Jean-Philippe Rameau: Platée [HIGHLIGHTS]

Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera Overture [Prologue]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Le Ciel Répand Ici" [Prologue, Scene 1]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Charmant Bacchus, Dieu De La Liberté" [Prologue,
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Chantons Bacchus, Chantons Momus" [Prologue, Scen
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Dieux, Qui Tenez L'Univers" [Act 1, Scene 1]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Que Ce Séjour Eset Agréable" [Act 1, Scene 3]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Quelque Douce Inquiétude" [Act 1, Scene 4]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Dis Donc, Dis Donc Pourquoi" [Act 1, Scene 4]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Déesse Qui Règnez Dans Ces Marais Superbes" [Act
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Quittez, Nymphes, Vos Demeures Profondes" [Act 1,
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Epais Nuages" [Act 1, Scene 6]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera Tambourins [Act 1, Scene 6]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Nymphes, Les Aquilons" [Act 1, Scene 6]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Aquilons Trop Audacieux" [Act 2, Scene 2]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "A L'Aspect De Ce Nuage" [Act 2, Scene 3]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera Air Pour Les Fous Gais Et Tristes [Act 2, Scene 5]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Formons Les Plus Brillants Concerts" [Act 2, Scen
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Je Veux Finir Par Un Coup De Génie"/"Hymen, Hymen
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera Chaconne [Act 3]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Le Tout-Puissant Amour" [Act 3, Scene 4]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera Acts 2 & 3: Eh Fy Votre Espérance"
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Amour, Amour" [Act 3, Scene 4]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera Musette - Passepieds [Act 3, Scene 6]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera Tambourins [Act 3, Scene 6]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski
Platée ou Junon jalouse, opera "Chantez, Platée, Égayez-vous" [Act 3, Scene 6]
Composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Performed by Les Musiciens de Louvre
with Guy de Mey, Caroline de Corbiac, Jennifer Smith, Aline Zylberajch, Gilles Ragon, Guillemette Laurens, Michel Verschaeve, Vincent le Texier, Veronique Gens, Bruno Cocset, Myriam Sosson, Bernard Deletre
Conducted by Marc Minkowski

Jean-Philippe Rameau: Platée [HIGHLIGHTS],Bruno Cocset,Jean-Philippe Rameau,Marc Minkowski,Gilles Ragon,Aline Zylberajch,Les Musiciens du Louvre,Jennifer Smith,Veronique Gens,Bernard Deletre,Caroline de Corbiac,Guillemette Laurens,Guy de Mey,Michel Verschaeve,Myriam Sosson,Vincent LeTexier,Vincent le Texier,Ensemble vocal Françoise Herr,Elektra / Wea,Classical,Classical Music,French Baroque Opera,Opera

Average customer rating:

Sheer Beauty for the Ears
Authenticity can sound great as well!
a little world of baroque sound
Wonderful relaxing music.
-

Casanova

Manufacturer: Hollywood Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Casanova
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride & Prejudice
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Match Point

ASIN: B000BYR9YK
Release Date: 2005-12-20

Tracks:

An Untold Story: Assaggio No.1 In G Minor - Johann Helmich Roman
The Legend Of Casanova: Tambourins I/II From Daro - Jean-Philippe Rameau
I Yield To Love: Cello Concerto No.3 In D Minor - Leonardo Leo
Eternal Damnation: Overture From Les Fetes De Polymnie/Overture From Platee/Overture From Zoroastre - Jean-Philippe Rameau
The Doge's Decree: Concerto In C Major - Antonio Vivaldi
A Venetian Virgin - Alexandre Desplat
San Cremori At Dawn: Concerto In C Major For Harpsicord And Strings - Giovanni Paisiello
A Lover's Duel: Overture From La Madrilena - Vicente Martin Y Soler
A Terrible Mistake: Concerto A 5, Op.9, No.4 - Tomaso Albinoni
A Secret Lover?: Sinfonia From The Opera Farnace - Antonio Vivaldi
Marriage Is A Safe Haven: Concerto A 5, Op.9 No.4 - Tomaso Albinoni
Trailing Guardi: Sonata For Violin And Bassocontinuo, Op.5 No.11 In E Minor - Arcangelo Corelli
The Noble Pig: Concerto Per Quartetto No.8 - Francesco Durante
Paprizzio's Arrival: Concerto A 5, Op.9 No.2 In D Minor - Tomaso Albinoni
Inquisitor Pucci - Alexandre Desplat
: Concerto A 5, Op.9 No.4 - Tomaso Albinoni
A Big Idea: Harpsicord Concerto In B Flat Major - Francesco Durante
A Nom De Plume/Carnivale!: Concerto A 5, Op.9 No.6 In G Major/Bouree From Les Plaisirs Champetres - Tomaso Albinoni
The Plume's Nom Is Casanova! - Sonny Kompanek
Dancing At The Doge's Ball: Riguadon From Water Music Suite, No.3 In G Major/Bouree From Music For Royal Fireworks/Loure From Tafelmusik1 - George Frideric Handel
One Step Closer To Heaven: Concerto A 5, Op.9 No.4 In A Major - Tomaso Albinoni
Casanova's Confession: Sonata Op.5 No.7 In D Minor - Arcangelo Corelli
The Hanging: Violin Concerto 'Il Cimento Dell'Armonia E Dell'INvenzione' Op.8 No.11 In D Major - Antonio Vivaldi
A Great Escape: Overture From Zais/Overture From Nais/Overture From Achante Et Cephise Ou La Sympathie - Jean-Philippe Rameau
My Place Is With Casanova: Overture From Le Temple De La Gloire/Overture From Zais/Sonata For Violin And Bassocontinuo, Op.5 No.7 In D Minor - Arcangelo Corelli
All's Well...:Concerto A 5, Op.9 No.4 In A Major - Tomaso Albinoni

