Minuit

Marc-Antoine Charpentier was the French composer of the Grand Siècle who left the largestnumber of works specifically related to Christmas. Here, going beyond the famous Messe de Minuit,listeners will be all the more enchanted by his histoires sacrées (brief oratorios) and Noëls pourles instruments when they are presented by thecomposer’s most fervent advocates.

Charpentier: Te Deum, Messe de Minuit / Minkowski
Deutsche Grammophon | ARCHIV Produktion | Int. Release 01 Sep. 1997
DGG Webshop | mp3 | 320 kbps | 128 MB

Minkowski gives a characteristically ebullient, highly charged performance.

Graham Sadler, BBC Music Magazine

Vous êtes-vous déjà demandé ce qui se passait après minuit ?
Tout bascule.
Le temps se courbe, s'étire, se replie ou se brise en emportant parfois un morceau de réel. Et qu'arrive-t-il à celui qui regarde, les yeux écarquillés, la vitre entre réel et irréel juste avant qu'elle explose et que des aiguilles de verre se mettent à voler en tous sens ? Les cauchemars de Stephen King vous empêcheront longtemps de dormir juste après minuit. …

Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) was a French composer who was a contemporary of Louis XIV. Charpentier created liturgical works full of grace and energy, using great imagination for his musical settings. This is very much evident in the selections for this recording, the TE DEUM and the MESSE DE MINUIT. The first one is a joyously triumphant interpretation of the thanksgiving text, using eight soloists, chorus and orchestra, including three trumpets, something unusual for the times.

Nora Seeds est insatisfaite de sa vie. Un soir, elle se retrouve dans la bibliothèque de Minuit et entreprend de la revivre différemment. Aidée par une amie bibliophile, elle tourne les pages des livres, corrige les erreurs de son passé et s'invente une vie parfaite. Mais tout ne se passe pas comme prévu et ses choix remettent en cause sa propre existence et celle de la bibliothèque. …

Marc-Antoine Charpentier was the most distinguished French religious composer of his era, whose output includes Masses, motets,psalms and oratorios, many of them extended works rich in texture, color and harmony, and contrapuntally resourceful. Melodically, Charpentier derived a distinctive style, imposing French embellishments and phrase structure on a basically Italian idiom. His 30 or so theater pieces reveal wit and facility. Unfortunately, he remains known for only two works, both of which are on this disc.