14 December 1645: for the pleasure of the Queen Mother Anne of Austria, and attended by a young King Louis XIV, Cardinal Mazarin put on the first Italian opera in Paris. The Italian company, invited at great expense, performed Sacrati's La Finta Pazza, composed in Venice in 1641. To capture the young 7-year-old monarch’s interest, a flurry of monkeys, bears and ostriches was added! The opulent set decoration by Giacomo Torelli, boasting machinery the likes of which had never before been seen in France, cemented the triumph of this “Feigned Madwoman”, which also featured the first major scene of madness in history: Deidamia must feign madness to keep hold of her lover, the famous Achilles, himself disguised as a woman to escape his fate! Leonardo García Alarcón leads a beautiful and colorful revival of this foundational masterpiece for opera in France, a true miracle of music.

The wedding of Louis XIV with the Infanta of Spain, on 9 June 1660, was an exceptional event, sealing the peace between two monarchies that had been opposed for centuries. The 21-year-old King set off on a journey lasting thirteen months to cross and discover his kingdom: 15,000 people and 8,000 horses, 3,200 km in 95 stages, culminating in a wedding in Saint Jean de Luz! The greatest festivities took place during the wedding ceremony, then on the journey of their Majesties, for their solemn entry into Paris and finally for the opera given in the Louvre in honor of the bride and groom! The finest composers contributed to the celebrations: the King’s trumpets opened the concert, while the church galleries hosted Du Mont’s symphony, organ and motets; finally, the most beautiful excerpts from Cavalli’s Xerxes and Lully’s accompanying ballets celebrated the Royal Wedding of Louis XIV through opera. Vincent Dumestre brings to life the musical splendors of the wedding of the century!

Includes:

Jean-Baptiste Lully - Sonneries pour les trompettes du Roi; Entrée pour la Maison de France; Les Espagnols; Les Basques; Motet pour la Paix (Jubilate Deo)

Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers - Livre d'Orgue contenant Cent Pièces: Plein jeu du 3e ton & Récit de cromorne du troisième ton

Francesco Cavalli - Magnificat; Xerse: Lasciatemi morire

Juan Hidalgo - Celos aun del aire matan; Dos zagalas venian

REVIEW

“The wedding of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Austria was the event of the century!” trumpets the website material for this disc. The King’s various wars might have been even more important events, but as royal weddings go, the one on 9 June 1660 was certainly a big one, not least politically, which for 17^th century royals usually meant dynastically. Maria Theresa was the Infanta of Spain, so the marriage brought peace to monarchies long opposed.

Never mind the title and the recording location. The knot was not actually tied in Versailles. The 21-year old King first went on a year’s royal progress around France to see his new kingdom, and the Infanta of Spain by tradition could not leave her country until she was married. So the borderland of the Basque country was the venue and the celebrations – of marriage and a peace treaty – were held in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, before the new couple progressed through France to Versailles, where yet more celebrations were held.

Music accompanied the royal couple along the way as well. Couperin and Lully tagged along at times, and there was Lully’s now mostly lost Ballet de Toulouse written for one of the stages en route. Vincent Dumestre and Le Poème Harmonique have assembled here just over an hour’s programme selected from across these extended festivities; the exact works used at any point are often uncertain. Matthieu Franchin’s excellent booklet says that the disc “offers […] a selection of music from among all those that may have accompanied, directly or indirectly, the festivities taking place within the vicinity of this wedding”.

The pieces are arranged in five sections to reflect the ceremonial sequence: Aux portes du temple, Entrée des délégations, Célébration de la paix, Mariage and Réjouissance et ballet des nations. The programme opens with a regal sound of some splendour with trumpets and drums of Lully’s fanfare “Sonneries pour les trompettes du Roi”, and these instruments feature quite often in later parts. Couperin’s austere organ prelude follows, to remind us we are in an ecclesiastical building. Lully’s ballet music offers dances suitable for Spaniards and then Basques, the former with guitars and castanets. Veillot’s “O filii e filiae” launches the celebration of the peace with simple and attractive monophony, first with women’s voices solo and choral, with the men joining later.