Amazon.com

The action in this tale about the 18th century adventurer and (at least in popular lore) seducer is set in Cassanova's native Venice in the mid-1700s, so it makes sense that the soundtrack would be loaded with Baroque pieces. The Venice-based Tomaso Albinoni is featured prominentaly, along with heavyweights such as Antonio Vivaldi, Jean-Baptiste Rameau, and George Frideric Handel, and lesser-known composers such as Arcangelo Corelli, Francesco Durante, and Alexandre Desplat. Er, actually Desplat is a contemporary French film composer who also released his score for the couldn't-be-more-different Syriana shortly after Casanova came out. Of the two pieces he penned here, "A Venetian Virgin" is in pure Baroque style, while "Inquisitor Pucci" betrays a more modern film-music vibe. Meanwhile, orchestrator Sonny Kompanek rearranged a couple of the tracks and authored the tense "The Plume's Nom Is Casanova," which doesn't sound embarrassing sandwiched between pieces by Albinoni and Handel. Overall, it would have been nice to get longer excerpts from the pieces--many feel chopped into too-small fragments--but the music's innate grace and elegance can't be beat for a period film. Or for any film, really: Vivaldi's Concerto in C Major ("The Doge's Decree") will be familiar to buffs, who will remember it featuring prominently in the Dustin Hoffman-¬Meryl Streep showdown Kramer vs. Kramer back in 1979. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews:

Sheer Beauty for the Ears.......2006-07-25

For those that purchased this CD, I need not get into how masterfully infectious the movie was. After the first viewing, I found it charming, but after the second, I was hooked by the witty, clever story holding fun twists all along the way. So while I could go on and on about the movie and all of its wonderful aspects, the score was simply priceless. Apt in every scene, and all done with incredible baroque music that I had never had the opportunity of hearing before the film.

The disc walks you through the movie with no changes that I could tell from the original score. The only omission I found was that the song dubbed "Casanova's Theme" is played in much greater length in the closing credits, and that didn't seem to make it to the CD. Not a terrible loss.

Authenticity can sound great as well!.......2006-07-11

As an avid baroque music listener and performer, I can attest to the delightfully pleasing performances on the soundtrack as well as the painstakingly accurate performance practices utilized in the recording of this soundtrack.

The producers of this film fortunately went to the trouble of hiring some of the top period performance musician-specialists in the country (perhaps in the entire world) to record the soundtrack to Casanova. I know, because several of them were faculty members of the Oberlin Conservatory Baroque Performance Institute who went AWOL to Hollywood in June 2005 for the recording sessions. We all forgave them, and were actually quite excited that period music performance was having its day on the silver screen.

Do not miss this exquisite potpourri of wonderful baroque composers' works performed as closely as humanly possible to the way that they heard their works during their lifetimes! The film may not have been intended to be historically accurate (part of the fun), but the music certainly ended up that way. Not only that, but it sounds heavenly (unlike Casanova's antics) and up-to-date, not musty and old as if it were sealed in a museum case.

a little world of baroque sound.......2006-02-26

Lots of interesting baroque music unknown to me and
put together in dramatic sequences that add zest and
class to the listening experience. Also wonderful to
play in auto while driving thru boring country or in
slow moving traffic!
This CD will get a lot of play from me.
5 Stars!

Wonderful relaxing music........2006-02-25

Saw the movie and had to have the soundtrack. Great music to relax by. When you need to get away from the cares of the day the classics can't be beat. The producers of this movie certainly chose wonderful music to accompany it.

-.......2006-02-18

Good music but each is too short.
The original version of each may be better.

Rameau - Platée / Ragon, Smith, de Mey, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski

Average customer rating:

Magic Minkowski
Superb entertainment - frogs' chorus and all

Rameau - Platée / Ragon, Smith, de Mey, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski
Veronique Gens , Guillemette Laurens , Guy de Mey , Gilles Ragon , Caroline de Corbiac , and Bruno Cocset
Manufacturer: Wea International
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

Tan Dun - Tea, A Mirror of Soul / Lundy, Fu, Gillet, Richardson, Liang, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Opera
Rameau - Platee / Agnew, Delunsch, Beuron, Naouri, Le Texier, Lamprecht, Minkowski, Paris Opera
Strauss - Daphne / Güden · Wunderlich · King · Little · Schöffler · Böhm
Renée Fleming - Strauss: Daphne
Rameau: Les Indes Galantes

ASIN: B000009IU9
Release Date: 1992-01-27

Customer Reviews:

Magic Minkowski.......2003-08-23

It seems that Marc Minkowski and his Ensemble Vocal Francoise Herr accompanied by Les Musiciens Du Louvre are incapable of putting on a poor performance. If you have a penchant for Rameau, this recording is one of Minkowski"s best. The soloists are all superb and the music inspired The ensembles are a particular delight. Well recorded.

Superb entertainment - frogs' chorus and all.......2003-07-13

Even the most committed Rameau addict may admit that some of his (mythological, pastoral, supernatural, etc.) plots are less than gripping for today's audiences, however richly he served them in musical terms. Platée, however, is a wicked comedy that has kept its bite, and that Rameau appears particularly to have relished setting to music. It has in abundance everything that's most engaging in this most engaging of composers: invention, colour, pathos, wit, charm and surprise.

Marc Minkowski seems to have something of a Midas touch. He has given us some of the best available performances of Händel and Rameau and - who knows, prompted perhaps by the sending-up of Olympus in Platée - has gone on since to give us an excellent Belle Hélène, indeed with one or two of the same singers in a successful new take on "crossover."

Tracks:

Ouverture
Scene Funebre
Air Tendre
Tambourins I & II
Air Tendre Pour Les Muses
Contredanse
Air Gracieux
Gavottes I & II
Orage
Prelude
La Poule
Musette
Ritournelle
Riguadons I & II
Danse Des Sauvages
Entre De Polymnie
Chaconne

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding and different Rameau.......2007-07-31

I am not sure if Minkowski put more his strong personality on it, it sounds with colorful voice around and looks so individually. However, it doesn't mean I don't like it. By contraries, it's so beautiful for me to forget any doubt its original. I must pick up to describe, the *Les Boréades (Abaris), tragédie en musique*, its tempo is slower than other version, but so romantic to attract me to listen again and again. Besides, Minkowski shows strong rhythm expression, to listeners enjoy a good experience of Rameau. I put it into the one of my best collection.

Love it!.......2006-11-10

Love it, love it, love it. Have not stopped playing it since it arrived and haven't gotten sick of it yet either. I bought it because I heard just one track briefly on the radio - bit of a gamble but it paid off. Great to drive to! Love the fast violin playing and the french horns. Rameau was one cool dude. Can't wait to share it with my dad. Am even wondering if I could wire the garage for sound so we can listen to Rameau while working there over Christmas! (Sorry this is not a high brow, classical music critic kind of review with lots of technical observations - I'm just a passionate classical music lover speaking from the heart).

