Rameau composed the “opera-ballet”
Les Indes Galantes in
1735, and revised it the following year. While the reaction of
the public was “little better than luke-warm”, the opera was performed
185 times between its premiere and 1761. Some time after the initial
composition - the notes to this disc do not specify the date -
a harpsichord transcription or reduction was made of parts of
the work. In all, the original edition contained 37 pieces, but
Christophe Rousset states that the numbering was erroneous, with
certain two-part pieces counting as two pieces. In the end, there
are a total of 32 pieces though Rousset states that he does not
feel that they were all designed to be played on the harpsichord,
and “none is written in the idiomatic style of Rameau’s other
harpsichord works”.
Rousset’s recording contains these 32 pieces, far more than other
recordings of the work - such as Kenneth Gilbert’s - and longer
in duration. At nearly 63 minutes the Rousset’s recording is twenty
minutes longer than the Gilbert disc.
But let’s get to the music. I took out my recording of the opera
Les Indes Galantes, directed by William Christie, and gave
it a listen. Some years ago, I was a real fan of Rameau’s operas,
but over time I’ve found them to be quite repetitive and somewhat
boring. While the operas are full of nice bits - Rameau had a
wonderful and unique way of creating catchy melodies - there are
too many recitatives - though these are more interesting than
later “classical” opera recitatives. I found it very difficult
to listen to the entire opera
Les Indes Galantes, and it
seemed that the Rousset recording of the harpsichord transcription
might contain just the “nice bits” and eschew the rest.
One shouldn’t compare the two types of music - orchestral and
solo harpsichord - even though the tunes are the same. The orchestral
version is richer and more obviously Rameau; his orchestrations
were always interesting. From the first notes of the opening Overture
in the harpsichord version, though, there is an obvious simplicity;
this is not just a reduction, but there’s clearly no attempt to
reproduce the texture of the original. This harpsichord version
is, for the most part, not a virtuoso work, and was perhaps published
for less experienced keyboard players. While the wit and charm
of Rameau’s music is there, much of this music is very simple.
The
Musette en rondeau in the First Concert, for example,
sounds like some of Henry Purcell’s harpsichord pieces; simple
melodies with little ornamentation that can be played even by
novices. Many of the other pieces have this simplicity; this is
not to demean the melodies, but it doesn’t sound like there was
a lot of attention paid to doing much more than simply transcribing
the melodies and a simple accompaniment. The
Air Tendre Pour
La Rose in the Second Concert is another example: while this
is a quite attractive piece, it is just a simple right-hand melody
with sparse left-hand accompaniment. Melodically it is pretty;
musically, it is bland.
I don’t mean to belittle the music too much, but its interest
is somewhat limited, especially compared to the original opera
- though it does leave out the boring bits. While this is an enjoyable
disc, you might come away from it a bit unsatisfied. The music
lacks “meat”; it’s attractive, but it’s not up to the standards
of most of Rameau’s music. This fits with Rousset’s comment that
the music is not “idiomatic” for the harpsichord. Compared with
another Rousset recording of Rameau’s harpsichord music (on L’Oiseau
Lyre) is like night and day. While Rameau was no Bach in his harpsichord
compositions - his harpsichord works are typically French, more
melodic than contrapuntal - these other works are far more
recherché
than this disc of transcriptions from
Les Indes Galantes.
Nevertheless, the recording is excellent, and the harpsichord
used has a lovely sound. For that reason, fans of Rameau or harpsichord
music may want to pick up a copy of this disc. But those looking
for a real musical experience may be let down.
Kirk McElhearn
Christophe Rousset (harpsichord - Jean-Henry Hemsch, Paris, 1761).
