Customer Reviews

Rameau - Hippolyte et Aricie / Fouchécourt, Gens, Fink, Feighan, Smythe, Naouri, Massis, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski

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I bought this recording of Hippolyte et Aricie some years ago now and it has never failed to capture my imagination with its powerful and daring music. The cast of this recording is superb, particularly Fouchécourt and Gens, and Marc Minkowski's Les Musicians du Louvre are in top form here in this live recording.

Hippolyte et Aricie contains a wealth of music, ideas, tunes and styles. André Campra said of it that there is enough music here for twenty operas by lesser composers. The actual term "Baroque" was first coined to describe this opera - so the work is THAT important.

This is a live recording, but do not be troubled by that. There is no obvious audience noise and the recording doesn't feature stage noises in any obvious way.

It is a great pity that ARCHIV didn't arrange for or bankroll the recording of all Rameau's operas by Minkowski, but the three he did record for ARCHIV are very good.

I eagerly recommend this to all lovers of Baroque music.

Sous un certain angle, tout le monde est là : Véronique Gens, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt et Laurent Naouri sous la houlette de Marc Minkowski. Mais celle qui transforme l'enregistrement est la mezzo-soprano argentine Bernarda Fink qui chante Phèdre avec une conviction et une émotion qui n'ont d'égal que la beauté de son phrasé et la justesse de sa prononciation.

Extremely high quality performance, best one I've found thus far. Early French opera is not easy to produce, and Les Musiciens du Louvre did an exceptional job. Highly recommended.

This is my first trying on Ramaeu opera, and that's his first article when he was fifty years old. I must say that it's a amazing experience to me, and I am very appreciated in Rameau's colorful music, so recommande to all who want to taste French baroque opera.