Fantastic!.......2006-07-15

Great,I heard this piece on ABC Classic fm yesterday,the 14th of July....Amazon is a day late.Thank you to the programmer,they often use the savage dance as a theme.I must have this CD the thumping tympani and the tambourine really brightens up my day.I didn't even know there was a fugal bassoon movement!
The true french baroque is far better than any thing Handel could wright or borrow.Vivre Rameau!Beautifully played by all,the tempo and ornamentation's are perfect in all parts.Vivre Les Musciens du Louvre!Vivre Motorola for having a camera on their phones so I don't have to remember how to spell in french.
I do not work for any party mentioned.

Rameau, Minkowski: an intelligent concert!.......2006-04-14

Minkowki dedicated this album to his father, Dr. Alexandre Minkowski. The symphony imaginaire recorded live, is for him a personal intimate selection. This is intelligent, sensitive and extremely well played music by Rameau.
I stumbled upon this recording after being impressed by the last Bartoli recording with Les Musiciens du Louvre. Happy me!
The SACD is worth it.

A beautiful bit of late Baroque Color.......2005-09-12

I plan to give copies of this CD to my friends whose musical taste froze 35 years ago and who think of Baroque music as just so much "sewing machine music". Rameau was an imaginative instrumental colorist, and these dance pieces, taken from several of his operas and ballets, show him at his best in that regard.
While the conceit of calling this a "symphony" may seem strange, the pieces are arranged to form a nice sequence and, most importantly, are engagingly played by this early music ensemble. The interpretation is lively and the playing stylish. The sonics are detailed without being analytical.
I would recommend this to anyone as an introduction to the joys of French Baroque, but would encourage a follow-up purchase of one of the full operas.

Average customer rating:

Utter enchantment

Rameau: Ballet Suites

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

Rameau: Orchestral Suites (vol. 1)
Rameau: Anacréon; Daphnis et Eglé
Rameau - Les Indes Galantes, Suites d'orchestre / La Chapelle Royale · Herreweghe
Rameau: Une Symphonie Imaginaire
Rameau: Harpsichord Music (Complete), Vol. 1

ASIN: B000AMMSLC
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Tracks:

Ouverture
Air Pantomime
Air De Ballet
Orage
Air Pour Des Fous Gais Et Des Fous Tristes
Menuets I & II
Rigaudons I & II
Ouverture
Les Differents Caracteres De La Danse (Gracieusement, Air Tres Lent, Gavotte Lent, Menuet, Gavotte Gaie, Chaconne Vive, Loure Tres Grave, Passepiet Vif, Rigaudon Vif)
Sarabande Pour La Statue/Tambourin (For Et Vite)
Marche
Pantomime Niaise Et Un Peu Lente/Deuxieme Pantomime Tres Vite
Air Gracieux Et Gai Et Contredanse
Ouverture
Marche Pour Les Differentes Nations
Menuet
Tambourins I & II
Rigudons I & II
Entree D'Iphise
Air Gay En Rondeau
Menuets I & II
Tambourins III & IV
Sommeil De Dardanus
Chaconne

Customer Reviews:

Utter enchantment.......2005-11-01

I bought this CD three weeks ago in Melbourne and I have been playing almost every day ever since. I have many recordings of Rameau's operas and orchestral music and I bought this one out of sheer curiosity. I assumed it would be an attractive recording and I hoped it would have some nice surprises in store for me.

I was more than pleasantly surprised, I was/am utterly enchanted by this wonderful recording by the European Union Baroque Orchestra. Perhaps it is Roy Goodman's direction? Perhaps it is the fact that this band consists of young and enthusiastic musicians?

The music is, of course, all very exciting and beautiful - it is the great genius Jean-Philippe Rameau we're talking about here! The orchestra is not too large and not too small.

The music is played with great style, feeling and expressiveness. The rhythmic aspects of Rameau's music are brought out in a very tasteful and potent way.

Further evidence of the fact that Rameau is THE MAN! - and a very good debut on NAXOS from the European Union Baroque Orchestra. I hope we see many more recordings of this nature from this ensemble. More Rameau would be nice.

I would like to warmly recommend this delightful current recording to all music lovers.

Average customer rating:

Nocturne Voices

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

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Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Rameau: Règne Amour - Love Songs from the Operas

Average customer rating:

The beauty and grace of French Baroque Opera
A beautiful addition to any baroque music-lover's collection
Good, but I would have cut back on the instrumental movements
A Beautiful Introduction to Rameau's Operas
Excellent introduction to Rameau

Rameau: Règne Amour - Love Songs from the Operas

Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Tragédiennes
Cecilia Bartoli ~ Opera Proibita (Handel · Scarlatti · Caldara) / Les Musiciens du Louvre · Minkowski

ASIN: B0001ZXMNQ
Release Date: 2004-06-08

Customer Reviews:

The beauty and grace of French Baroque Opera.......2007-04-29

I hadn't heard of Carolyn Sampson before I bought this CD, and since there aren't any sample tracks for this CD, I was sort of going out on a limb when I bought this CD...but I wanted a Rameau aria CD badly, so I decided just to go ahead and buy it. One of the best buys I ever made. Carolyn Sampson's voice is not the typical colorless, vibratoless, dull voice that you sometimes get with a baroque recital. Instead her voice has radiance, resplendence, and resonance. She has a quick, fluttery, but even vibrato, which is ideal for these arias. But she doesn't use her vibrato on every tone...for example, sometimes she will hit and sustain and crescendo on a note in her upper register without using any vibrato at all and it is one of the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard come out of the human throat. She has a very agile voice, which every singer who attempts any kind of baroque singing should have. Her runs are clean and precise. Her voice is "french" sounding, but it isn't weak or limp...it has a considerable amount of power, and she wields it with an enviable amount of professionalism. The music, of course, is sheer beauty and elegance. I'll take any one of Rameau's simple, lovely melodies over the heavy, dramatic "screamo" arias of Wagner or Verdi. The CD's sound quality is crystal clear. The Ex Cathedra Chorus and Orchestra deliver Rameau's music beautifully and effortlessly. This disc deserves to be played only in your finest stereo.

