Sandrine Piau and Jérôme Corréas knew each
other from their student years and have for some time had the
idea of exploring the evolution of French music of the 17th
and 18th centuries. This has resulted in the present disc which
explores the way various composers depicted love and its trials
and tribulations in opera. The music which they have selected
spans a period of about 100 years. It not only demonstrates
the very different ways in which the subject was treated but
also the stylistic changes within that period. At the one end
of the spectrum we find Lully and Charpentier, representatives
of the classical French opera - albeit quite different from
each other - whereas at the other we hear music by Grétry
and Sacchini which points towards the classical style.
The latter were not from France: Grétry was born in Liège,
and Sacchini in Florence, but both enjoyed their main successes
in the field of opera in France. The same goes for Jean-Baptiste
Lully, who was also born in Florence and moved to Paris at the
age of 13 in order to become the Italian tutor to a cousin of
Louis XIV. He developed into the leading figure in French musical
life, and can be seen as the founder and defender of French
opera. He was keen to keep French music free from foreign influences,
especially from his native Italy. Acis et Galatée
is a pastorale from which a scene is taken in which Galatea
expresses her conflicting feelings. She does so in the restrained
manner which is characteristic of Lully's operatic style. His
contemporary Charpentier suffered a great deal from Lully's
dominance. He was probably the greater dramatic talent but that
was not fully appreciated, in particular because of his leanings
towards the Italian style. 'A-t-on jamais souffert' from his
oratorio David et Jonathas is an impressive example of
his talent for expressing human emotion. In this aria Jonathan
is torn between his friendship with David and his love for his
father. Charpentier contrasts these two emotions by opposing
four-part to trio texture in the orchestra.
André Campra was also strongly influenced by the Italian
style, and that clearly comes to the fore in his opera Idoménée.
It was written at a time when Italian music was widely embraced
by composers and audiences. The scene in which Ilione expresses
her feelings for Idamantes may be restrained, as Catherine Massip
writes in her liner-notes, but there are some strong outbursts
of emotion ("arrête, cher amant") which have a quite dramatic
effect. During the 18th century composers started to include
rage arias like those we find in the Italian opera seria.
That is the case, for instance, in Scanderberg by François
Rebel and François Francoeur who usually worked together
in the composition of music for the theatre. We hear a recitative
and an aria; the latter begins with the words: "Fury, Love,
assist my impatience". The overture is also played, and it is
a bit odd that it is separated from the recitative and aria
by the aria from Campra's Idoménée.
Rameau can't be absent from a recital like this. He played a
crucial role in the development of opera in France. The aria
of Cupid from Anacréon contains coloratura on
"règne" (Reign, reign with me, Bacchus). The same is
true of the aria 'Je vole, Amour' from Les Paladins:
"I fly, Love, where you call me". Here the orchestra - and in
particular the flutes - are used to illustrate the text. This
is a feature of Rameau's operas: the orchestral score is much
more closely linked to the plot than in earlier operas. It is
one of the reasons the instrumental movements from his operas
are so frequently played: they are not just brilliantly orchestrated
but also theatrical in character. That makes it understandable
that some pieces from Les fêtes de Ramire - a ballet
in one act which previously had been part of La princesse
de Navarre - have been included. One of Rameau's most popular
theatrical works is Les Indes Galantes, a piece which
incorporates some fairly dramatic events. It also includes 'Viens,
hymen', an aria of great subtlety which ends this disc.
With Grétry and Sacchini we are close to opera of the
classical era. The aria 'Je romps la chaîne qui m'engage'
from Grétry's L'amant jaloux is telling in that
the scoring includes horns which also appear in the overture
to Le tableau parlant. Here the score includes indications
for crescendi and diminuendi. In the aria Grétry cleverly
uses the dacapo structure to express the conflicting emotions
of the protagonist. We find here also the staccato which is
a feature of many operas in the late 18th century. It appears
again in 'Que l'éclat de la victoire' from Sacchini's
Renaud, a truly heroic aria: "May the splendour of victory
crown your days, and may you with glorious triumphs adorn cupid's
chariot". The orchestral scoring reflects the content, with
a prominent role for the horns. Quite different is 'Pauvre nise!',
an aria which Charles-Simon Favart contributed to the pasticcio
La Bohémienne (1755). Favart was one of the leading
composers of comic opera, a genre which came into existence
in France around the middle of the 18th century.
Sandrine Piau is one of today's most celebrated singers in the
world of early music, although her repertoire is not confined
to the 17th and 18th centuries. Here again she proves that she
has the ideal voice for this kind of music. The dramatic arias
come off brilliantly, and she has all it takes to bring out
the emotions of the characters. She also masters the art of
subtle expression of sadness and despair. If I single out the
arias by Charpentier and Campra as highlights, I am not saying
that the other items are less convincing. Far from it: this
is a superior disc which displays French opera in its full glory.
The orchestra contributes considerably to its strong impact.
For lovers of French opera this disc is indispensable. Anyone
who likes superior singing will greatly enjoy it. I am sure
that the many fans of Sandrine Piau have already purchased it.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
Track listing
André-Ernest-Modeste GRÉTRY (1741-1813)
L'amant jaloux, 1778:
Je romps la chaîne qui m'engage [05:01]
Jean-Baptiste LULLY (1632-1687)
Acis et Galatée, 1686 (LWV 73):
Enfin, j'ai dissipé la crainte [05:23]
Jean-Philippe RAMEAU (1683-1764)
Anacréon, 1757:
L'amour est le dieu de la paix [04:31]
François REBEL (1701-1775)/ François
FRANCOEUR (1698-1787)
Scanderberg, 1735:
Ouverture [03:44]
André CAMPRA (1660-1744)
Idoménée, 1712:
Espoir des malheureux [04:32]
François REBEL/François FRANCOEUR
Scanderberg, 1735:
Tout est prêt [04:07]
Marc-Antoine CHARPENTIER (1643-1704)
David et Jonathas, 1688 (H 490):
A-t-on jamais souffert [07:03]
Jean-Philippe RAMEAU
Les fêtes de Ramire, 1745
Sarabande, 2 Gavottes, 2 Tambourins [05:15]
Les Paladins, 1757:
Je vole, amour [04:56]
André-Ernest-Modeste GRÉTRY
Le tableau parlant, 1769:
Ouverture [03:57]
Charles-Simon FAVART (1710-1792)
Pauvre nise! (from pasticcio La bohémienne, 1755)
[03:08]
Antonio SACCHINI (1730-1786)
Renaud, 1783:
Que l'éclat de la victoire se répande sur vous
jours [04:49]
Jean-Philippe RAMEAU
Les Indes Galantes, 1735:
Viens, hymen [04:07]
Sandrine Piau (soprano) 