Marais: Sémélé [Import]

Marin Marais (Composer), Herve Niquet (Conductor), Le Concert Spirituel (Orchestra), Shannon Mercer (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Shannon Mercer
• Orchestra: Le Concert Spirituel
• Conductor: Herve Niquet
• Composer: Marin Marais
• Audio CD (April 29, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Glossa
• ASIN: B0016OODHK
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #270,728 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Sémélé, opera: Prologue. Ouverture

2. Sémélé, opera: Prologue. Choeur. Accourons pour un Dieu nouveau

3. Sémélé, opera: Prologue. Marche d'Égipans et de Ménades

4. Sémélé, opera: Prologue. Duo et choeur. Le fils du maistre du tonnerre

5. Sémélé, opera: Prologue. Duo. Chantons ses glorieux exploits

6. Sémélé, opera: Prologue. Premier Air pour les Ménades

7. Sémélé, opera: Prologue. Deuxième Air pour les Mesmes

8. Sémélé, opera: Prologue. Air. Goûtons icy les plus doux charmes

9. Sémélé, opera: Prologue. Troisième Air pour les mesmes

10. Sémélé, opera: Prologue. Prélude et récit. O Ciel! quel est l'effet de ce nectar

See all 39 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Sémélé, opera: Act 3. Prélude et récit. Non, je ne doute plus

2. Sémélé, opera: Act 3. Récit et duo. Ne doutes point de ta vengeance

3. Sémélé, opera: Act 3. Prélude et récit. Tremble des maux qu'on te prépare

4. Sémélé, opera: Act 3. Air. Amour, régnez en paix

5. Sémélé, opera: Act 3. Récit. Quoy! Jupiter vous ayme

6. Sémélé, opera: Act 3. Prélude et récit. Terrible Roy des pâles ombres

7. Sémélé, opera: Act 3. Symphonie

8. Sémélé, opera: Act 3. Récit. Le charme est fait

9. Sémélé, opera: Act 3. Choeur et récit. Ordonne; nous obéissons

10. Sémélé, opera: Act 3. Air pour les Furies

See all 32 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Niquet performs a tragédie in its entirety, for once. . ., August 1, 2008

By 

Zaida (Bremerton, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marais: Sémélé (Audio CD)

I was a little disappointed when I found out that Glossa was going to release this recording before that of Lully's Proserpine, but I was soon impressed. The French conductor Hérve Niquet and his period instrument group did recordings three tragédie lyriques, of which this was the most recently recorded. Callihoé, the first to be released, lacked the prologue and had a couple of very minor cuts, but I would still rank it above Rousset's recording of Vénus et Adonis, by Desmarest. Lully's Proserpine was the first to be recorded, but the international edition of that recording won't come out until September or October here. That opera was also performed without the prologue, effectively making it the 1758 version, not the original of 1680. Anyway, Sémélé was first performed in 1709, and is presented here in its entirety. The recording is nearly flawless, and the cast is first-rate. Marais seems to have had a certain lightness of touch, a feature not nearly so notable in the music of his contemporaries (ie Desmarest,Rebel, or even Lully).