Reinoud Van Mechelen et al; Choeur de Chambre de Namur; Les Talens Lyriques/Christophe Rousset
Château de Versailles CVS126 172:48 mins (3 discs)
Christophe Rousset’s latest Lully production is a bold experiment, in which he liberates the artists he directs to take risks within the aesthetic parameters he defines. Rousset leads the assembled musicians in the creation of a propulsive drama in which Lully, inspired by Philippe Quinault’s text, gloriously fused words with music.
The story treats the collusion of King Célénus with the sorceress Cybèle to win their respective objects of desire, the nymph Sangaride and her secret lover Atys. Cybèle, discovering Atys’s passion for Sangaride, induces a madness in which Atys kills his lover, and later himself. This leaves both Cybèle and Célénus with matter for repentance.
Soprano Marie Lys is deeply moving as Sangaride, thanks to her luminous colours and delicate handling of climaxes. Tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen is her ideal partner as Atys: vocally sinuous, interpretatively precocious, energetically sexy. Philippe Estèphe as Célénus and Ambroisine Bré as Cybèle render audible, through their fine handling of line, the dissolution of their characters’ authority. The Choeur de Chambre de Namur embraces extremes of characterisation, from violent devils to languid nymphs, with infectious relish.
The instrumentalists of Les Talens Lyriques brilliantly tease out the drama, as for instance by edging a sunny dance with the menace of approaching crisis, but the ultimate glory is Rousset’s playing of the harpsichord, to which he gives its own affective voice – rejoicing, chiding, urging, weeping – to match the action.
