Mondonville - Grand Motets / Daneman, Wieczorek, Agnew, Piolino, Konigsberger, Bazola, Les Arts Florissants, Christie [Import]

Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville (Artist), Les Arts Florissants (Artist), William Christie (Artist), Sophie Daneman (Artist), Maryseult Wieczorek (Artist), Paul Agnew (Artist), François Piolino (Artist), Maarten Konigsberger (Artist), François Bazola (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 28, 1997)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Warner Music France
• ASIN: B000005E5D
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,856 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Dominus Regnavit: Dominus Regnavit

2. Dominus Regnavit: Et Enim Firmavit

3. Dominus Regnavit: Parata Sedes

4. Dominus Regnavit: Elevaverunt Flumina

5. Dominus Regnavit: Testimonia Tua

6. Dominus Regnavit: Gloria Patri

7. In Exitu Israel: March And Chorus 'In Exitu'

8. In Exitu Israel: Mare Vidit

9. In Exitu Israel: Jordanis Conversus Est Retrosum

10. In Exitu Israel: Montes Exsultaverunt

11. In Exitu Israel: Quid Est Tibi, Mare

12. In Exitu Israel: A FAcie Domini

13. In Exitu Israel: Qui Timent Dominum

14. In Exitu Israel: Non Nortui Laubabunt Te

15. De Profundis: De Profundis Clamavi

16. De Profundis: Fiant Aures Tuae

17. De Profundis: Quia Apud Te

18. De Profundis: A Cusodia Matutina

19. De Profundis: Quia Apud Dominum

20. De Profundis: Et Ipse Redimet Israel

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can't imagine..., August 29, 2008

By 

Giordano Bruno - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mondonville - Grand Motets / Daneman, Wieczorek, Agnew, Piolino, Konigsberger, Bazola, Les Arts Florissants, Christie (Audio CD)

...why everybody hasn't become a rabid fan of French Baroque music, especially in the last decade with performers of the quality of Bill Christie's Les Arts Florissants! It's lively, it's direct to the senses, it's rich in variety, and even when it's deeply spiritual it's never lugubrious or ponderous. If YOU are one of the unconverted, this CD of the Grands Motets of Jean-Joseph de Mondonville (1711-1772) might be the performance that will open your ears. In addition to the usual charms of French Baroque, Mondonville's music is at times brilliantly colorful, fall-down funny, gracefully balletic, sensual, and staunchly noble, all in good turn.

Mondonville was always a crowd pleaser by choice, far more popular in his time than more "elite" composers like Rameau, but these Grands Motets are not fluff by any means. They are as deeply rooted in the theory and tradition of the music of the French royal chapel as any of the scores of Grand Motets stretching back to the youth of Louis XIV and continuing to the French Revolution. Essentially, to be a "Grand Motet", the sacred Latin text had to be set in grand style, with chorus, orchestra, and soloists, almost always in six or more contrasting sections avoiding the repetition of da capo forms. The text was supreme and had to be set intelligibly as well as expressively. The great model was always Lully, even 100 years later. The orchestra of Les Arts Florissantes has been augmented for this recording, with 13 violins, 6 violas, 6 cellos, 2 double basses, flutes, oboes, bassoons, organ, and harpsichord - grand forces indeed for music to be performed in a chapel! The six vocal soloists, led by soprano Sophie Daneman, are all Christie stalwarts and singers of superb technique. By the middle of the 18th C, the Grand Motet had in fact emerged from the chapel to compete with the opera for large public audiences in Paris, on the program of the "Concert Spirituel", where Mondonville became music director in 1755.

Mondonwille was apparently fond of musical word-painting, and ready to stretch his orchestrations to accomplish special effects: flood sounds, earthquakes, descents and ascents of angels. The first motet on this disk, Domis regnavit, throws formality to the winds in its boisterous portrayal of waves crashing at the Lord's command. And just imagine what Mondonville makes of this text from the motet In Exitu Israel: "The mountains skipped like rams / and the little hills like lambs."

Everything that needs to be said about the quality of this performance is expressed in the name William Christie. In Bill We Trust!

Les Arts Florissantes, by the way, is partially but critically supported by funds from the French Ministry of Culture, the Regional Council of Basse-Normandie, and the city of Caen. Governmental support of the arts is age-old and proper, the best use the state can make of public money in long-term investment. Bill Christie is an American, but he has spent his career enriching the lives of Europeans because of the dire failure of American governments to support music and the other arts significantly.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars magnificent, September 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mondonville - Grand Motets / Daneman, Wieczorek, Agnew, Piolino, Konigsberger, Bazola, Les Arts Florissants, Christie (Audio CD)

Mondonville is quite unknown, but he became one of my favorite composers because of Grands Motets. If you like Mozart's requiem or Brahms' German requiem this is an absolute must.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christie at his best., August 28, 2003

By 

Sir Cecil (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mondonville - Grand Motets / Daneman, Wieczorek, Agnew, Piolino, Konigsberger, Bazola, Les Arts Florissants, Christie (Audio CD)

Christie once said in an interview that he was no great admirer of Mondonville's operas. However, he was full of praise for these Grand Motets and his enthusiasm for this fine music is reflected in a superlative performance. There's plenty of drama and exquisite beauty to be heard on this CD and, if you know and like Christie's wonderful recording of Rameau's motets, you'll surely be happy to discover this CD. The vocal performances are particularly strong and the instrumental work reflects Christie's invariably fine taste perfectly.
Not to be missed.