, and cello, or piano, flute, and a string instrument.   Twelve of his trios, including versions of Werther and Mignon, were published in a 1894-95 collection entitled L'Opéra concertant.   This was the first of what became a successful series of collections that continued to be published after Alder's death by Léon Roques, Henri Mouton, and Émile Tavan. • This is the final recording by Trio Hochelaga in its original formation, as Stéphane Lemelin and Paul Marleyn left the trio in the summer of 2012. Ernest Alder (1853-1904) 1. Samson et Dalila [ C. Saint-Saëns]     12:03 2. Mignon [A. Thomas]     10:20 3. La muette de Portici [F. E. Auber]     10:37 4. Le pardon de Ploërmel [G. Meyerbeer]     12:18 5. Les Huguenots [G. Meyerbeer]     12:41 6. Le Cid [J. Massenet]     10:46 7. Werther [J. Massenet]     9:20 ATMA Classique is distributed in Australia by Rockian Trading PO Box 44, Briar Hill, Vic, 3088, Australia Telephone +61 (0)3 9432 4149 ~ Facsimile +61 (0)3 9444 6879