Rameau: Le Temple de la Gloire
$64.00
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JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU
Rameau: Le Temple de la Gloire
Judith Van Wanroij, Karia Vellatz, Chantal Santon-Jeffery, Mathias Vidal, Alain Buet / Les Agrémens, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Guy Van Waas
[ Ricercar / 2 CD/Book ]
Release Date: Sunday 20 March 2016
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
2 CD + Book
Le Temple de la Gloire is the only opera with a libretto by Voltaire that was performed during the 18th century, first in Versailles and later at the Opéra in Paris. Voltaire altered the intention of his commission somewhat, which was to celebrate Louis XV's military victory at Fontenay in 1745: he transformed the Temple of Glory into a Temple of Public Happiness.
Voltaire's intention was to reform French opera, giving it less love affairs and more spectacle. Rameau aided him brilliantly in this and, using his large orchestra to the full, composed some of his most original and most beautiful music-even though he was to reintroduce some love interest and lyricism for the work's Parisian revival in 1746.
"The performance, by a group heretofore unknown to me, is impeccable. Solo vocal standouts are the bluff, nasty bass Alain Buet, who sings Envy and Belus; the characterful and lovely soprano Judith Van Wanroij as both Lydia (a princess jilted by Belus) and Plautine (Trajan's wife); and Matthias Vidal, a full-bodied haute-contre as Apollo, Bacchus, and Trajan. The two other soloists, Katia Velletaz and Chantal Santon-Jeffrey, in multiple roles, are stars in their own right. The expertly trained choir and orchestra under Guy Van Waas, singing and playing with verve and even vibrato, turn this piece into the celebration it was meant to be, and the recording is vivid and brilliant. And did I mention that the entire opera-ballet takes just over two hours? This is the perfect way to acquire the taste for French Baroque." (10/10 ClassicsToday Feb 2016)