P.S. Track 17 was recently featured in the 2006 movie "Marie Antoinette"...It's one of my personal fav's :-)

A beautiful addition to any baroque music-lover's collection.......2007-03-03

The lovely voice of Carolyn Sampson is well suited to the truly gorgeous music of Rameau, of which a nice selection is included on this CD. The music itself poses no difficulty for Ms Sampson, and she negotiates the elegant lines and tuplet-endowed sections, along with the intrinsic embellishments of the arias, with ease.

There are many beautiful things in the CD, and for the sheer loveliness of the voice, what a pleasure it is to hear.

As the previous reviewer mentioned, there is a bit of cross-over between this and the delicious "Airs baroque français" by Patricia Petibon - and that is an album I strongly recommend in addition to this. I do personally prefer Petibon's recording, although this CD by Ms Sampson is also charming.

There are a number of reasons for that. Firstly, Petibon is French, and she sings (of course) in perfect French. Ms Sampson's French does not sound entirely French (however, most listeners won't be worried by this). Secondly, Patricia Petibon's understanding of the language also enables her to paint the words and music to convey meaning to an extent that is not equalled by Carolyn Sampson. Again, this won't matter a great deal to most listeners who will primarily be ravished by the lovely sounds of Carolyn Sampson's singing. Thirdly, it's true that there are quite a few purely instrumental pieces on this recording. Not that I particularly object... I love both Rameau's vocal music and his instrumental music, but in general when one purchases a vocal recital album, that's what one wants - a vocal recital.

The differences between the two singers' approach is exemplified mostly in the arias which are sung by each - that is, Rameau's "Soleil, fois de ces lieux !" and "Formons les plus brillants concerts... Aux langeurs d'Apollon". There is more "coeur" in Petibon's singing, but Ms Sampson offers her own attractions in her singing, of course. It's the lovely clarity of her voice that will appeal - it's a light and well-focused soprano timbre with considerable agility and a beautiful evenness throughout the range.

I enjoyed this album very much, and Carolyn Sampson's fresh and shining voice is extremely attractive to listen to. I have listened with pleasure to almost everything this very gifted singer has recorded, and she is certainly a singer whose recordings are worth collecting.

Recommended.

Good, but I would have cut back on the instrumental movements.......2006-09-18

I like this CD a lot and I have listened to it many times since I bought it. Carolyn Sampson has a fine soprano voice and a great vocal technique. I have enjoyed her singing for some time and her contributions to the King's Consort recordings of cantatas by Kuhnau, Zelenka, Knüpfer and Schelle were highlights for me.

I have few complaints about this disc, but I would have liked a few more vocal works and slightly less instrumental movements from the operas. However, as a "walk through" Jean-Philippe Rameau's operas, this CD is first class. There are so many Handelians around these days, endlessly singing the praises of the "Beloved Saxon", it is easy to forget that Rameau was easily as great as Handel in most areas and he certainly was a much more imaginative and skilled composer of orchestral music than his British-based peer. Whenever Handel had more instruments at his disposal, what did he do? He had the extra instruments play in unison with existing musical lines.
I digress.

I also have Patricia Petibon's incredible "Virtuoso French Baroque Opera Arias" CD, which is, in my opinion, utterly beyond any serious criticism. I was eager to compare Ms Sampson's interpretations with Mademoiselle Petibon's slightly older recording. Carolyn Sampson does well, however, in "Aux langueurs d'Apollon", it is clear to me that she just can't touch Patricia Petibon in realm of imagination, characterisation, wit and style. Sampson's La Folie seems to be polite and charming - as opposed to Petibon's La Folie, who really is quite mad.

Sampson does use more vibrato than Petibon, who uses virtually none. Listeners who aren't attracted to HIP interpretations of Baroque music will probably thus favour Sampson's interpretations over Petibon's.

Carolyn Sampson's interpretations of the slower and less extrovert arias are very good indeed. Her "Soleil, fuis de ces lieux" is very attractive and not inferior to Petibon's in any way. I just wish someone had brought the great aria "Triste apprêts, pâles flambeaux" from Castor et Pollux to her attention. Ms Sampson would have done something very nice with that great Baroque aria.

I love this CD and it makes for some great listening. Needless to say, the experience of Patricia Petibon in French Baroque opera gives her a considerable edge, but Sampson's is a highly worthy recording.

A Beautiful Introduction to Rameau's Operas.......2006-04-25

I had the pleasure of hearing high tenor Jean-Pierre Fouchard and the Opera LaFayette perform a recital of Rameau's operatic music during a snowy February afternoon concert at the University of Maryland. I wanted to hear more Rameau opera and found this excellent CD with a program similar to the one I heard live, but for a soprano voice. This CD on Hyperion, "Love Songs from the Operas" features soprano Carolyn Sampson and Jeffry Skidmore conducting the choir and orchestra of Ex Cathedra, an English early music ensemble, similar to the Opera LaFayette of my own home town, that performs in period style on period instruments. The CD is a wonderful way to get to know Rameau.

Jean-Phillipe Rameau (1687 -- 1764) began composing operas at the age of 50. (Together with his near-contemporary, Domenico Scarlatti, Rameau shows there is hope yet for us late-bloomers)
With their emotional passion, harmonic daring, and unmistakable rhythms, Rameau initiated a new age in French opera. A figure of the Enlightenment in music, Rameau went far towards initiating the classical style of Gluck and Mozart. French opera during Rameau's time was largely a mixture of dramatic stage material and musical interludes known as divertissiments. Thus, his musical accomplishment can legitimately be approached by a selection from his various operas, as offered on this CD and in the live performance I mentioned above.

Sampson and Skidmore offer selections from seven Rameau operas, including his first opera Hipolyte et Acis of 1733, and including as well Les Indes galantes, Les Paladin, Plate, Zoroastre, Dardanus, and Pygmalion. Many of the works include collections of musical interludes from the divertissiments, while others are solo selections. There is a great variety of music on the recording, including a surprising amount of comedy material and, in Platee, Rameau's satire of the florid, melismatic style of Italian opera. Much of appeal of Rameau's music results from the interplay between simple melodic lyricism and the variety of his orchestration, particularly for winds. Flute, oboe, bassoon, and percussion are all well in evidence here. I particularly enjoyed some of the slower more serious ariettes, including "Soleil fuis du ces lieux" from Plate and "Regne Amour" from Zoroastre. Several of the selections show the origins of French baroque music in the dance and feature lively orchestral introductions followed by solos. There are two fine examples in the opening divertissiment from Les Indes Gallantes. Strongly structured and rhythmic orchestral interludes are offered in "Tambourin" from Dardanus and in the minuet and rondo from "Les Indes Gallantes." And the choir is featured in selections from Plate. But Ms Sampson's clear, passionate, and idiomatic soprano remains the chief attraction of this CD.

