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Notes
To celebrate 30 years of the Concert Spirituel, Hervé Niquet pays homage to the French musical patrimony of the 17th and 18th centuries, to whose exploration he remains passionately devoted. In close collaboration of Benoit Dratwicki and the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles – which has also feted its 30th anniversary in 2018 – together they have devised an intriguingly unconventional programme idea. Following the example of Louis XIV who in 1671 asked Lully to create a Ballet of ballets consisting of extracts from the thirty or so ballets that the composer had put on at court, they have conceived An Imaginary Opera, a veritable ‘Opera of Operas’: around thirty extracts, with well-known repertoire alongside rarities – some completely unknown and unpublished – have been put together to create a plot centred around three dramatic archetypes of the period: a princess in love, a witch queen – her rival – and a courageous prince. All the themes of French baroque opera are illustrated in turn, according to the rules of the genre: battle, tempest, sorcery, love duets, religious invocations, and sleep… The virtuoso arias, dazzling ballets and imposing ceremonial choruses are by Lully and Rameau, naturally – but also by Campra, Marais, Bertin de La Doué, Destouches, Stück, Gervais, Colin de Blamont, Rebel, Francœur, Montéclair, Leclair and Dauvergne… Brilliantly brought to life by the very finest of today’s baroque lyric artists, this recording was made at the Opéra Royal de Versailles. And to illustrate the CD of this festive pastiche of a princess, a prince and a witch, what more appropriate than the famous trio from the 1970s series Bewitched, the 254-episode legendary tv classic!
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Reviews
**** (Excellent Album)
Gaelle Le Dantec - Classica magazine (France) - April 2019
"... The three singers are splendid. As the princess, Katherine Watson duets euphoniously with the oboe of Héloise Gaillard in a prayer to Cupid from Bertin de la Doué's Le jugement de Pâris. Karine Deshayes makes a fearsome 'reine magicienne' and Reinoud Van Mechelen shows off the top of his register with no sense of strain in 'Hâtons-nous' from Dardanus. The violins and oboes of Le Concert Spirituel are breathtakingly virtuoso in the storm from Marais's Alcyone. This is an excellent chance to enjoy a beguiling sequence of the (relatively) familiar and the (completely) unknown."
Richard Lawrence - Gramophone magazine - April 2019
Performance **** Recording ****
“… the music stylishly performed by Le Concert Spirituel is often magnificent. Campra provides an exquisite duet for the lovers, ‘Volez, jeune héros’ from Achille et Déidaime… Reinoud van Mechelen is just the kind of high tenor you want in this music …”
Christopher Cook - BBC Music magazine – April 2019
Recommended
"...This recording represents one of the finest recordings of French baroque musical drama that I have heard in a long time."
Stuart Sillitoe – MusicWeb-International.com – 7 March 2019
Media Downloads
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