Customer Reviews

Lully: Grands Motets, Vol 1 (Te Deum; Miserere; Plaude laetare Gallia) /Le Concert Spirituel * Niquet

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've just discovered Lully's music, via a comparison with Rameau. I like Rameau, who is supposed to be the superior composer, but I like Lully better. These motets, in Latin, are strong and beautiful. Baroque at its most glorious.

Lully, the grand master of French middle baroque music, in this form, achieved the lasting fame and glory on par with that of which his absolute monarch of an employer thirsted and lived for. It is probably upon his Te Deum (one of his most popular works) that today's recognition of his genius is most vastly rested. Having said that, this recording is a most glorious rendition, showing off a performance that would be impossible to better.

The attention to detail is rather remarkable, and deserves much applause, from the carefully rippled modulations, to the voice control displayed by all the performers. It truly is a work of art, and with no absolutely no reservations, I give it 5 stars out of 5, for what is surely a benchmark in high-standards.

Very nice performance, good singing and good playing. But why have solo voices been used in this recording? Lully's choir and orchestra was several hundred strong! Surely one of the modest large scale performances in all 17th century French music. What do we have here? Niquet's group performs this music with great style and panache but it does sound small and I am sure that this was not what Lully had in mind.