Lully’s Jubilate Deo sequence, also known as his “Motet de la Paix”, is one of two larger works on the disc included in their entirety. This excellent motet is known to have been much admired by the King, who commanded several performances. It opens with a fine five-part instrumental prelude (or “symphony”), and the choral writing is at times richer still. The choir Compagnie de la Tempête sound thoroughly idiomatic, as do the vocal soloists, none of whose names I knew but who all have attractive voices and the right style and scale for the era.

Two organ pieces by Nivers and a Sinfonia by Rossi lead the sequence for the Marriage itself, which is dominated by the other extended work on the disc, Cavalli’s Magnificat. Every time I hear an unfamiliar piece by the great Venetian, he sounds in the same league as Monteverdi, and so it is here. There is an impressive range of music within the work, plenty of praise and joy of course, but also a brief but searching Et misericordia (“His mercy continues from generation to generation”). The livelier sections are sung and played with impressive agility.

The final Réjouissance (rejoicing) brings secular song and opera, ending with a contribution from the Spanish side. Hidalgo’s opera was commissioned to celebrate the peace and marriage, and was the first Spanish opera, or possibly the first that survived. It makes a light-hearted and jolly close, of the sort not only royal weddings require. We are not quite eavesdropping on history, as this exact sequence of pieces is acknowledged as speculative. But in its spirit of intelligent and informed reconstruction, it is to be celebrated.

The disc has added to my collection no fewer than six names I had not known, and the music is worth hearing. Perhaps it is not quite, in the end, a sequence greater than the sum of its parts, so that one might listen selectively on subsequent playings of the disc. But the standards of execution under Vincent Dumestre’s direction are very good, justifying the high reputation of Le Poème Harmonique, whose earlier discs have won much praise. The booklet, on which I have drawn much here, is very informative, as it must be for this programme. The sound is atmospheric, doubtless reflecting the acoustic of the Royal Chapel of the Château de Versailles, and captures the tang of the colourful old instruments.

--MusicWeb International (Roy Westbrook)

Mondonville achieved the apotheosis of the Grand Motet à la Française: the fruit of Lalande's rhetorical heritage and Rameau's operatic style, in which he developed a sacred work symbolic of the Enlightenment. His great musical frescoes, animated by a sumptuous counterpoint that transfigures the sound of the choir, require unprecedented virtuosity to touch the sublime. A true star of the Concert Spirituel, Mondonville became its most frequently played composer, all the while serving the Chapelle Royale: audiences flocked to enjoy this "rocaille" style music, the sacred expression of Louis XV's reign. Gaétan Jarry offers us the three most splendid jewels.

Marc Minkowski returns with relish to Rameau: the rich colors of the orchestra, the irrepressible dynamics, an exceptional melodic sense make the extracts of his greatest lyrical tragedies shine, like so many anthological moments. These famous overtures, these masterful symphonies, paint a shimmering portrait of Rameau Master of orchestration: it is a veritable feast of oboes, flutes, clarinets, horns and bassoons... Pyrotechnics, storms and rockets leap, and adorned with splendor night or a dazzling light, Rameau's work dazzles us again. Florian Sempey deploys his masterful and truly royal voice when he appeals to the Sun, monstrous when he plays the ogre, but of unparalleled finesse in pain and love... Leaping and mysterious, Rameau's orchestra revived by Minkowski is sumptuous, dancing, jubilant!

Vivaldi's work is extraordinarily profuse, and from his “extraordinary fury of composition” resulted a collection of 12 concertos, preserved in Paris since then, genuine jewels of Vivaldian music! However, for whom were they composed? The French Ambassador in Venice, Jacques-Vincent Languet, who made numerous commissions to Vivaldi in the 1720s? Perhaps as a magnificent gift to a visiting French music lover... Or perhaps François-Etienne, Duke of Lorraine and Bar? A fine music lover and musician, who in 1745 became Emperor Francis I of Austria, gave early protection to Vivaldi, who introduced himself in 1731 as “maestro di cappella di S.A.R. il Serenissimo Sig. Duca di Lorena”. The Paris Concertos would then have passed through the Luneville Court, which was very musical? The mystery is there, but these works influenced Parisian musical life. Stefan Plewniak's raging violin gives them back their full glory in this virtuoso interpretation by the Orchestre de l'Opera Royal de Versailles!