In his study, "French Baroque Music", James Anthony observed (p. 129) that "In terms of musical statement, there is no question but that [Rameau] is the greatest composer of the French eighteenth century; there is also no question that, among all the first line composers of that century of giants, he is the one least appreciated today." For those who lack the good fortune I had in hearing a live recital of Rameau, this CD provides an introduction to the beauty and power of his operatic music.

I am pleased that this CD has already attracted the attention of two excellent and thoughtful reviewers.

Robin Friedman

Excellent introduction to Rameau.......2006-01-09

I just want to add a few comments on this disc, which has already been very well reviewed: I've enjoyed some of Rameau's keyboard music, but can't say I've been thoroughly captured by his operas. This disc proved to be an excellent exploration of Rameau's vocal music, and I highly recommend it. Carolyn Sampson has a light, fresh voice with great appeal. The selections include pieces from several of the lesser-known operas that are real gems, along with more well-known items (within the Rameau orbit, which is arguably underappreciated). The accompaniment, by Jeffrey Skidmore and Ex Cathedra, is superb--delicate when required, or bustling along, but never intrusive, and lacking that "Original Instruments" edginess that some of us find irritating at times. The sound is typical Hyperion--first rate, if slightly recessed.

If you have any interest in this repertoire, but haven't found the right place to dive in, this ought to do the job.

Rameau - Overtures / Christophe Rousset, Les talens lyriques

Average customer rating:

Unexpectedly 'new' Style
A great walk-through Rameau's ouvertures
Cold heat
A constant pleasure
excellent

Rameau - Overtures / Christophe Rousset, Les talens lyriques
Jean-Philippe Rameau , Les talens lyriques , and Christophe Rousset
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000004CYY
Release Date: 1997-07-15

Tracks:

Ouvertures: Les Fetes de Polymnie
Ouvertures: Les Indes galantes
Ouvertures: Zais
Ouvertures: Castor et Pollux
Ouvertures: Nais
Ouvertures: Platee
Ouvertures: Les Talens lyriques (Les Fetes d'Hebe)
Ouvertures: Zoroastre
Ouvertures: Dardanus
Ouvertures: Les Paladins
Ouvertures: Hippolyte et Aricie
Ouvertures: Le Temple de la Gloire
Ouvertures: Pigmalion
Ouvertures: Les Surprises de l'Amour - Prologue (Le Retour d'Astree)
Ouvertures: Les Fetes de l'Hymen de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Egypte
Ouvertures: Les Surprises de l'Amour - Acte I (L'Enlevement d'Adonis)
Ouvertures: Acante et Cephise, ou La Sympathie

Amazon.com essential recording

Rameau waited until he was nearly 50 before writing his first opera, but after that there was no holding him back. One of the great masters of the Baroque orchestra (if not the greatest), he wrote overtures to theater works that call on a lavish array of instruments and use them all with an extraordinary feel for color and style. Although he was the major musical theorist of his day, Rameau's works sound wholly fresh and spontaneous, with numerous surprising twists and turns of phrase where you least expect them. Christophe Rousset leads his enthusiastic band of authentic instrument players in performances that will enchant all Baroque music fans. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Unexpectedly 'new' Style.......2007-01-20

I am not very familiar wiht Jean-Philippe Rameau's music, so when I looked at his dates, I expected something which sounded a lot like Henry Purcell. I was quite taken aback when the music I heard was nowhere near as wooden or 'mannered' as Purcell's work, almost all of which sounds like another version of the piece used as the theme to Masterpiece theatre.

The greatest surprise was saved until the end, with the Overture to 'Acante et Cephise, ou La Sympathie'. The surprising tympany accents made it sound positively 19th century, and the fluid strings supported that notion. It almost sounds as if Rameau skipped right over Mozart to Beethoven. Of course, Rameau is not nearly as delicate or sweet as Mozart, but this is still a welcome gift from the 18th century.

A great walk-through Rameau's ouvertures.......2006-09-10

Jean-Philippe Rameau was certainly a vastly greater composer of orchestral music than Handel, that's for sure!

This excellent and beguiling collection of ouvertures is nearly complete, as far as I can tell - very few of the opera ouvertures Rameau wrote are not here. The performances are first class colourful and alive. There are those delicate and expressive moments we come to expect from a French Baroque composer, movements of great energy and the occasional fiery manifestations of "Sturm und Drang", too. Rameau's earliest ouvertures, Hippolyte et Aricie and Les Indes Galantes, show us a fully formed composer at the height of his powers - those powers only seemed to increase through Rameau's operatic career and his most daring, adventurous and fresh music composed in his old age.

Unlike Handel's ouvertures, which usually features oboes, bassoon, strings and basso continuo, Jean-Philippe Rameau used an orchestra sometimes featuring: piccolo, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, timpani, percussion and string orchestra - in fact an orchestra larger and more diverse than anything normally available to Franz Joseph Haydn or W. A. Mozart.

I have listened to this album many times since I first bought it and it always a delight to return to it. It can be "dipped into" or listened to in its entirety.

I hope Christophe Rousset and his talented Les Talens Lyriques eventually records some complete opera of Rameau for CD or DVD. Rousset's Monteverdi "L'incoronazione di Poppea" DVD is excellent and possibly the best DVD recording of that work currently available.

Cold heat.......2002-09-08

The French Baroque Roccoco School of music has suffered in comparison to the most vibrant Italian competition, or Bach and Handel dexterity and brilliance, not to mention soul enhancing character of their works. That is unfortunate since some of the graduates of that French period like Rameau have a record that is far from insignificant. But Rameau wrote for a public that liked mental games, was more subdued and courtly. The fire had to be contained. But the intelligence and brilliance did not have to be contained. If you want to be convinced of this, do yourself a favor and get this record. I will warn you, you might need to listen to it a few times, to let it grow on you, but next thing you know you might be purchasing some of these great operas. Oh! And the quality of the recording is impeccable, though a little bit low for my taste.

