COMPOSERS: Rameau
LABELS: Opus Arte
ALBUM TITLE: Rameau
WORKS: In Convertando; Pièces de clavecin; documentary 'The Real Rameau'
PERFORMER: Nicolas Rivenz, Sophie Daneman; Les Arts Florissants/William Christie
CATALOGUE NO: OA 0956 D
PRESENTATION: ***
The tendency to divide top honours
in the high Baroque between Bach
and Handel seems most unfair when
Rameau is on the menu. What an
astonishing musical imagination!
As Handel penned the Fireworks
music for the English to celebrate
the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748,
Rameau was doing similar duty for
the French with Naïs, surely one of
the most colourful and innovative
operatic scores of the first half of the
18th century. Clearly the producers
of this DVD share my enthusiasm,
but do not quite deliver complete
conviction. The performance of the
early, breathtakingly inventive motet,
In convertendo, is mostly excellent,
though the audio track does not
always quite match the visuals, and
how often would one want to watch a
performance in which camera angles
take us quite so close to conductor
and soloists?
The chamber performances
are also good, but again one asks
whether DVD the most appropriate
medium. The documentary on
Rameau has much charm and offers
some sound historical insights. But
while full of fascinating information
and abundant, well justified plaudits
from the participants, I doubt it
will bear repeated viewing. William
Christie’s enthusiastic advocacy and
excellent performance of some of the
keyboard music notwithstanding,
what is needed are more excerpts
from the operas. There are some
excellent ones, notably from Platée,
Les Paladins and Les Boréades, but
this particular bran tub could do
with a few more goodies for full
satisfaction. Jan Smaczny