Lully: Amadis
Cyril Auvity, Judith Van Wanroij, Ingrid Perruche, Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Benoît Arnould, Bénédicte Tauran, Hasnaa Bennani, Pierrick Boisseau, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Caroline Weynants & Virginie Thomas
Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
Awards:
-
BBC Music Magazine, February 2015, Opera Choice
The triumph here is provided by the soloists making the most of their opportunities. Cyril Auvity, magnificent in the title role, provides a range of timbre, both heroic and soft-grained, with...
Lully: Amadis
Cyril Auvity, Judith Van Wanroij, Ingrid Perruche, Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Benoît Arnould, Bénédicte Tauran, Hasnaa Bennani, Pierrick Boisseau, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Caroline Weynants & Virginie Thomas
Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
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Awards:
-
BBC Music Magazine, February 2015, Opera Choice
The triumph here is provided by the soloists making the most of their opportunities. Cyril Auvity, magnificent in the title role, provides a range of timbre, both heroic and soft-grained, with...
About
After 'Roland', 'Persée', 'Bellérophon' and, most recently, 'Phaéton', Christophe Rousset continues his revival of Lully's tragédies lyriques, written at the time of Louis XIV, with this performance of 'Amadis', one of the composer’s finest scores: a masterpiece of French music, wonderfully balanced, extremely accomplished. It was Louis XIV himself who asked Lully and his librettist Quinault to base an opera on Montalvo’s early 16th C 'Amadís de Gaula', thus breaking with the usual mythological subjects and giving them an opportunity to change significantly the general intention of the tragédie lyrique genre. For the first time the prologue is closely linked to the main body of the work. The ‘symphonic’ pieces, supported by trumpets and kettledrums, are quite remarkable, especially the final chaconne, which is probably the finest in the whole of French opera. The arias are full of feeling, with the famous ‘Bois épais’, ‘Tu me trahis, malheureux’, ‘Il m’appelle’ moving constantly between heroic courage and the sadness caused by fearful love.
'Amadis', premièred in Paris in 1684, was performed constantly in the capital until 1772 and is here captured in a new recording from 4-6 July 2013 at the Opéra royal du Château de Versailles.
Contents and tracklist
- Bénédicte Tauran, Caroline Weynants, Cyril Auvity, Ingrid Perruche, Virginie Thomas, Pierrick Boisseau, Benoit Arnould, Hasnaa Bennani, Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Judith van Wanroij
- Les Talens Lyriques, Chœur de Chambre de Namur
- Christophe Rousset
Awards and reviews
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BBC Music MagazineFebruary 2015Opera Choice
February 2015
The triumph here is provided by the soloists making the most of their opportunities. Cyril Auvity, magnificent in the title role, provides a range of timbre, both heroic and soft-grained, with some exquisite ornamentation...Generally well recorded, this CD displays much that is finest in Lully performance today.
December 2014
Rousset directs from the harpsichord with rhythmical zest and contrasting shades of light and dark, such as the ebbing and flowing contours of tripping solo airs and cheerful choruses...Les Talens Lyriques' expertly played grand chaconne at the opera's conclusion is another fine testament to Rousset's Lulliste fascination.
21st January 2015
there are moments of delicate beauty where the vocal decorations intensify the emotional turmoil of the character singing...One singer who really does make me sit up…is Edwin Crossley-Mercer, as Arcalaüs. This is a singer to watch – or rather, hear. He has a beautifully smooth, rich voice and his crystalline diction immediately enlivens any text he sings … The female voices here are uniformly attractive.
February 2015
The cast would be difficult to improve upon. Cyril Auvity’s flawed hero Amadis displays not only ardent passion by also extreme sensitivity …Rousset's oft-expressed love for Lully’s music shines through every bar, and he draws superlative playing from Les Talens Lyriques, whose continuo group in particular excels. This is one of those true rarities – a near-perfect opera recording.
Early Music Today March/May 2015
[a] stylish – and stylishly presented – recording.
Opera Now December 2014
Rousset is admirably crisp, producing a very sumptuous sound from the small band.
Audiophile Audition 16th December 2014
all the principals are solidly enthroned in the best offering of what is the current understanding of the tradition…there is much to enjoy…The sound is clear, vivid, and state of the art for non-surround issues.
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