Médée / Charpentier [Box set]

Marc-Antoine Charpentier (Composer), William Christie (Conductor), Les Arts Florissants (Orchestra), Lorraine Hunt (Performer), Mark Padmore (Performer), Bernard Deletré (Performer), Monique Zanetti (Performer), Jean-Marc Salzmann (Performer), Isabelle Desrochers (Performer), François Bazola (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Lorraine Hunt, Mark Padmore, Bernard Deletré, Monique Zanetti, Jean-Marc Salzmann, et al.
• Orchestra: Les Arts Florissants
• Conductor: William Christie
• Composer: Marc-Antoine Charpentier
• Audio CD (March 28, 1995)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Erato
• ASIN: B000005ED8
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,425 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #15 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > C to G

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Médée, opera, H. 491: Prologue. Ouverture

2. Médée, opera, H. 491: Prologue. Louis est triomphant

3. Médée, opera, H. 491: Prologue. Paroissez, charmante Victoire

4. Médée, opera, H. 491: Prologue. Le Ciel dans nos voeux s'intéresse

5. Médée, opera, H. 491: Prologue. Loure

6. Médée, opera, H. 491: Prologue. Dans le bel âge, si l'on n'est volage

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Médée, opera, H. 491: Act 2. Scene 1. Il est temps de parler

2. Médée, opera, H. 491: Act 2. Scene 1. Vos reproches, Seigneur, ne sont pas légitimes

3. Médée, opera, H. 491: Act 2. Scene 2. Princesse, c'est sur vous que mon espoir se fonde

4. Médée, opera, H. 491: Act 2. Scene 3. Enfin à ton amour tout espoir est permis

5. Médée, opera, H. 491: Act 2. Scene 4. Prince, venez apprendre une heureuse nouvelle

6. Médée, opera, H. 491: Act 2. Scene 5. Qu'ay-je à résoudre encor?

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Médée, opera, H. 491: Act 4. Scene 1. Jamais on ne la vit si belle

2. Médée, opera, H. 491: Act 4. Scene 2. Ah! Que d'attraits

3. Médée, opera, H. 491: Act 4. Scene 3. Si-tost que je parois

4. Médée, opera, H. 491: Act 4. Scene 4. Vos soupçons estoient vrais

5. Médée, opera, H. 491: Act 4. Scene 5. D'où me vient cette horreur?

6. Médée, opera, H. 491: Act 4. Scene 6. Vos adieux sont-ils faits?

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Charpentier's Médée gets this writer's vote for the greatest opera of the entire French Baroque era. In their retelling of the Medea legend, Charpentier and his librettist Corneille combine all the grace, charm, and artifice typical of the French Baroque era with truly gripping drama. William Christie and Les Arts Florissants give a thrilling performance with a fabulous cast featuring stellar high tenor Mark Padmore and "La Divina" Lorraine Hunt (yes, she is the Maria Callas of 18th-century opera) in the role that made her a Baroque superstar. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo!, May 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Médée / Charpentier (Audio CD)

It is hard to believe that this marvelous opera languished in obscurity for 300 years before being revived by Les Arts Florissants! Of all baroque operas, Charpentier's Medee seems particularly well-suited to satisfy any level of modern listener. Charpentier largely dispenses with the formalities of tragedie lyrique: the music in Medee is leitmotif-based and freely invented, blending recitative and aria to the point that they are virtually indistinguishable. While the plot is not realistic (how could it be, it's based on a myth), it is nevertheless quite dramatic. The vocal and instrumental performances, under Christie's intelligent direction, are perfectly calibrated to give effect to this drama. The finale is particularly effective. The expression of despondency in the farewell scene between Jason and Creuse is broken violently by the electrifying scene of the last confrontation between Jason and Medee, where the singers truly sound like they are about to kill each other. The impact is so immediate that it is easy to forget they are even singing. I don't recall ever being quite so impressed.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The power of music and classical drama!, October 14, 1999

By 

Sergio Mascate Pires ([e-mail]) (Lisbon, Portugal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Médée / Charpentier (Audio CD)

I was fortunate to listen to this production, performed in Lisbon in 1994, and I will never forget Lorraine Hunt on her black long dress, calling the spirits of the underwold in the third act... it was a magical moment, something I have no words to express. The recording shows not only that Charpentier and Corneille conceived the best lyrical drama of all time, but also that William Christie and his orchestra are among the best performers of baroque music. If I would have to choose only one record for a desert island, this would be the one! If you don't have it on your collection, you just can't imagine what you are missing...

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charpentier's 1693 and Cherubini's 1797, October 13, 2006

By 

John D. Pilkey "Puluga II" (Santa Clarita, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Médée / Charpentier (Audio CD)

Medee is the seventh French Baroque opera in my collection together with three by Lully and three by Rameau. Charpentier intervened between the two. The opera dates 1693, six years after Lully's death. The plot includes events from the Jason-Medea mythology not found in Cherubini's "first grand opera" Medee, dating a century later in revolutionary Paris in 1797. The sprightly and largely unruffled dignity of Charpentier's music poses a sharp contrast to the thunder of Cherubini's Medee. The contrast between the two operas serves as an index of the vast change from French monarchy at high tide under Louis XIV to the angry republic of revolutionary France in the aftermath of the Regicide of Louis XVI and subsequent Reign of Terror. Cherubini's Medea is a one-woman terror. Not so Charpentier's Medea although she warns of her magical powers with a short musical outburst early in the opera and eventually uses these powers to murder Jason's intended bride Creusa. Charpentier brings in a character, Oronte, lacking in Cherubini. Oronte allies himself with the Corinthian King Creon and then with Medea in a common cause with her as a rejected lover of Creusa just as Medea is rejected by Jason. The whole tenor of the opera is different because Medea sings the opening lines rather than being held back, as Cherubini does, to bring the angry woman on to disturb the peace of Jason's impending wedding. In other words Charpentier's work features a more conventional build-up of motives unlike the diabolical frenzy which Cherubini transferred from the Terror to the ancient sorceress. There are powerful moments in the 1693 work but the dominant qualities are delicacy and regal dignity and optimism. The reason for that optimism is stated in the Prologue by allegorical Victory who has made her home in France for a long time. Louis VIV was a winner in battle. The courtship scene between Jason and Creusa in Act II is one of the most super-refined instances of such an exchange I have ever heard.