A constant pleasure.......2000-12-14

A collection of overtures to operas written by a Baroque composer whose name is well known but whose music is lesser known may not be high on everyone's 'want' list, but I urge you to take a chance on this CD. I obtained this disc as part of a 15-free-CDs introductory offer to a mail order CD club but it has turned out to be a pleasant surprise. This is music that seems to get better the more you hear it and ruminate over it afterward. Rameau is obviously a composer of considerable ingenuity and resource. These ouvertures positively bubble with effervescence and there is a refreshing lack of sameness among them. The period instrument group Les Talens Lyrique (named after one of the ouvertures on this CD) are obviously enthusiastic about this music and their playing is a joy. There is an appealing, analogue-like warmth about the recording, too.

excellent.......2000-12-08

My favorite CD in my collection, but I lost the disc so I have to order a new copy!

Rameau: Une Symphonie imaginaire [Hybrid SACD]

Average customer rating:

RAMEAU - MINKOWSKI & Les Musiciens du Louvre: sur le Ouvre posthume

Rameau: Une Symphonie imaginaire [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Archiv Produktion
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00083FYQE
Release Date: 2005-07-12

Customer Reviews:

RAMEAU - MINKOWSKI & Les Musiciens du Louvre: sur le Ouvre posthume.......2006-12-28

Before Rameau (1683-1764) there was instrumentation; after Rameau, there was orchestration. Then came Mozart, Beethoven, von Weber, Berlioz, Fry, Lizts, Gottschalk, Wagner, Lèfébure-Wélly, Franck, Bruckner, Mahler, and the rest is part of the world's music history.

In the beginning, Rameau was an expert organist intensely interested with the exploration of new instrumental possibilities in music which he had already explored with organ music both as an instrumentalist and composer. He treated the organ as a great symphonic instrument rather than a polyphonic instrument. What we have here is what we call now "homophonic" music. He was not the only one to enter this form of thinking and composing; indeed there were others, but that does not take any away from his enormous accomplishments and advances in music theory.

Rameau was throughly contemporary with François Couperin Le Grand (1668-1733), Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), Giussepe Tartini (1692-1770), Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) and many other very well known composers of the early and mid 1700's. There is no doubt that for the most part all of the above knew in great detail about each other's whereabouts and current musical developments; assimilation of each other's theoretical and compositional ideas and forms was a widely accepted practice during that time period.

Rameau as a matter of fact did not discover anything whether in music and/or instrumental sound acoustics but formally stated sound and acoustic "combinations" which if and when executed by composer and instrumentalists added to the clarity of the whole.

As our old friend Mr. Plato (428-347 BC) remarked (I hope more than once), the foundation of anything in this universe (music included) in itself is indifferent to the existence of our universe. Indeed, indifferent to our minds and evanescent existence. Put it another way, music would exist even if musicians and/or we the listeners did not. I know this could be a debatable philosophical point for some but that's a theme for another discussion somewhere else.

With his compositions Rameau explored first at the organ and then with opera, ballet and overtures orchestral and musical methods, and acoustic forms which in the end provided other musicians/composers in general with highly idealized representations of the real world, whatever the real world of acoustics in reality can be said to be.

There is so much music (of all kinds), and composers which to this date knowingly or not, having adopted and assimilated Rameau's dictums have achieved such a mastery of acoustic "combinations" with effects of space, sonority, tone placement, antiphony, echo, silence, etc., etc, that have made this a wonderful world. One that Rameau re-discovered and which now-a-days is an integral and essential part of recognized music theory.

Rameau wrote a number of "treatises" and books on music theory; the two most important are "Traité de l'harmonie" and "Gènération harmonique." In these two studies he described or "explicated" exhaustively all known to him blends of timbres/tones, space and reverberation combinations; to this day no musician could do without them! His main point was that melody and harmony are not independent of each other. These musical combinations were known by many, but Rameau was the first to write about them and put them to practice in a formal fashion - again - as far as we know now.

I may add here that organists in general knew what Rameau knew; organistis knew very well how to score and employ acoustics and concomitant specific reverberation times and silences to obtain desired sound effects with their organ compositions. J.S. Bach was a master of this technique incidentally. It was and still is part of every good organist to "have the knowledge" and the skills to partake with organ music in such way; we also intuitively know when an organist is not for whatever reason applying these acoustic principles during a performance, generally to everybody's dislike.

We must add here that Archangelo Corelli, Giuseppe Tartini and J.S. Bach for example scored "in scordatura" for string instruments, especially for viola da gambas but also for violins. Scoring "in scordatura" basically produces the same acoustical effects and results as those organists obtained with their organs;"in scordatura" in plain musical language means "mis-tuning." Scoring in this manner was a common practice during the 1600 and 1700's because it produced acoustical effects of the desired kind, that is, natural sound effects.

Never-the-less, Rameau was apparently the first one to write and compose music following "natural" sound combinations without the need for scordatura. This is Rameau's legacy for the ages.

He was (again, probably) the first to describe, justify and explain harmonic practice in music whithin a coherent system derived from the "nature" of sounds. It had been there all the time and Rameau just "nurtured" the idea. Again, we have here another example of "nature" and "nurture." Remember Mr. Plato's dictum?

Very few composers before Rameau had conciously exposed and/or utilized that knowledge aside for the ocassional "in scordatura." We must resort here to Nikolaus Harnoncourt's "The Musical Dialogue - Thoughts on Monteverdi, Bach and Mozart" and Paul Bekker's "The Orchestra" to fully understand the inner works of this process. I highly recommend lecture of these two capital books as well as Dr. Philip Gossett's English translation of Rameau's "Traité de l'harmonie."

With this SACD Marc Minkowski and his Les Musiciens de Louvre amply succeed in the representation of Rameau's orchestral music.

Rameau never wrote a symphony as such; let's consider that for a moment. At about the same time J.S. Bach was calling some of his compositions "Symphonias", but it was not ultil his son Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach (1714-1788) threw away the traditional polyphonic media (instrumentation) or subordinated them to the dominant idea of harmonic development that a "formal" symphonic form appeared; we call this "homophonic" music incidentally.

