Jérôme Lejeune continues his History of Music series with this boxed set devoted to the Renaissance. The next volume in the series after Flemish Polyphony (RIC 102), this set explores the music of the 16th century from Josquin Desprez to Roland de Lassus. After all of the various turnings that music took during the Middle Ages, the music of the Renaissance seems to be a first step towards a common European musical style.
De Gounod, qui fut l'une des gloires musicales les plus sûres du Second Empire et de la Troisième République, que reste-t-il aujourd'hui ? Faust, naturellement, malgré les critiques dont on l'a accablé, mais surtout à cause de ses beautés. Roméo et Juliette aussi et Mireille. Quelques mélodies encore : Venise, Le Soir, Sérénade, Ô ma belle rebelle… Tout bien considéré, la Messe de sainte Cécile n'est pas oubliée tout à fait, ni le Requiem, et la Petite symphonie reste une aubaine pour les ensembles d'instruments à vents. …
Discover or rediscover the masterpieces and rare gems of the baroque and classical repertoire with the greatest performers : Hervé Niquet (Richard Cœur de Lion by Grétry, The Magic Flute by Mozart, Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse by Boismortier), John Eliot Gardiner (La Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz), Vincent Dumestre (Phaéton, Cadmus et Hermione et Le Bourgeois gentilhomme by Lully, Egisto by Cavalli), Raphaël Pichon (Vespro della Beata Vergine by Monteverdi), Gaétan Jarry (Les Arts Florissans and David et Jonathas by Charpentier), Valentin Tournet (Les Indes Galantes by Rameau, Magnificat by Bach), Stéphane Fuget (Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria by Monteverdi, Grands Motets by Lully in 3 volumes), Leonardo García Alarcón (La Finta Pazza by Sacrati and The Coronation of Poppaea by Monteverdi), Olivier Latry (Mass for the Convents and Mass for the Parishes by Couperin), Jordi Savall (L’Orfeo by Monteverdi), Christophe Rousset (Psyché and Atys by Lully), Placido Domingo (The Versailles Gala), Mathias Vidal (Rameau triomphant) and Marc Minkowski (Nouvelle Symphonie by Rameau). The label has also recorded the first two French operas composed by women: Cephalus and Procris by Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre and Les Génies by Mademoiselle Duval.
It is wonderful to be able to look through time, year by year, and see how one of the most fascinating adventures of twentieth-century music was built up. A technology evolving at high speed, an aesthetic triumphing with composition after composition, and, above all, a will to go ever further in experimentation with and knowledge of sounds and the perception of music.
This, in a few lines, is the content of these 2 CD's. A unique collection of great names of composers, in works that have often become classics in the rich and remarkable world of sounds, over and above notes and instruments.
Daniel Teruggi, Director of Ina-GRMfrom the attached booklet