Portrait of Love

Louis-Nicolas Clerambault (Composer), Francois Couperin (Composer), Marin Marais (Composer), Michel Pignolet de Monteclair (Composer), Sonnerie (Performer), Trio Sonnerie (Performer), Nancy Argenta (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Sonnerie, Trio Sonnerie, Nancy Argenta
• Composer: Louis-Nicolas Clerambault, Francois Couperin, Marin Marais, Michel Pignolet de Monteclair
• Audio CD (September 8, 1998)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
• ASIN: B00000C2AP
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #930,004 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to French Baroque music, April 28, 2000

By	David Leeson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Over the past year I have discovered and fallen in love with French Baroque music, and with Harmonia Mundi's superb recordings thereof. "A Portrait of Love" is an excellent introduction to both. Trio Sonnerie provides a sampling of the most popular genres and composers, including cantatas by Clerambault and Monteclair, a trio sonata and a harpsichord suite by Francois Couperin, and two viol pieces by Marin Marais, including my personal favourite, "La Sonnerie de Sainte Geneviève du Mont À Paris." This CD also introduces you to the most common theme in secular French Baroque music: love, its pleasures, and its pains. "Le Mort de Didon," for example, depicts Dido, Queen of Carthage, lamenting over the departure of her beloved Aeneas, and Monteclair's cantata for solo soprano makes an interesting contrast with Purcell's opera on the same mythological subject. Both the playing and the singing on this CD sound superb to my (admittedly untrained) ear, and the recording is up to Harmonia Mundi's usual high standards. If you would like to sample the sounds of the French Baroque, this is the place to start. If you have already discovered the French Baroque, this will make a fine addition to your collection: Trio Sonnerie's version of the eponymous "Sonnerie" is especially intense and interesting.

If you enjoy this recording, I encourage you to check out other releases from Harmonia Mundi, an independent French label that advertises itself, truthfully, as "The Best in Classical Music." HM has recordings to suit any budget, from full-price new releases, to its mid-price "Suite" line, to its bargain-price "Musique d'abord" line. Musique d'abord is especially good value, offering older recordings by superb performers like William Christie's Les Arts Florissants at half the price of a new release. I have over three dozen discs from Harmonia Mundi, and I've loved every one of them.