Sebastien Tellier Copycat

Ce programme est l’évocation d’une bibliothèque imaginaire, celle de Jean-Baptiste Matho, célèbre chanteur de la Chapelle royale sous le règne de Louis XIV. Un testament musical au tournant du XVIIIe siècle, dans l’univers si particulier du petit motet pour taille (ténor), convoquant tour à tour Charpentier, Campra, Bouteiller, Suffret et bien sûr Brossard, qui nous interpelle par ce magnifique exorde : ‘Silentium. Dormi in hortis dilecta mea. Silence. Dors dans les jardins, mon amour.’"

French pianist Sebastien Paindestre – last heard on the French/American quartet Atlantico's En Rouge (La Fabrica'son, 2016) – leads his own trio in a mostly-original program. The liner notes credit a Fender Rhodes technician, and the opener "Scottish Folk Song" (by Walt Weiskopf) shows why. After introducing the tune on acoustic piano with double bassist Jean-Claude Oleksiak and drummer Antoine Paganotti (with the pastoral sound promised by the title) the Rhodes makes a dramatic entry with a distorted, highly electronic sound. It's very distinctive, almost like a synthesizer rather than a piano, and it brings out an aggressive side to Paindestre's soloing. The instrument performs a similar function on the third track, "Gaza-Paris-Jerusalem (For Peace)." There it is used both as a solo voice and as the voice of conflict during a brief unsettled section. The Beatles tune "Mother Nature's Son" gets a memorable jazz treatment next. The Rhodes is used to play the head, this time with a more conventional celeste-like bell sound. Bassist Oleksiak also gets a nice solo showcase.

After La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein, and La Fille du régiment, Virgin Classics develops its DVD catalogue with yet a new stage production by renowned director Laurent Pelly (his 3rd for the label) accompanied by his assistant Agathe Mélinand who again adapted the dialogues as in the other productions. Filmed in Lyons during the performances (18th December – 1st January 2008) the production and the cast re-enacted in our moderns times the satirical portrayal of Parisian life in the Second Empire. The performances were a hit: Laurent Pelly brought to Offenbach’s operetta all the gusto and humour the subject calls for – his staging is wild and frenzied. La Vie parisienne was Offenbach's first full-length piece to portray contemporary Parisian life, unlike his earlier period pieces and mythological subjects. It became one of Offenbach's most popular operettas.

Campra was the most important opera composer between Lully and Rameau. The success of Europe Galante in 1697 is a tribute to this founding work of the Opera-Ballet, mixing dance and opera in the opulent divertissements. Campra takes the spectator on a voyage into the amorous nations of Europe. France moves to the rhythm of the genteel heartbeat of the shepherds and the shepherdesses, Italy refined but jealous and violent and finally the Sultan who has to soothe the criminal bitterness of the Sultana, who has been ousted by a beautiful slave. This is spicy musical banter created during the reign of Louis XIV, recovered by Les Nouveaux Caracteres directed by Sebastien d’Herin.

Ensemble Correspondances & Sebastien Dauce - Le Concert Royal de la Nuit (2015) [2CD] {Harmonia Mundi}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 754 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 369 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg+pdf) -> 33 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 Harmonia Mundi | HMC 952223.24
Classical / Baroque / Chamber Music / Ballet Music

In late February 1653, just after the Fronde rebellion, the most influential spectacle of the early reign of Louis XIV was presented at the Louvre: the Ballet Royal de la Nuit. Grandiose, and carefully elaborated at the highest levels of the state, the libretto by Benserade called upon the finest artists of the time. Banishing the troubles of night, Louis XIV danced in the Sun King costume that would henceforth be forever associated with him. This unmissable world premiere recording presents a reconstruction of the work created by Sebastien Dauce that includes music by Jean de Cambefort, Antoine Boesset, Louis Constantin, Michel Lambert, Francesco Cavalli and Luigi Rossi.

Sébastien de Brossard, an enthusiastic collector of music, pedagogue and author of the first dictionary of music, was also a very talented composer. This champion of Italian music and great connoisseur of the music of Carissimi probably took the Roman master as the model for his two oratorios. Leandro, a dramatic work in Italian, is a miniature masterpiece and one of the earliest cantatas by a French composer.

Until Charpentier, the myth of Orpheus had never provided the subject matter for an opera in French. He repaired the omission with this fascinating little gem on the margins of the large-scale tragédie lyrique. Charpentier offers us here a myth left in suspension, without a resolution, a carefree and happy ‘descent’ that consecrates Orpheus’ song and the enchanting power of music. A poetic experience amid the depths of night, which inspire Sébastien Daucé and his Ensemble Correspondences more than ever!

Campra’s famous Requiem emerged from a tradition that is still unjustly neglected. Sébastien Daucé and Ensemble Correspondances offer us an opportunity to discover these maîtres de musique of Notre-Dame who, though now overshadowed by their brilliant colleague, made no less of a contribution to the development of the ‘French style’ emblematic of the reign of Louis XIV.