Ferrum Splendidum Florian Sempey, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Victor Jacob

• André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (1741 - 1813): Richard Cœur-de-Lion, Act I:
• 1 Grétry: Richard Cœur-de-Lion, Act I: Ô Richard, Ô mon roi 03:31
• Gaetano Donizetti (1797 - 1848): Lucia di Lammermoor, Act I Scene 2:
• 2 Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor, Act I Scene 2: Quel air sombre / D’un amour qui me brave 06:04
• 3 Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor, Act I Scene 2: À moi viens, ouvre tes ailes 03:21
• Carl Orff (1895 - 1982): Carmina Burana:
• 4 Orff: Carmina Burana: II. In Taberna: No. 1, Estuans interius 02:29
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893): La Belle au bois dormant, Op. 66, Act I Scene 9:
• 5 Tchaikovsky: La Belle au bois dormant, Op. 66, Act I Scene 9: Finale 02:49
• Carl Orff: Carmina Burana:
• 6 Orff: Carmina Burana: II. In Taberna: No. 3, Ego sum abbas 01:46
• 7 Orff: Carmina Burana: II. In Taberna: No. 4, In taberna quando sumus 03:03
• Ambroise Thomas (1811 - 1896): Hamlet, Act II:
• 8 Thomas: Hamlet, Act II: Ô vin, dissipe la tristesse 03:57
• Romain Dumas: Les mirifiques aventures du Chevalier d'Eon:
• 9 Dumas: Les mirifiques aventures du Chevalier d'Eon: De Bourgogne je suis un fruit 02:44
• Vincent d’Indy (1851 - 1931): Fervaal, Op, 40, Act III:
• 10 d’Indy: Fervaal, Op, 40, Act III: Prélude 07:10
• Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893): Roméo et Juliette, CG 9, Act I:
• 11 Gounod: Roméo et Juliette, CG 9, Act I: Mab, la reine des mensonges 02:29
• Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791 - 1864): Le pardon de Plöermel, Act I Scene 5:
• 12 Meyerbeer: Le pardon de Plöermel, Act I Scene 5: Ô puissante magie 06:05
• Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883): Tannhäuser, WWV 70, Act III:
• 13 Wagner: Tannhäuser, WWV 70, Act III: O du mein holder Abendstern 04:49
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: La Belle au bois dormant, Op. 66, Act II Scene 10:
• 14 Tchaikovsky: La Belle au bois dormant, Op. 66, Act II Scene 10: Entracte et scène 03:35
• Ambroise Thomas: Hamlet, Act 5:
• 15 Thomas: Hamlet, Act 5: La fatigue alourdit mes pas - Comme une pâle fleur 03:51
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Enchantress, TH 9, Act III:
• 16 Tchaikovsky: The Enchantress, TH 9, Act III: What have I done? 03:53
• Richard Wagner: Lohengrin, WWV 75:
• 17 Wagner: Lohengrin, WWV 75: Prelude 08:59
• Total Runtime 01:10:35

Info for Ferrum Splendidum

Following his Rossini recital (Alpha 791), Florian Sempey shares another of his passions: his enthusiasm for the world of knights and medieval narrative. For him, “a mysterious force emanates from castles and other antique buildings; their ancient stones have always fascinated me.” Ferrum Splendidum (the Latin for ‘Resplendent Metal’) recalls the singer’s ancestors, who were blacksmiths in the Périgord region. Though not following in that family tradition, Sempey concentrated instead on forging and moulding the metal of his brilliant baritone voice. Now a much sought-after opera soloist at the height of his art, he has devised a programme ranging widely through different heroic characters and operas, including Grétry’s Richard the Lionheart, Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas, Meyerbeer’s Le Pardon de Ploërmel, as well as Tchaïkovsky’s opera The Enchantress, Wagner’s Tannhäuser, extracts from Carl Orff’s famous neo-medieval cantata Carmina Burana, and even the premiere recording of a piece by Romain Dumas, Le Chevalier d’Éon, composed in 2019. Once again Florian teams up with the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine and its young maestro Victor Jacob, who was named a ‘Revelation’ in the conductor category at the 2023 Victoires de la musique awards.

Florian Sempey, britone
Yoann le Lan, tenor (tracks 2, 3, 16)
Choeur de l'Opera National de Bordeaux (tracks 7, 9)
Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
Victor Jacob, conductor

Florian Sempey
is a highly sought-after lyric artist with a thriving international career.

His first solo album, “Figaro? Si!”, released in 2022 and recorded with the Orchestre national de Bordeaux under the direction of Marc Minkowski, is devoted to the Rossinian repertoire, the same one that guided his thriving career debut.

To mention just Figaro from The Barber of Seville, his signature role, he has already appeared on the stages of the Opéra de Paris, the Royal Opera House of London, the Pesaro’s Rossini Festival, the Opera di Roma, the New National Theatre of Tokyo, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the National Opera of Bordeaux-Aquitaine, the National Opera of Toulouse, the Opéra de Marseille, the Grand Théâtre du Luxembourg, the Chorégies d'Orange and the Opéra de Saint-Étienne.

He was also invited, among others, at the Opéra de Paris (roles of Papageno, Malatesta, Valentin, Mercutio, Nevers, Dandini, Bellone and Adario), at the Royal Opera House of London (as Marcello), at the Bayerische Staastoper (as Dandini), at the Opera de Cologne (as Enrico), at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (as Hamlet and Alfonse XI), at the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti of Bergame (as Alfonse XI, Belcore and Don Fernand d’Aragon), at the Teatro Real of Madrid (as Dandini and Prosdocimo), at the Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelone (as Guglielmo and Dandini), at the Dutch National Opera of Amsterdam (as Valentin), at the Drottningholms Slottsteater (as the Comte), at the Ravenna Festival (as Guglielmo), at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (as Henri Ashton and Oreste), at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (as Guglielmo), at the Capitole of Toulouse (as Dandini), at the Opéra-Comique de Paris (as Docteur Falke), at the Opéra de Marseille (as Cecil)...

At 21, he made his debut as Papageno at Bordeaux Opera and has since been a regular guest performer there, heard in the roles of Figaro, the Comte, Enrico, Alfonse XI, Zurga or Anténor.

In concert, Florian has collaborated with distinguished orchestras such as Wiener Symphoniker (Berlio’s Lelio ou le retour à la vie) and Berliner Philharmoniker (Haendel’s Apollo e Dafne), the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse (Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen), the NDR Sinfonieorchester (Chausson’s Poème de l'amour et de la mer), the Orchestre National de France (Puccini’s Messa di Gloria), Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France (Lalo’s La Jacquerie), the Orchestre national de Lille (Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de Perles and Escamillo in Carmen), the Orchestre of the Opéra de Paris (Claudio in Béatrice and Bénédict), the Orchestre national Bordeaux-Aquitaine (Ramiro in L'Heure espagnole), and also with ensembles, such as Musiciens du Louvre, the Talens Lyriques, the Concert d’Astrée...

Highlights of his 2024-2025 season include: Valentin (Faust) at Opéra de Paris, Malatesta (Don Pasquale) at Opéra de Zurich, Le Comte (Les Noces de Figaro) at Opéra de Santa Fe, Marcello (La Bohème) and Ramiro (L'Heure espagnole) at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Prosdocimo (Il Turco in Italia) at the Opéra de Lyon, Don Giovanni at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and Fauré's Requiem with the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse.

In 2022, Florian was honoured with formal recognition for his contribution to Opera when the French Government awarded him the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.

Florian Sempey is represented by the agency RSB Artists since 2012.

Booklet for Ferrum Splendidum