Robert Hugill approved of William Christie’s recording of Zoroastre
(see review),
and with hardly if any competition when it comes to a complete
recording of Rameau’s Les Fêtes d’Hébé
making a recommendation of this release has to be the easiest
task on the planet. There are a few suites-from recordings including
another Erato disc from John Eliot Gardiner along with a suite
from Dardanus, but these compete on different territory.This
particular recording won the Gramophone 1998 Best Early Opera
award as well, doing no harm at all to the reputation of William
Christie and Les Arts Florissants.
The work is an example of a highly popular 18th century
French genre, the Opéra-ballet. There is a loose
narrative in the piece, but in essence each ‘entrée’
is a kind of vignette, and there would have been little need
for the sensitive aristocracy to tire themselves out trying
to follow complicated plot lines as the gods on Mount Olympus
went through a sequence of scenes involving allegories about
poetry, a sacrifice, a battle, consultation of the Oracle, a
marriage, Mercury stirring everything up just when we thought
it had all been resolved and your standard lively happy ending.
As you would expect from a classic early-music performance of
this kind we have crisp harpsichord textures, tight string ensemble
and recorders providing upper wind contrast, bassoons for added
depth and rousing horns for extra drama, and percussion for
some of the more energetic dances. Of course the singers are
a vital element, and this is a very strong cast indeed. Pure-sounding
but full-blooded singing from the sopranos in the early stages
sets the tone, and the men are all very good as well. It hardly
seems fair to pick out favourites, and the articulation is so
good you could almost imagine being able to understand and follow
the texts just by listening. These are unfortunately not given
in the booklet, and other than a synopsis in English, French
and German there is precious little else other than a full track
listing, though the synopsis does throw in a few nuggets of
extra information about some of Rameau’s own sources for
the work. William Christie’s team included long-term working
relationships with excellent singers such as Jean-Paul Fouchécourt,
and the synergy between all involved is palpable.
Rameau’s score is packed full of gorgeous music, and if
you want to sample some go to the top of CD 2, where the Oracle
goes through dances both mournful and fun-filled to predict
Iphise’s happy future. There is a stunning sopranino recorder
in the Gavottes, some bagpipes in the Musette
numbers further on in Scène 6, and some delicious
wind ensemble work to go with it. The final miniature Contradanse
is certainly worth waiting for, but in reality every number
is its own highlight. The musical equivalent of a sophisticated
variety act, with large numbers of relatively short, contrasting
pieces, one can understand why this kind of work would have
been all the rage in 1739. Superbly recorded, the whole thing
is a French baroque delight from start to finish.
Dominy Clements
Dessus - Sophie Daneman /Sarah Connolly/Maryseult Wieczorek/Gaelle
Mechaly 