Jouissons de nos beaux ans! Arias by Rameau, Dauvergne, Mondonville, Iso et al Cyrille Dubois (tenor); Orfeo Orchestra & Purcell Choir/György Vashegyi Aparté AP319 77:00 mins
The haute-contre is the highest of the male voices used in Baroque French music, and was particularly in favour in the reign of Louis XIV from whence many of these items come. What Cyrille Dubois has done here is collect together airs and monologues written to display the talents of some of its famous practitioners – Tribou, Jellyotte, Poirier, Legros. The result is a fascinating conspectus of works that open a window onto the refined, pastoral, love-anguished sensibilities of the French operatic repertoire of the 18th century.
Dubois is particularly good in pieces such as Grenet’s ‘Lieux embellis’ where the lyrical vocal line gently glides over a discreet walking bass, or Dauvergne’s ‘La jeune beauté’ where the neat phrases present a conventional yearning for a shepherdess, or Mondonville’s ‘Que vois-je’ where the background tremulousness of his voice indicates that the lover might die of love. Less happy are the more challenging works such as Rameau’s ‘Jouissons de nos beaux ans’ with its rollercoaster runs, or where a more energetic character is required, as in the Bacchic revelry of Dauvergne’s ‘Verse Amour’. The chorus can be dramatic as in its spectacular contribution to the storm scene in Iso’s ‘Éclatez, bruyant tonnerre’.
Anthony Pryer