There were no symphonies until that time (C.P.E. Bach's time) but only "concertos" of the "grosso" kind. Concerti grossi (Italian for big concerts) were a popular form of Baroque music whereby an orchestra ensemble passed musical material between an small group of soloists (the concertino) and the full orchestra (the ripieno).

That's the main reason for the added title to this SACD: "...un symphonie imaginaire." This SACD is about symphonies; symphonies which were never formally scored by Rameau. We are asked here and now to think about this music as being an imaginary symphony...or pieces of symphonies, or opera...ballets. Indeed not an easy proposition but, just after the first few bars of the the first track we realize that Rameau had a new perspective in music; his music was all about orchestration.

Did Minkowski and his group succeed in their mission? Obviously the answer is a resounding yes! Minkowski and his musicians created these imaginary symphonies out of some orchestral music originally written for operas and ballets, and some specific overtures. These were orchestral parts composed during the last thirty years of Ramaeau's life. Previously he had only composed keyboard music mostly for organs.

Presently, the question might be as follows: where do we begin with this SACD?

The instruments: the instruments are all original period instruments
and tuned to a prevalent a'= 415 Hz (so it's stated in the notes and my chromatic tuner corroborates exactly that) and that's very different than today's a'= ~ 440 Hz. The instrument's sound in this recording is different, totally different, and the tuning of the strings bespeaks well of the mastery of this orchestra's players. Remarkable, it's all I can say!

Minkowski, the conductor. There is no doubt in my mind that he, along with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Andrew Manze, is the dominant figure in Baroque music at the present time. You can not do better than this or these if we include the other two conductors.

The musicians. What can I say about them? That they have perfect pitch? Yes. That they play all the notes? Yes. That their string instruments had to be re-strung to a'= 415 Hz instead of playing "in scordatura"? I think so. Can they play in harmony? This is a great rendition of musical harmony at it's purest form.

I think Rameau with this music and specially it's orchestration showed to the future the shape of things to come. This was the beginning of the end of the Baroque and the start of a new era.

There are no words that could possibly describe the level of excellence which is achieved in this and the other Baroque recordings this conductor and musical group have been involved with. We do know this is the normal state of affairs with Minkowski and the musicians that subordinate to him. This is absolutely perfect.

The sound, again, Archiv has produced another SACD reference recording. It's a true 5.1 DTS recording which means the sound will be coming out of six speakers if played in an SACD player. The total surround sound is as real as one could get and much better and more realistic than the same version in just plain stereo. In my opinion the SACD is far superior than the stereo version.

I would not hesitate for a moment in recommending this SACD or any other that Minkowski and his musicians throw at us. Please hit us again and again with recordings of this caliber.

FINAL WORDS: B U Y I T - NOW.

Gretry, Rameau, Gluck, Purcell: Ballet Suites

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Gretry, Rameau, Gluck, Purcell: Ballet Suites

Manufacturer: Vanguard Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000IGO9
Release Date: 1999-03-23

Tracks:

Ballet Suite From Cephale et Procris: Tambourin
Ballet Suite From Cephale et Procris: Menuetto (Les Nymphes de Diane)
Ballet Suite From Cephale et Procris: Gigue
Ballet Suite: Menuet From Platee
Ballet Suite: Musette From Fetes d'Hebe
Ballet Suite: Tambourin From Fetes d'Hebe
Ballet Suite I: Introduction From Don Juan, Air gai And Lento From Iphigenie en Aulide
Ballet Suite I: Dance Of The Blessed Spirits From Orfeo ed Euridice
Ballet Suite I: Musette From Armide
Ballet Suite I: Air Gia From Iphigenie en Aulide; Sicilienne From Armide
Ballet Suite II: March From Alceste
Ballet Suite II: Menuet From Iphigenie en Aulide
Ballet Suite II: Grazioso From Paride ed Elena
Ballet Suite II: Dances Of The Slaves
Abdelazer Suite, Or The Moor's Revenge: Overture
Abdelazer Suite, Or The Moor's Revenge: Rondeau
Abdelazer Suite, Or The Moor's Revenge: Air
Abdelazer Suite, Or The Moor's Revenge: Air
Abdelazer Suite, Or The Moor's Revenge: Minuet
Abdelazer Suite, Or The Moor's Revenge: Air
Abdelazer Suite, Or The Moor's Revenge: Jig
Abdelazer Suite, Or The Moor's Revenge: Hornpipe
Abdelazer Suite, Or The Moor's Revenge: Air

Patricia Petibon ~ French baroque arias (Rameau, Lully, Charpentier, Grandval) / Les Folies Françoises, Cohen-Akenin

Average customer rating:

Man, That woman really can sing !
Delicious singing, gorgeous music... this is a must-have.
I would give this CD seven stars if I could!
Perfect!
Affect and early music performance

Patricia Petibon ~ French baroque arias (Rameau, Lully, Charpentier, Grandval) / Les Folies Françoises, Cohen-Akenin
Jean-Philippe Rameau , Marc-Antoine Charpentier , Jean-Baptiste Lully , Nicolas Racot de Grandval , Patrick Cohen-Akenine , Patricia Petibon , and Les Folies Françoises
Manufacturer: Virgin Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Arias | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Sandrine Piau - Handel Opera Seria
Vivaldi Edition: Arie d'Opera
Tragédiennes
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ASIN: B00005IA1U
Release Date: 2002-02-12

Tracks:

Platee: Air De Clarine: Soleil, Fuis De Ces Lieux
Les Fetes De L'Hymen Et De L'Amour: Ariette De L'Amour: Volez, Plaisirs, Celebrez Ce Beau Jour
Les Fetes De L'Hymen Et De L'Amour: Entree Des Egyptiens
Les Fetes De L'Hymen Et De L'Amour: Ariette De L'Egyptienne: L'Amant Que J'Adore
Les Fetes De L'Hymen Et De L'Amour: Ariette De L'Egyptienne: Amour, Lance Tes Traits
Platee: Air De Folie: Formones Les Plus Brillants Conc...Aux Langueurs D'Apollon
David Et Jonathas: A-t-on Jamais Souffert Une Plus Rude Peine?
Armide: Prld/Armide: Enfin, Il Est En Ma Puissance
Armide: Le Perfide Renaud Me Fuit
Les Indes Galantes: Air De Phani: Viens, Hymen
Les Indes Galantes: Air De Zima: Regnez, Plaisirs Et Jeux
Les Indes Galantes: Chaconne
Rien Du Tout

Amazon.com

This program of scenes and arias by Rameau, Charpentier, Lully, and Grandval is well designed to display Patricia Petibon's consummate vocal technique and historically informed artistry. Her florid coloratura, going up to high D- and E-flat (in the low period-instrument tuning) is clearly articulated and perfectly in tune. She can change color, nuance, and expression on a single note, and her mastery of the style is complete. She captures the seriousness as well as the humor in Rameau's two cantatas, the sorrow of Jonathan's lamentation in Charpentier's "David and Jonathan," the vacillation between reluctant attraction and furious vengeance in Lully's dramatic scene "Armide," and the rollicking fun in the final tour-de-force, Grandval's "Rien du tout"--a wicked parody of all singers and singing styles.

