Rameau: Les Boreades / Gardiner
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Composer: Jean-Philippe RameauConductor: John Eliot Gardiner
Performer: Jennifer Smith
Performer: Anne-Marie Rodde
Performer: Edwige Bourdy
Performer: Martine March
Performer: Philip Langridge
Performer: John Aler
Performer: Jean-Philippe Lafont
Performer: Gilles Cachemaille
Edition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2002-08-12
Music Label: Erato / Warner Music France
Soundtracks:
- Ouverture/Overture/Ouverture
- Scene/Szene I "Suivez La Chasse, Allez"
- Scenes/Szenen Ii, Iii, Iv (Debut) "La Chasse A Mes Regards N'offre Plus Rien D'a
- Scene/Szene Iv: Danse "Si L'hymen A Des Chaines (Semire) Gavottes
- Scene/Szene Iv "C'est Dans Cet Aimable Sejour"
- Scene/Szene Iv: Rondeau Vif "La Troupe Volage" Gavottes
- Scene/Szene Iv "Un Horizon Serein"
- Contredanse En Rondeau
- Scene/Szene I "Charmes Trop Dangereux"
- Scene/Szene Ii "J'apercois Ce Mortel"
- Scene/Szene Iii, Iv "Avec Eclat Paraissez A Mes Yeux"
- Scene/Szene V "Boree, A La Clarte Dont Brillaient Mille Eclairs"
- Scene/Szene Vi "Chantez Le Dieu Qui Nous Eclaire"
- Scene/Szene Vi "Nos Peuples, Dieu Du Jour, T'offrent De Nouveaux Jeux"
- Scene/Szene Vi: Gavottes "C'est La Liberte" (Borilee)
- Scene/Szene Vi "Comme Un Zephir Qui Vole Et Jamais Ne S'engage"
- Scene/Szene Vi" Air Andante Et Gracieux
- Scene/Szene Vi "Ecoutez L'amour Qui Vous Presse"
- Scene/Szene Vi: Air Andante
- Scene/Szene Vi "C'est Des Dieux Qu'on Doit Apprendre"
- Scene/Szene Vi: Loure
- Scene/Szene Vi: Gavotte Vive - Gavotte
- Scene/Szene Vi "Ciel, Quels Accords Harmonieux"
- Scene/Szene Vi "Espere Tout De Ce Trait Enchante"
- Scene/Szene I, Ii "Songe Affreux, Image Cruelle"
- Scene/Szene Iii "Triomphe Hymen, L'amour T'applle"
- Scene/Szene Iii "Dans Cees Beaux Lieux"
- Scene/Szene Iii: Air Un Peu Plus Gai "Eh! Pourquoi Se Defendre?"
- Scene/Szene Iii: Menuets
- Scene/Szene Iii "Jouissons De Nos Beaux Ans"
- Scene/Szene Iii: Gavottes
- Scene/Szene Iii: Aimez, Aimez A Votre Tour
- Scene/Szene Iv "Regnez, Belle Alphise"
- Scene/Szene Iv "Boree En Fureur"
- Entracte: Suite Des Vents
- Scene/Szene I, Ii "Nuit Redoutable!"
- Scene/Szene Iii "Nous N'implorons Que Vous"
- Scene/Szene Iv: Entree
- Scene/Szene Iv "Commandez Aux Tendres Zephis"
- Scene/Szene Iv: Gavottes Pour Les Heures Et Les Zephirs Rigaudons
- Scene/Szene Iv "Parcourez La Terre"
- Scene/Szene Iv: Airs Tres Gais
- Scene/Szene Iv "Mon Pouvoir Doit Servir Au Bonheur Des Huhmains"
- Scene/Szene Iv: Air Pour Les Saisons Et Les Zephris
- Scene/Szene Iv "Je Cours Flechir Un Dieu Severe"
- Scene/Szene Iv "Volez, Que L'amour Vous Seconde!"
- Scene/Szene I "Obeissez, Quittez, Quittez Vos Cavernes Obscures"
- Scene/Szene Ii "Ne Suivez Plus Mes Pas, Vous Irritez Ma Peine"
- Scene/Szene Iii "Venez Punir Son Injustice"
- Scene/Szene Iv "Que Vois-Je?"
- Scene/Szene Iv "Trop Superbes Rivaux"
- Scene/Szene Iv "Quel Eclat!"
