Texte paru dans: / Appeared in:
  
Early Music Today (03-05/2015)

Aparté
AP094



Code-barres / Barcode: 3149028050721 (ID467)

Consultez toutes les évaluations recensées pour ce cd ~~~~ Reach all the evaluations located for this CD

 
Reviewer: Simon Rees
 
 

Amadis of Gaul was Don Quixotes favourite legendary hero, and Louis XIV also associated himself with the legendary knight. Since French fashion in opera plots was moving away from classical mythology towards the medieval Christian romances, Amadis was the ideal subject for Lully's 1684 opera. His librettist, Philippe Quinault, did his best to point up the parallels between Amadis and his own patron, the Sun King.

 

Christophe Rousset conducts his ensemble, Les Talens Lyriques, in this stylish ‑and stylishly‑presented recording. The three CDs are accompanied by a booklet including several scholarly essays, a libretto in French and English, and some useful reproductions taken from the original score and set designs.

The title role is for haute‑contre; Cyril Auvity floats his high notes idiomatically
and has a pleasant timbre with none of the nasal quality sometimes associated with this voice. His beloved Oriane is sung by Judith van Wanroij, a Dutch soprano who specialises in French baroque. The villainous sorcerers Arcabonne and Arcalaüs (Ingrid Perruche and Edwin Crossley‑Mercer) have a threatening edge, while only Urgande (Bénédicte Tàuran) occasionally drops below the excellent standards of intonation of the rest of the cast. A particular pleasure was the plummy continuo, with Lynda Sayce on lute, which brought depth and resonance to what might otherwise have been dryish recitative.

Fermer la fenêtre/Close window

 

Cliquez l'un ou l'autre bouton pour découvrir bien d'autres critiques de CD
 Click either button for many other reviews