Rameau - La Guirlande ~ Zéphyre / Daneman, Méchaly, Ockenden, Decaudaveine, Agnew, Baloza, Cappella Coloniensis, Christie

Jean-Philippe Rameau (Artist), Cappella Coloniensis (Artist), Les Arts Florissants (Artist), William Christie (Artist), Sophie Daneman (Artist), Paul Agnew (Artist), Rebecca Ockenden (Artist), Sophie Decaudaveine (Artist), François Bazola (Artist), Gaëlle Méchaly (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 3, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Erato
• ASIN: B000059QUY
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #381,447 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. La Guirlande: Scene 1: Ritournelle - Cappella Coloniensis Des WDR/William Christie

2. La Guirlande: Scene 1: Peut-on Etre A La Fois Si Tendre Et Si Volage? - Paul Agnew

3. La Guirlande: Scene 1: Ranimez-vous... - Paul Agnew

4. La Guirlande: Scene 1: Toi Qui Vis Mon Erreur - Paul Agnew

5. La Guirlande: Scene 1: Annonce: Mais J'entends Les Bergers Que Ta Fete Rassemble - Paul Agnew

6. La Guirlande: Scene 2: Air Gracieux - Cappella Coloniensis Des WDR/Hiro Kurosaki

7. La Guirlande: Scene 2: Hatons-nous... - Les Arts Florissants/William Christie

8. La Guirlande: Scene 2: Menuets - Cappella Coloniensis Des WDR/Hiro Kurosaki

9. La Guirlande: Scene 3: Zelide, Nos Plaisirs N'ont Rien Qui Vous Amuse? - Francois Bazola/Sophie Daneman

10. La Guirlande: Scene 3: Tout Languit Dans Nos Bois... - Sophie Daneman

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Zephyre: Scene 1: Prld - Les Arts Florissants/William Christie

2. Zephyre: Scene 1: Les Nymphes De Diane Approchent De Ces Leiux - Gaelle Mechaly

3. Zephyre: Scene 1: On Vient/Sous Cet Epais Feuillage/Scene 2: Chantons Le Retour De L'aurore - Gaelle Mechaly/Rebeca Ockenden/Sophie Decaudaveine

4. Zephyre: Scene 2: Gavottes - Les Arts Florissants/William Christie

5. Zephyre: Scene 2: O Diane, Pourquoi Vous Separer De Nous? - Rebeca Ockenden/Sophie Decaudaveine

6. Zephyre: Scene 3: Ou Courez-vous, Nymphe Charmante? - Gaelle Mechaly/Rebeca Ockenden

7. Zephyre: Scene 3: Ou Suis-je? - Rebeca Ockenden/Gaelle Mechaly

8. Zephyre: Scene 3: L'Amour A Des Appas Toujours Victorieux - Gaelle Mechaly/Rebeca Ockenden

9. Zephyre: Scene 4: Courons, Signalons Notre Zele! - Gaelle Mechaly/Sophie Decaudaveine

10. Zephyre: Scene 5: Air - Les Arts Florissants/William Christie

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Though entitled acte de ballet, these two works are really small operas, since the action is carried on mainly by recitatives and arias. However, there is also a profusion of dances: courtly, gracious, stately as well as lively, sometimes in sets amounting to entire suites. They supplement the chorus's commentary on the action and reflect the characters' mood and state of mind. Both works have idyllic, pastoral settings and very flimsy librettos, the first about love among shepherds and shepherdesses, the second between gods, goddesses, and nymphs. It is Rameau's music that infuses these contrived, artificial characters and situations with vibrant life and human emotions, and it is beautiful, with an unfailing crystalline purity, whether expressing joy, pleading, or nostalgia. The orchestra sets and underlines mood and atmosphere with evocative tone-painting; the winds not only imitate whole choirs of birds, but illustrate sighs and emotions; hunting horns herald the goddess Diana. The performance is exemplary, the sound transparent but not thin, and the dances have a supple, lilting rhythm. The singers negotiate their florid arias with ease and communicate tenderness, passion, remorse, anguish, and forgiveness. In La Guirlande, countertenor Paul Agnew and soprano Sophie Daneman are outstanding; in Zéphyre, whose three parts are all sung by sopranos, the wind-god's voice is much brighter than that of the nymph he courts. Described as among Rameau's lesser works, these two pieces seem to have been neglected unjustly. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars small but beautifully formed, January 16, 2011

By 

Dr. T. Hanly "tommytantrum" (uk) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rameau - La Guirlande ~ Zéphyre / Daneman, Méchaly, Ockenden, Decaudaveine, Agnew, Baloza, Cappella Coloniensis, Christie (Audio CD)

This is a fantastic disc which i bought serendipitously during a discovering Rameau phase. I love baroque music generally and have mainly attended to the more obvious and mainsteam composers Handel Bach Vivaldi Scarlatti. I felt i was neglecting the French composers. The recording itself is well produced with good balance of the various musical elements singing and orchestral. If you don't want to commit to a full length opera then these two gems are just the right size. The solo singing is exquisite and recreates an athmosphere of mythic serenity and beauty. tempi are well judged, the french diction feels very authentic (i expect that les arts spend so much time in europe/france that the whole feel for place and time is bound to rub off and having several other recordings by the same group the high standard is expected and met every time. i'm no music expert but i return to this disc time and time again. i particularly like the all female work where to 3 sopranos compliment each other beautifully. i have to confess to listening to the disc mostly without paying attention to the text but the story in my view is not essential to enjoying this as a purely musically experience in itself. it's quite easy without the text to recognise the "affections" that the baroque composers were so familiar with and keen to express in music. in my view a real find...go for it!!