- Scene/Szene V "Je Rends Pour Ce Heros Ma Tendresse Eclatante"
- Scene/Szene V "Delices Des Mortels"
- Scene/Szene V "Que Ces Moments Sont Doux"
- Scene/Szene V: Air Andante - Pas De Deux - Menuets
- Scene/Szene V "Que L'amour Embellit La Vie"
- Contredanses Tres Vives
Music reviews of Rameau: Les Boreades / Gardiner
Music Review: 1982 Analogue Recording of Rameau's Last Great Work
Rating: 4 Stars
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 - 1764): Les Boréades. Tragédie lyrique. Performed by: Jennifer Smith (soprano, Alphise); Anne-Marie Rodde (soprano, Sémire); Edwige Bourdy (soprano, Polymnie); Martine March (soprano, Une Nymphe); Philip Langridge (tenor, Abaris); John Aler (tenor, Calisis); Jean-Philippe Lafont (bass, Borée); Gilles Cachemaille (tenor, Borilée), Francois LeRoux (tenor, Adamas); Stephen Varcoe (bass, Apollo); Elizabeth Priday (soprano, L'Amour); the Monteverdi Choir; the English Baroque Soloists; directed by John Eliot Gardiner. Recorded in July 1982 at the Festival International d'art lyrique et de musique, Aix-en-Provence, France. Released in 1990 by Erato Disques (Warner) in a 3-CD box as 2292-45572-2. Total playing time: 160'42". (64 page booklet with black and white photographs from the Aix-en-Provence performances)
That this recording exists at all, is due to the persistence of John Eliot Gardiner, who worked out a performing version from the surviving manuscript as early as 1975. The original opera, written by Rameau when he was in his eighties and never performed in his lifetime (the composer died during rehearsals and the planned performance was abandoned), had been forgotten for over 200 years, and all attempts at actually getting it on stage appear to have been dogged by bad luck. Even this recording, which needed eight years between the recording sessions at Aix-en-Provence and its release in 1990, is not without its problems. The biggest seems to be the fact that the French publishing house which owns the copyright to the libretto refused to allow it to be translated - and demanded an extortionate fee on each box sold if the French libretto was printed in the booklet. In the end, Erato decided to do without, and have instead printed a summary of the plot (which is not keyed to the track numbers but can, with a little effort, be fairly easily followed). Another problem appears to have been the recording venue, which leads to a certain amount of echo. The balance between the singers and the orchestra is not always ideal, and there are differences in sound between different parts of the opera. However, all told the engineering is acceptable - certainly better than what you would get on a budget label, I imagine.
Like practically all Rameau's stage works, the storyline here is based on Greek mythology. The "Boréades" of the title are two male descendants of the god of the north wind (Boreas) who lay claim to the hand of the Queen of Bactria, Alphise, and to the kingship. Alphise, however, is in love with Abaris, a mysterious stranger who has been brought up in the temple of Apollo. When Alphise comes out into the open and declares her love for Abaris, the two sons of Boreas call on him to wreak revenge. There is a freak storm, and Alphise is carried away into Boreas's kingdom (which some think may have been Britain, although that is highly unlikely). Abaris follows her and manages to silence Boreas and his two sons by using a magic arrow given to Alphise by the god of Love. If all this sounds rather stupid and superficial, it is just that - the plot seems to be there only as a rather flimsy excuse for lots of dancing, divertissements, appearances of gods, wonderful stage-effects (clouds, winds, etc.) - and some lovely singing, I should add. Jennifer Smith as Alphise is very much at home in this kind of repertoire, and her stylish singing helped me to excuse the occasional hardness of her timbre. The real "stars" of this performance are, however, Philip Langridge (Abaris) and Gilles Cachemaille (Borilée, one of the two pretenders to the throne). Both have plenty of opportunity to shine and do so with delightful voices, rather outshining the other male contributors. Of the smaller female roles, it is Annemarie Rodde as Sémire, a confidante of Alphise, who can create the best impression with her Act 1 air, "Un horizon serein". The Monteverdi Choir is, as usual, exquisite; the playing by the English Baroque Soloists at this period does not quite match up to that on later Rameau recordings by Marc Minkowski's Musiciens du Louvre, but is still wonderful to listen to. There are plenty of very well-known "HIPP" musicians to be heard here, including Lisa Beznosiuk with some great flute playing and Nicholas McGegan on one of the two harpsichords.
French baroque music is often considered "mannered", and personally I think Rameau's operas are definitely an acquired taste - they "reek" of the late Ancien Régime and its decadence. But musically they are always full of interesting details and surprises - as Gardiner points out in his essay, the octogenarian composer was not above introducing clarinets for the first time here.
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