The voice itself takes some getting used to. In keeping with period practice, it is mostly lacking vibrato and so cool and bright as to seem shrill and strident. In the Lully, however, it becomes warmer, darker, and truly expressive. A large group of strings, winds, and percussion supports her splendidly, sometimes with only one or two instruments, sometimes with full orchestral effects that set the stage and underline mood and atmosphere. The musicians come into their own in the numerous instrumental sections, which are played with great verve, rhythmic incisiveness, character, and a wonderful sound. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Man, That woman really can sing !.......2006-11-09

In addition to Veronique Gens that is..........

Delicious singing, gorgeous music... this is a must-have........2004-04-30

Fine champagne fizzing from a French goblet... exquisite use of flirtation's fan behind cocquettish eyes... bitter-sweet laments and sighs over love and life... all with unmistakable French style and elegance. This is how Patricia Petibon has conveyed her performances of these fine baroque French arias.

As a fellow soprano specialising both in early music and other later classical vocal styles, I am extremely fastidious in my likes and dislikes when it comes to singers. When, therefore, I find a singer whose voice, intelligence and musicality produce ravishing quality like this, I am in alt...

In contrast to some of the comments here, I do not find Ms Petibon's voice shrill or white (except when she uses it so deliberately in order to create a particular emotional or stylistic effect). On the contrary, it is of a crystalline purity which she is able to tinge with warmer colours when necessary. I was hugely impressed by this recording, a worthy follow-up to the unbelievably beautiful recording of the Couperin Leçons de tènèbres which was sung by Petibon and Sophie Daneman.

What a sense of fun Patricia Petibon has! It's marvellous to hear baroque music performed with such stylish humour and grace, instead of the tediously uninterpreted choir-boy style which is considered by some to be the "correct" way of singing this type of aria. I listened with particular closeness to the arias from "Armide", which I had just performed myself - and was enchanted by Petibon's singing of them. Even though her voice is light in colour, she is perfectly adept at conveying vengeful hatred, despairing love, and a right royal snarling bad humour!

The accompanying instruments are taut, graceful, and beautifully recorded. The result is a treat to hear.

This CD is most highly recommended by me - and believe me, sopranos are tough critics of each other...!

I would give this CD seven stars if I could!.......2004-04-24

The beautiful and talented Patricia Petibon is simply stunning in this recording! If you've never listened to much Baroque opera this would be a great place to start! The music ranges from deeply emotional to whimsical. Petibon sings everything with style, panache, pizzazz and a deep commitment to the music and the composers.
The Baroque orchestra that accompanies her is new to me and they play with great verve.

What is so wonderful about this disc is that it is a genuine first - it is, as far as I know, the only disc in existence devoted the arias of Rameau, Lully, Charpentier and Grandval from a single singer. Bored with predictable collections of Opera Seria arias? Fed up with all the collections of the same Handel arias made by various sopranos, mezzos, countertenors, et cetera? Wondering what, exactly, the French were doing while the rest of Europe was worshipping castrati?

Well, look no further! You have it all here on this one marvelous CD! Here new 'French Touch' CD (on DECCA) shouldn't be missed either!

Long live Patricia Petibon!

Perfect!.......2003-11-19

This was one of the first opera aria recital CD's that I've ever purchased, and it got me hooked on Baroque opera, French or otherwise. I picked up this record originally because I found the singer very attractive; not the deepest reason, but the MUSIC turned out to be immnesely enjoyable, even if they would've put artwork or a photo of an opera-house on the cover.

To begin with, Petibon's voice is beautiful. As the other reviewer(s) put it, it is a cool, vibrato-less voice that might SEEM shrill, but her voice is never unpleasant. In fast or slow pieces, she is always a pleasure to listen to. Besides the sheer beauty of timbre of her voice, her musicanship is incredible: her interpretations are always appropriate, coloring the piece with humor, excitment, sex appeal (especially the Armida piece), anger, you-name-it. Technically she is very impressive, and handles the disc's runs, cascades, top-notes, etc. very well. (This disc is by no means a firweworks display though).

The orchestra plays with the same degree of musicianship, technicality and beauty. In some of the Rameaus pieces (especially the march), the instrumental textures really show off the great harmonies and voicings that Rameau is famous for; this disc is a great introduction to the composer's music, I wish she recorded Rameau more often.

Finally, the music itself is unique, interesting and entertaining all at the same time. The 2 two excerpts from Lully are not conventional arias, but they display how well the composer was able to blend drama into music. His music is both at the same time, and it soudns cliched but you have to hear it to treally understand it. The piece from Charpentier from "David and Jonathan" is stirring, and shows off what a talented singer and skilled orchestra can do with good music: it is musical, stirring, anguished and not something you will (probably) ever hear at the Met.
A wordy review, but this is one of my favorite records, one that I think everyone who has an intrest in the Baroque period should listen to. If you''re looking for an introduction to this very unique corner of classical music, try this CD.

Affect and early music performance.......2003-04-24

Patricia Petibon's performance on this recording seems wholly appropriate for the Baroque era repertoire she is singing. Early music performance in general stresses that the musician clearly present the affect of the piece. This, Petibon does. She is not afraid to sound thin, shrill or even ever so slightly out of tune. These artistic allowances, I'm sure are all intended and allow for word painting. She has a versatile style, sounding warm and serene, cold and sharp, and even overly-dramatic and funny.
In the small company of early music performers who strive to be authentic as possible, she is welcome.

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