Customer Reviews

Rameau - Les Grands Motets / Daneman, Rime, Agnew, Rivenq, Cavallier, Les Arts Florissants, Christie

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This is an extraordinary performance which deservedly received the Gramophone best vocal CD award for 1995. Rameau's music is very recognizable, its distinctive flavor evident in the melodic structure of the motets and in the agrements with which they are performed. This flavor is characteristically French, permeating French baroque music generally, yet present in Rameau's compositions in its purest, most refined, strain. Even in motets which are, as the name implies, of a religious origin, Rameau's music is animated, espressive and individualized. Whether or not it was performed in a church or in a salon, it implies a radical personal relationship with God, as opposed to serving merely as part of an impersonal medium between the holder and the recipient of truth, the role the earlier church music (e.g. Gesualdo) served. For this reason, Rameau's motets are surprisingly gripping, in a way that can appeal even to a casual listener. They are also superbly performed. Christie, a notable expert in French baroque, offers a finely tuned yet emotional account of these motets. Some of the best baroque soloists, all of whom enjoy a lasting and productive relationship with Christie, make memorable contributions to this recording. I was particularly impressed with the singing of Paul Agnew, Christie's favorite tenor at the moment, and Nicolas Rivenq whose basse-taille is simply glowing. Like I said, these soloists have made a number of other recordings with Christie which, I think, anybody with the remotest interest in baroque should definitely discover. My personal favorite is La Descente d'Orphee aux Enfers, with Agnew.

Rameau is one of those composers, like Mozart, whose style did not vary greatly from one genre to the next. Both could be accused of writing sacred music that is too operatic in nature. This is especially true of Rameau; you will hear music in these Grand Motets that might have come from one of his many operas. Is this a bad thing? Not at all. In his operas, Rameau was more concerned, it seems, with expanding the role of the orchestra and chorus, and with achieving musical fidelity to the text, than with deep psychological exploration of character. In his sacred music, the same concerns produce ensembles that, rich though the counterpoint may be, convey the text with utter clarity; try the remarkable quartet "Conturbatae sunt gentes" from "Deus Noster Refugium." These concerns also produce lively--or poignant--but always fluid choruses and charming orchestral effects, especially in the winds. Only Rameau could achieve the wonderful colors that flutes, oboes, and bassoons lend to the slow solos and choruses. They're almost like another choir of voices. This is gorgeous music.

William Christie and Les Arts Florissants are superb advocates. The orchestra makes wonderful sounds, and the chorus tosses off Rameau's coloratura with great aplomb. Of the soloists, Paul Agnew and Sophie Daneman are especially praiseworthy, but everyone involved contributes to the thorough success of this endeavor. There is great presence to the sound as well. It's a fairly close recording but with plenty of air and with a perfect balance among the forces involved. A disc to be cherished.

Rameau is one of those endlessly surprising composers - you think you know Rameau through his highly inventive keyboard music, and then you realize you missed the fact that he's a great orchestral genius. And then a great opera composer - and here as a genius of choral music. The music of the Motets is complex and yet, as always with Rameau, with a very "straight to the heart" emotional content. Bill Christie and his Les Arts Florissants are the perfect ensemble to convey the maximum output from this wonderful music. Enjoy!

Spindly, crotchety, miserly Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) was lucky in longevity; had he died at the normal 45 years of age of his era, he'd be the most thoroughly forgotten composer of the baroque. His first opera wasn't written until he was fifty. Before that, most of his compositions were for keyboard, and surprisingly few of them were sacred music, considering that his employment was chiefly in churches. He wrote, as far as anyone knows, only four grand motets, and of those only the three recorded here have survived complete. Then, at fifty he emerged from the long shadow of Lully and became an overnight sensation in Paris, the companion of Voltaire, the mortal enemy of Rousseau -- two high recommendations there -- and the most revered of all French baroque composers. His conversation didn't earn him his place in society, though. It was said of him that, once he closed the lid of his harpsichord, there was no one home.

Bill Christie studied history at Harvard in the early '60s, taking musical time out to direct the Harvard-Radcliffe Glee Club. After Harvard, he studied music at Yale, removed himself to Europe, and became the finest conductor of French Baroque music of our times. The name of his ensemble, Les Arts Florissantes, is the gold seal of glorious musicianship on any CD or DVD where you find it. For this recording of Rameau, he has assembled a quintet of singers sans pareil: sopranos Sophie Daneman and Noemi Rime, alto Paul Agnew, tenor/baritone Nicolas Rivenq, and magnificent bass Nicolas Cavallier, plus a flawless ensemble of strings, flutes, oboes, bassoons, and continuo.

The "Grand" motets of the French Baroque are typically massive extended works consisting of many contrasting movements and requiring large instrumental forces with soloists and choir. The texts are always in Latin, usually taken from the Psalms. They are expected to be "grand" in every sense. Rameau's three compositions in the form are unique, being more exhuberant and lively than grandiose, full of vivacity and grace rather than pomp and ceremony. Rameau makes brilliant use of instrumental colors and vocal embellishments of the most delicate originality, totally unlike the usual formulas of the genre. It's no wonder his music was attacked as radical and disrespectful of tradition! This music shimmers with imagination.

I can't think of a better performance of French baroque vocal music than this, or of a more convincing demonstration of Rameau's greatness. Buy it used if necessary, but get it while you can. Failing that, there is another recording of the three Grands Motets, led by Philippe Herreweghe; it's very fine also, though not as sublimely sprightly as Christie's.

From start to finish, this CD transports you to a place rarely visited by mortals. One of my favorites; strong vocals, ethereal music.