A small opera played in the evening as part of a festive event, the Venetian Serenata was performed outdoors as a crowning moment of the ceremonies. The French Ambassador is said to have commissioned Vivaldi to create this festive Seine to be performed in the Loggia of his Palace overlooking the Lagoon in 1725. As Louis XV came to power after the Regency, the Virtue and the Golden Age returned to France and to the Seine to celebrate the glory of the King. This Serenade, the most extensive left by Vivaldi, is a sumptuous tribute to the young French sovereign. Diego Fasolis conducts the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal and its magnificent soloists, restoring the colours of this masterpiece, adorned with gold and jewels like the French Crown.

From 1663 to 1683, Pierre Robert and Henry Dumont were the official composers of the Royal Chapel of Louis XIV, in charge of the Sovereign's daily sacred music, while Lully reigned over the exceptional ceremonies and (above all) the Opera. All three invented the Grand Motet à la française, whose sumptuousness soon reverberated throughout Europe. The works gathered here by Robert and Dumont are taken from the Song of Songs, a magnificent biblical evocation of the mystical Spouses, that is Christ and the Virgin. Since the Vow of Louis XIII, who dedicated France to Mary to thank her for the birth of Louis XIV, the Kingdom and its Sovereign were of great Marian piety. Olivier Schneebeli, with 30 years of musical direction of the Pages and Chantres of the Centre de Musique Baroque Versailles, brings the splendid eloquence of these Grands Motets to the Chapel of Louis XIV.

An ancient hero, a dragon, a young goddess: love and glory are at the heart of Lully's first opera, first performed in front of Louis XIV. As in his previous works - divertissements, ballets de cour and comédies- ballets - Lully makes the voices and the orchestra sparkle, multiplying the pieces which stand out and that were appealing to the court. But with the help of the librettist Philippe Quinault, he introduced the dramatic force of French classical tragédie in an exclusively musical work: and here the audience was bewitched by the mythical love stories so sumptuously portrayed. The first tragic heroes, the first great love duets, the first tears from the audience: the tragédie-lyrique, this opera in the French manner, was born, and thanks to it, until his death in 1687, Lully would never cease to delight. Vincent Dumestre brilliantly resuscitates this seminal work, thus celebrating with dignity the three hundred and fifty years of the Académie royale de musique!

The resounding success Handel’s Messiah encountered the first time it was presented in Dublin in 1742 set the scene for its future. The oratorio depicts the Sacred History of Christ in three parts: the Nativity, Christ’s Passion and Resurrection and finally, Redemption. The alternance of airs and choirs is perfect and Handel’s musical knowledge infallible. Messiah quickly became the composer’s most successful work. It was played thirty-six times during his lifetime and has continued to be presented to modern day, embodying just how majestic and sublime music can be. During its première in London, King George II was so moved by the mythical Hallelujah! that he could not help but leap to his feet, with the entire audience following his lead. In the sumptuous Royal Chapel at Versailles, Hervé Niquet leads four impassioned soloists and a tremulous choir to the height of Handel’s most resplendent baroque edifice!

Napoleon was intensely enthusiastic about opera. The conquering music lover called for the young Italian star, the contralto Giuseppina Grassini, and the most magnificent castrato: Girolamo Crescentini to perform for him. He was the only singer to move the Emperor to tears. Crescentini was invited to France from 1806 to 1812. He sang at glorious evening performances at the Tuileries Imperial Chapel with Grassini, named First Cantatrice to His Majesty the Emperor – and his mistress. Napoleon had an incredible passion for Italian opera, as shown by the 143 Italian soloist concerts given at the Court between 1810 and 1815! Zingarelli’s Giulietta e Romeo opera was a major performance given by Grassini and Crescentini. It was created at the Scala en 1796 and performed several times in Paris before Napoleon by his two favorite singers. “They make heroism burst forth in me”, Napoleon would say. Franco Fagioli and Adèle Charvet revive the pair of Empire stars in a selection of the main acts of Zingarelli’s opera – completely forgotten today whereas it was a triumph throughout Europe for three decades – thanks to a splendid Bel Canto: this is Napoleon’s Opera!

