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
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).
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
