June 10, 2014

  • French Baroque Compilation

     

    Les Musiques de Louis XIV du ballet a l’opera
    Luca Pianca, lute; Nicolas Test, bass. Les Talens Lyriques/Christophe Rousset;
    Isabelle Desrochers, Karina Gauvin, Sandrine Rondot, sopranos. Vincent Lecornier, bass. Capriccio Stravagante/Skip Sempe; Cassandra Berthon, Valerie Gabail, soprano. Robert Getchell, contratenor. Jean-Francois Novelli, tenor. Jean Baptiste-Dumora, bass. Ensemble Amarillis/Heloise Gaillard; Emiliano Gonzalez-Toro, tenor. Anders J. Dahlin, countertenor. Salome Haller, dessus. Lausanne Opera Chorus, Les Talens Lyriques/Christophe Rousset; Isabelle Poulenard, soprano. Ensemble Amalia
    Naïve Classics 5197
    Total Time:  71:17
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    Most students of music history tend to spend a great deal of time studying the German and Italian Baroque masters.  Often a cursory nod is given to the French developments of the period of Louis XIV, but for a very long time the music itself tended to take a back seat to other European Baroque music.  As a result, the sound of French Baroque music will sometimes be quite striking to listeners.  The music of Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) is often lifted up, next to that of Jean-Phillipe Rameau, as some of the finest of the period.  It was Lully who developed a unique style of opera, the tragedie lyrique, that grew out of much of his early court music where a blend of ballet, vocal, and instrumental pieces would be often performed together.  The style sometimes feels as if it has one foot very much in the Renaissance, and in some respect is an interesting parallel to the more familiar work of Claudio Monteverdi.  The declamatory recitatives begin to show some specific Baroque flourishes as the period progresses, but the general sound of the music remains unique.  French string writing during this period also lent itself to a sound that is equally unique with often 5 lines working together (rather than a more typical 2 or 3).  Some of these various approaches are on display in this collection of back catalogue recordings.

    The performances here are all of the “period” performance variety from a number of different ensembles and soloists.  Music represented here includes a breakneck-speed of the Roland overture of Lully.  Music from Persee also appears here.  Works by Robert de Visee, Francois Couperin, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Louis-Nicolas Clerambault, and Henry Desmarest also are included.  Sometimes selections from a single work are interspersed throughout the disc, even though the performance forces remain the same and it makes for a rather odd sequencing.  The idea here is that the CD is intending to recreate a court concert with a variety of music performed.  The booklet includes a nice little essay about the period but really nothing to help gain a better appreciation of these works.  Nor are there texts for listeners new to these works to have a bit more guidance.  And so, one simply is best served by sitting back and experiencing the music on its own in mostly fine performances.  Some occasional vocal entrances are slightly off, but this can be excused as dramatic license.  The little ballet segment from Persee provides a good overview of French orchestral dance styles and approaches to the music.

    The bigger issue here is that the disc falls into an odd category with its blend of vocal and instrumental selections.  The orchestral pieces provide great examples of French Baroque music and are quite engaging.  They help to break up some of the vocal selections but with very little context for individual works one cannot gain much more than the simple pleasure of the music itself.  So, while not for the casual listener, the disc can be an introduction of sorts to the period.  Most fascinating is the almost Renaissance-like quality of the dance rhythms, shifts into early modes, and a bit more percussion than some are used to in their Baroque pieces.  This does make the disc a bit more interesting overall.  The recordings are all more “recent” in this 2009 release.