What if Vivaldi’s famous Quattro Stagioni, performed in Paris in 1728, had been preceded by those of Guido, the star violinist of the Parisian orchestras of Louis XIV’s maturity? Here, at last, are these two works reunited: to the well-known virtuosity of Vivaldi’s work, of extraordinary impact, Guido’s Seasons oppose a mixture of Italian features and a thousand facets worthy of the French Court, with an infectious ardor! A mysterious Neapolitan who arrived in Paris around 1702 as Music Master to Philippe d’Orléans, Guido was close to the financier Crozat, who in 1716 commissioned Watteau to produce four paintings on the theme of the Seasons: he set them to music around 1717 with his Quattro Stagioni dell’anno. So, Vivaldi or Guido, who inspired the other? For this exciting confrontation, the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal is enriched with wind instruments, and suddenly a thousand colors appear: the song of birds, the hurdy-gurdy of peasant dances, the shepherd’s flute, and the hunting horns! Conducted by the virtuoso Andrés Gabetta, here is all the music of Vivaldi and more: Eight Seasons!

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!

Two viola da gamba players, two inspired soloists, two major composers of the century of Louis XIV: Marais and Sainte Colombe. What could be more sensually French? When Sainte Colombe published his Concerts à deux violes esgales, he made two almost human voices sing together, their complaints almost religious, and touched the heart with his poetry and perfection. His disciple Marin Marais found new colors in his viol duets, and a more dramatic discourse: the autumn of the Great King's life was immersed in this sumptuous music, so closely linked to the spirit of the French Court. To bring this intimate Versailles back to life, Mathilde Vialle and Myriam Rignol take us into the mysterious harmonies of two violes esgales… until the famous Couplets de Folies!

With the creation of his masterpiece Les Indes galantes in 1735, Rameau renewed the genre of opera-ballet with the presentation of separate independent tableaux, to include a series of crazy love stories involving exotic peoples, treated in various manners: dramatic for The Generous Turk, tragic for The Incas of Peru and comic for The Savages. A phenomenal success with 320 performances! The young Valentin Tournet has chosen the 1761 version, which includes the Prologue followed by three Entrées. In The Incas entrée, the Earthquake and the descent of the High Priest into the underworld are extraordinary moments. The Turkish entrée opens with unbridled passion, dominated by a storm scene of extreme beauty. Finally, the famous Dance of the Savages could in itself sum up the whole of French opera of the 18th century. A splendid vocal cast makes splendid use of the evocative powers of the French language, at the heart of an orchestra at the service of Rameau’s delightful music, whose colors and sumptuousness shimmer thanks to Valentin Tournet.

The most famous ‘Lecons de Tenebres’ are those of Francois Couperin, dating from 1714. At the end of the rein of Louis XIV, the sacred emotions composed by Couperin for his female singers would appear to have originated in an opera… In the Parisian convents, people made haste to listen to these divine voices singing the Lessons of Holy Week, the faceless voices of young convent recluses, voices form heaven… but more often Opera singers! The candles were extinguished as the Tenebrae service progressed, concluding in the darkness of the night… The Lecons by Francois Couperin, organist of La Chapelle Royale for 37 years, are the pinnacle of French sacred art in the Century of Louis Le Grand. The sublime and juvenile voices of Florie Valiquette and Sophie Junker intertwine in virtuosity and lamentations, giving this music a fascinating freshness. At the head of the soloists of the Royal Opera Orchestra, Stephane Fuget works on the ornamentation in the time-honored traditional manner, giving meaning to each phase, and bringing out the brilliance of this apotheosis of French baroque singing.