COMPOSERS: De Blamont/Clérambault/Batistin
LABELS: Archiv
WORKS: Didon; Le soleil, vainqueur des nuages; Héraclite et Démocrite
PERFORMER: Jennifer Smith, Mireille Delunsch (soprano), Thierry Félix (baritone); Les Musiciens du Louvre/Marc Minkowski
CATALOGUE NO: 449 144-2
The French Baroque is full of hidden treasures, not least in the early 18th-century cantata repertoire where native wit was energised by Italian characteristics. All three cantatas on this disc are captivating for their melodic charm and theatrical vitality. Minkowski and his players respond as successfully to the high drama of the ‘Tempest’ overture to Blamont’s Didon as to the refined sentiment and humour of Batistin’s fascinating Italianate dialogue between the lachrymose Héraclite and the cynical Démocrite, while Mireille Delunsch’s singing of Clérambault’s magnificent Soleil, vainqueur des nuages is a model of passion and sensibility. Some will find Jennifer Smith rather hectoring in Didon, but she and Thierry Félix are splendid in the Batistin. With few reservations this is a remarkable issue. Jan Smaczny
De Blamont/ClŽrambault/Batistin
The French Baroque is full of hidden treasures, not least in the early 18th-century cantata repertoire where native wit was energised by Italian characteristics. All three cantatas on this disc are captivating for their melodic charm and theatrical vitality.
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:07 pm