Jean-Philippe Rameau was perhaps the greatest of all French composers of the Baroque. Sylvie Proulx presents an exceptional program of Rameau's works in transcriptions for guitar. Canadian virtuoso guitarist, Sylvie Proulx has concertized throughout Canada, the United States and England. A champion of new works for the guitar, she has presented numerous Canadian world-premieres. Acclaimed for her exceptional musicality and remarkable technique, her repertoire reflects a wide range of periods and styles. In addition to solo and orchestral work, Ms. Proulx always enjoys the collaborative aspect of chamber music, welcoming new and challenging pieces for that genre.

1 multi-channel (5.1) SACD - Total time: 78'25 Packaged in a digipak DVD box The organ is not only a musical instrument; it's also a fascinating machine, whose complexity has increased along the centuries. This new collection aims to discover them, to get closely acquainted with them. But a great part of the magic, proper to the organ, refers to the context that surrounds the instrument. It's quite normal, when entering into a church, to look up and see if an instrument is installed in the building. An organ is not only about producing sounds, it occupies a place in space and in the architecture. In order to reflect the power of this spatiality, we have decided to use, on top of the standard stereo, a multi-channel sound in 5.1, for the music lovers who are equipped with SACD technology. The new collection will of course have the "Alpha touch": fine presentation, book-like, accurate and complete texts, numerous quality pictures. By introducing instruments chosen in the entire world for their exceptional features, we wish to create a close relationship with the public so as to make the personality of each instrument more reachable. The first reference of the collection (Alpha 650) will be devoted to the organ of Cintegabelle (France), a magnificent instrument build in the early 1740's, whose sound colours emphasizes an original programme of transcriptions compiled from Jean-Philippe Rameau's operas, interpreted by Yves Rechsteiner. Why the name of Ugab? Because the organ's original ancestor appears (presumably) under that name in the Old Testament, back in the mists of time...

Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour was Rameau’s first exploration of the world of Egyptian mythology. Its libretto called for magic, gods and extraordinary natural effects to which he responded with one of his most comprehensively brilliant scores, blending a gallant and pastoral inspiration of extreme refinement with powerful vocal and orchestral writing. In his use of a fluid and continuous flow of music, in the theatrical deployment of choruses, and in the blurring of the distinction between recitatives and airs, Rameau entered a new and pioneering stage of development. The score heard in this performance is the authoritative version.

Master of 18th century French opera, Rameau wrote for the stage for three decades (1733-1764). His thirty or so operatic works give considerable space to the haute-contre voice, the quintessence of most of the title roles: Platée, Dardanus, Hippolyte, Pygmalion… Mathias Vidal, a brilliant representative of this haute-contre tessitura, is one of its foremost specialists. Having sung the majority of Rameau’s operas on stage, he is an obvious paradigm of their characters. Together with Gaétan Jarry, he has conceived a programme of the most dazzling and expressive arias, to which have been added scenes accompanied by a chorus. This anthology brings to the fore the radiant voice of this pillar of the Royal Opera of Versailles. For this passionate singer of the French repertory, to record a recital dedicated to Pierre de Jelyotte, Rameau’s haute-contre, makes the theatricality of his music resound to a thrilling climax!