François COUPERIN (1668-1733)
Concert No. 1 from the Concerts Royaux [10:51]
Concerts Nos. 5-7 from Les Goûts Réunis, ou Nouveaux
Concerts [9:35; 13:05; 14:23]
Concert No. 8, dans le gout théatral from Les Goûts
Réunis ou Nouveaux Concerts [20:54]
Concert No. 9, intitule Ritratto dell’amore from Les
Goûts Réunis, ou Nouveaux Concerts [17:54]
Concerts Nos. 10-13 from Les Goûts Réunis, ou Nouveaux
Concerts [8:50; 17:02; 6:32; 8:17]
Concert No. 14 et dernier de cet livre from Les Goûts
Réunis, ou Nouveaux Concerts [8:37]
Thomas Indermühle (oboe, oboe d’amore, baritone oboe);
Henk de Wit (bassoon); Ursula Dütschler (harpsichord)
rec. 11-14 December 1995, The English Reformed Church, Amsterdam and
22-25 March 1991, Kirche Blumenstein, Switzerland
CAMERATA CM-15045-6 [68:48 + 67:12]
The booklet notes for this release open with a funny sentence,
“King Louis XIV could afford the best of everything, which is probably
why the finest wines of his time are no longer to be had.” I’d
always wondered why you can never find the early 18th vintages on
the supermarket shelves and here’s the answer, King Louis XIV drank
the lot.
François Couperin was in the employ of King Louis XIV, who
had his musicians perform weekly chamber music concerts in the last years of
his life. After the king died in 1715 Couperin had an opportunity to bring
these works together, and in 1722 he published the “Concerts
royaux” and in 1724, “Les Goûts réunis ou Nouveaux
Concerts”. We’ve come across oboist Thomas Indermühle
before on these pages, with concertos by Telemann and Albinoni, and his teamwork with bassoonist Henk de Wit and
harpsichord player Ursula Dütschler is excellent. These performances
are all very stylish and elegant, and one can imagine the king being royally
entertained.
It is good to have as many of these works collected together in one
place, though some change in instrumental timbre beyond oboe in such an
extensive programme might have been welcome. Thomas Indermühle has been
cloned to give us an oboe duet in the Menuet en Trio of Concert
No. 1 which is a convincing effect, but otherwise it is an awful lot of
reeds and plucking tangents. The harpsichord in this Camerata production
might also have recorded with a little more body in the sound. The balance
is decent enough, but there are more upper harmonics in evidence than lower
resonance, which would have helped in filling out the harmonies. The
recordings in two different locations are highly compatible and there are no
serious jolts from one to the other, though of the two the Amsterdam church
in the Begijnhof is a touch less resonant.
I’ve had a listen to the Barthold Kuijken’s single disc
selection on the Accent label, ACC23153, the flute and cello mix having a
gentler and more rounded feel to the sound. Avie Records has a nicely
sonorous strings and harpsichord only programme from Les Goûts
Réunis on AV2132, showing another of the many ways in which these
pieces can be presented. I’m not sure how the king would have
responded to this rather melancholy picture, and Thomas
Indermühle’s oboe is certainly a more overtly lyrical option. The
long and short of it is that this two disc set is more one to dip into as
the mood takes rather than to be heard in one sitting, which in any case is
certainly not how they originally would have appeared.
The sprightly dance movements in this recording are done with
tremendous élan, the more plangent Gravement sections not
overly weighed down with artificially sought emotional cares, the
Tendrement and other moods nicely poised and performed with courtly
taste. If you are a fan of this period and national style, then this
recording will appeal greatly. Be aware however, that other instrumentations
are available.
Dominy Clements
A stylish and elegant surfeit.