Le Mensonge de Nina Petrovna

Disques CinéMusique is proud to present the world digital premiere recording of Maurice Jaubert’s score for The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna (Le Mensonge de Nina Petrovna), directed in 1929 by Hanns Schwarz. This romantic drama tells the misfortunes of a couple formed by the mistress ((Brigitte Helm) of an army colonel and a young aspiring officer (Francis Lederer).

Disques CinéMusique is proud to present the world digital premiere recording of Maurice Jaubert’s score for The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna (Le Mensonge de Nina Petrovna), directed in 1929 by Hanns Schwarz. This romantic drama tells the misfortunes of a couple formed by the mistress ((Brigitte Helm) of an army colonel and a young aspiring officer (Francis Lederer).

Maurice Jaubert (1900-1940), who would become the emblematic composer of French cinema in the 1930s, was led to write a symphonic score for this silent feature film very early in his career. The music was performed live during the screening of the film in theatre. In 1987, the Swiss Radio and Television network had the great idea of ​​entrusting musicologist Carlo Piccardi to record Jaubert’s score for The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna. The orchestra is brilliantly conducted by Giorgio Bernasconi.

This is an exceptional opportunity to listen to, in a pristine sound quality, a substantial work by a pioneer who died 80 years ago and whose scoring approach has influenced several generations of European composers. For our album, we have selected 38 minutes of the original score that should most likely appeal to music lovers without the visual support.

Unfortunately the Hanns Schwarz film is still not available on DVD, unlike its 1937 remake by Viktor Tourjansky. However, one can find on YouTube excerpts from a (low resolution) TV broadcast with the musical track under the English title The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna, or the original German title Wunderbare Lüge der Nina Petrowna.

More info at: Disques CinéMusique