Tragédiennes 1

Tragédiennes 1

Tragédiennes 1
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Composer: Jean-Baptiste Lully
Composer: Jean-Philippe Rameau
Composer: Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville
Composer: Joseph-Nicholas-Pancrace Royer
Composer: André Campra
Composer: Christoph Willibald Gluck
Composer: Jean-Marie Leclair
Conductor: Christophe Rousset
Orchestra: Les Talens Lyriques
Performer: Véronique Gens
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-06-06
Music Label: Virgin Classics
Soundtracks:
  1. Acte II, Scene 5 - Monologue D'Armide: Enfin Il Est En Ma Puissance
  2. Ouverture
  3. Acte III, Scene 3 - Air D'Armide: Venez, Venez, Haine Implacable
  4. Passacaille
  5. Acte III, Scene 5 - Air D'Isabelle: Mes Yeux, Fermez-Vous A Jamais
  6. Prelude De L'Acte III
  7. Acte III, Scene I - Air De Phedre: Cruelle Mere Des Amours
  8. Chaconne
  9. Acte I, Scene 3 - Air De Telaire: Tristes Apprets
  10. Chaconne
  11. Troisieme Entree (La Feerie), Scene 5 - Air D'Argelie: Que Ses Regrets M'ont Attendrie
  12. Acte I, Scene I - Monologue D'Isbe: Desirs Toujours Detruits
  13. Ouverture
  14. Acte IV, Scene 4 - Recit Et Invocation De Circe: Et Toi, Dont Les Embrasements...Noires Divinties Acte IV, Scene 5
  15. Premier Air Des Demons
  16. Air De Circe: Brillante Fille De Latone
  17. Deuxieme Air Des Demons
  18. Acte I, Scene 3 - Air De Zelide: L'objet Qui Regne Dans Mon Ame
  19. Acte III, Scene 3 - Air De Zaide: Dieu Des Amants Fideles
  20. Acte III, Scene 6 - Recitatif De Clytemnestre: Dieux Puissants Que J'atteste Invocation: Jupiter, Lance La Foudre!
  21. Acte II, Scene 5 - Monologue D'Armide: Enfin, Il Est En Ma Puissance

Music reviews of Tragédiennes 1

Music Review: French Baroque with a Verismo Touch
Rating: 4 Stars

This disc offers strong performances of arias and scenas from the French baroque, presented in chronological order from Lully to Gluck, who died 100 years apart. These two composers fashioned operas from the very same libretto, the tragedy _Armide_ by Quinault; and their contrasting settings of the passage "Enfin il est en ma puissance" bookend this recital. One emerges with the vivid impression that Gluck is far more akin to Mozart than to Lully or Rameau. One composer on this disc, Royer, is new to me and is otherwise represented in the catalog by harpsichord pieces.

Véronique Gens is a prodigiously gifted singer. Her voice is powerful and her vocal production flawless. To my ears, however, she has one notable limitation that afflicts this album as a whole: she lends her interpretations very little dynamic range. Her voice is a commanding presence and capable of expressive inflection, but her volume varies little and this makes for a listening experience of relentless intensity.

Granted, the characters are all tragic, as suggested by the album title. Indeed, most of the personages appearing on this disc are deities and defiant women, and Gens does them full justice. Phèdre, Circé, Armide -- she was born to portray these forces of nature. But many of the selections would have benefited from a softer touch, a more smiling and seductive tone in places.

Comparisons with other performances are interesting but not necessarily helpful since one has to buy complete sets to acquire them. Gens, Fink, Hunt Lieberson, Yakar, Delunsch - all are splendid interpreters worth hearing in this music. The one comparison I will make is Telaïre's aria "Tristes apprêts" from _Castor et Pollux_. On the Christie recording from 1992 (where Gens is cast more to type as the vengeful Phébé) this aria is given by the pure-voiced Agnès Mellon. Christie takes a full 1:40 longer to conduct it, giving Mellon the space to impart a world of tenderness and grief. Rousset and Gens sound perfunctory by comparison. On the other hand, Gens as Circé in _Scylla et Glaucus_ is extraordinary, sounding both terrifying and beautiful, a devastating combination. This is the high point of the disc.

In general I find Rousset to be a notch below Christie, Minkowski, and Gardiner in conducting this repertoire. He is slightly less alert to rhythms, his winds less forward, the strings less nimble, the phrasing and articulation less insightful. The Act III prelude from _Hippolyte_ sounds downright sluggish here, whereas Minkowski (on his "Symphonie imaginaire" album) makes it a sinuously intricate fugue. The overture to _Scylla et Glaucus_ benefits from Gardiner's slightly slower pace, which makes it both more stately and more flexible; Rousset doesn't let the full brilliance of the orchestral sound flourish, and his winds are all but invisible. Rousset does have a taste for emphatic lower strings, which almost seems to be his hallmark as a conductor.

This is a commendable disk, and I found it easier to relax and enjoy Gens's high-intensity singing on repeated listening. Magnificent music in worthy performances.
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