Jul Mental D’or et de Platine

Sémélé tragédie lyrique de Marin Marais
Glossa | 9 novembre 2007 | Classical | APE+CUE | 3% Recovery | 2CDs | 368+296 MB | Covers | 75'59"+61'27"

For this recording directing Le Concert Spirituel, Hervé Niquet has revived Sémélé by Marin Marais - the final opera by one of the leading composers from the reign of Louis XIV. Known for his compositions for viola da gamba, Marais was also the author of a number of tragédies lyriques which he wrote for the Académie royale de Musique.
However, only Alcyone has attracted any attention. Sémélé, first performed in 1709, has music to charm and seduce: a sparkling prologue honouring Bacchus, a set of arias with freshly-minted appeal, a marvellously inventive diabolical scene; all leading up to an earthquake scene that anticipates the later work of Rameau. For all lovers of baroque music, here is the opportunity to discover and enjoy a masterpiece which has lain in the shadows for the last three centuries.

At the height of the famous Querelle des Bouffons (1754), the elderly Rameau yielded to insistent requests from the Académie Royale de Musique for a major revision of Castor and Pollux, 17 years after the lukewarm reception of its premiere. He deleted the Prologue and made substantial modifications to the dramatic structure, with a completely new first act! But the original has continued to overshadow the revision, unjustly so when one considers the modernity of its orchestration. The inspired direction of Raphaël Pichon shows the extent to which this music heralds the Classical orchestra.

Gilbert Bécaud was one of the most dynamic performers on the French cabaret scene, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his passionate and charismatic performing style, and he played to rapt audiences from his commercial breakthrough in 1955 up to his final public appearances in 2000. Bécaud was also an accomplished songwriter, whose 1961 hit "Et Maintenant" became an international sensation in its English-language version, "What Now, My Love." "Et Maintenant" is one of 20 songs by Bécaud featured on this collection, devoted to recordings of his finest songs. 20 Chansons d'Or also includes the tunes "La Pianiste de Varsovie," "L'important C'est la Rose," "C'est en Septembre," "Mes Mains," and more.

The latest in Hervé Niquet's 'reinvigorations' of French operatic music from the Baroque and beyond for Glossa is Rameau’s 1747 'Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour'. A ballet heroïque in a prologue and three entrées, the whole work was designed to comprise a complete theatrical spectacle. Music for dancing – as befits a ballet – is given a prominent role and Rameau is able to create especially expressive symphonies and to give the choruses – even a double-chorus – an integral role in the action. Added to this are supernatural effects, and plots for the entrées which explored the then uncommon world of Egyptian mythology (including a musical depiction of the flooding of the River Nile).

Le Rameau d’Or de la Sybille de Cumes est une allégorie qui exprime l’intention musicale de Note Forget. Elle est construite autour de l’exploration introspective de ce qu’ils sont en tant que groupe mais exhume tout autant leurs influences individuelles. Pour se faire ils ont choisi de travailler une matière ondoyante, un corpus de compositions qui joue sur les contrastes et les nuances tout en essayant de conserver une teinte particulière.
Cette atmosphère méditative insiste sur les mesures à trois temps pour imprégner l’aspect cyclique.