Early French Baroque III

To make a lasting impression: that was precisely the grand project of Mazarin, who had just returned to power after the disturbances of the Fronde rebellion. Commissioned by the cardinal in person, this ballet project had been conceived at the highest levels of state as a promotional tool for royal power: the intention was to impose respect on the high- ranking personages of the kingdom, to impress the Parisians who were present, and to disseminate this message elsewhere in the world through the intermediary of the foreign representations.

If today’s historians are in agreement that the Ballet de la Nuit was one of the key spectacles of Louis XIV’s reign, that is because it was influential in numerous respects: political, institutional, aesthetic and musical. For the first time in the history of the genre, the libretto is unified and skilfully laid out in four veilles (the watches of the night) and a concluding grand ballet; all the levels of interpretation and all the arts move towards a single goal: the rising of the Sun.

For this purpose, Mazarin, asked the highest and most reknown artists in the kingdom and in Italy to compose this ode to the young king. The poetry that accompanied the royal ballet was by the illustrious Isaac de Benserade, who already had a high reputation as a writer in 1653, and who was to excel in both the ballet de cour genre and the précieux register. Deploying the widest possible range of learning and invention in his verse, playing by turns on the whimsical, the serious, the comic and the burlesque, Benserade calls on references from mythology, romance and contemporary life.

It is often difficult to establish the names of the composers who wrote the music for the ballets de cour of the early years of Louis XIV’s reign. For the Ballet royal de la Nuit, we can only be sure of the identity of one of them, namely Jean de Cambefort (c.1605-61), who furnished the vocal récits and airs that open each of the four veilles. Many other composers surely took part in it.

The best known of the composers presented here is Marc-Antoine Charpentier who is represented by six pieces opening with the ‘Ouverture. Scènes 1 & 2’ from Téméraire Alcidon; whilst this sets the scene well with some excellent instrumental work (something that is a feature throughout this disc) it is the contribution of the three solo male singers, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Cyril Auvity and Lisandro Abadie, that really makes this track stand out. There is some nicely considered interplay between the three which brings this lovely scene between the two shepherds and the god Pan to life. However, it is his ‘Amor vince ogni cosa’, that people will remember most, especially with its depiction of animal noises, a wolf and sheep, from the singers.

Michel Lambert is probably best remembered for his tender Leçons De Ténèbres and his Airs de Cour and was also represented on volume one. Whilst his music, other than the Leçons, is usually featured on compilation discs, there have been a few discs devoted to him and his music, including an earlier incarnation of Les Arts Florissants devoting a disc to his Airs de Cour (HMA 1901123) which was originally released in 1984 and still sounds as compelling as it did then. Here he gets seven tracks, with the beautiful lament ‘J’aimerais mieux souffrir la mort’ being a highlight, along with his ‘Vos mépris chaque jour me causent mille alarmes’, in which the tenor Cyril Auvity is the beautifully tender soloist.

I only have a single disc dedicated to the music of Etienne Moulinié, the wonderful Meslanges pour la chapelle d’un prince (HMC 902194), although his music does feature on a number of other discs that I have. His contribution here includes the feisty acapella ‘Amis, enivrons-nous du vin d’Espagne en France’, which although less than a minute long, makes a real impact, as does his tender bass aria ‘Enfin la beauté que j’adore’, in which Lisandro Abadie shines. His other featured track, ‘Guillot est mon ami’ is another characterful acapella piece, which ends with the singers in a fit of laughter.

Probably the least-known composer here is Sébastien Le Camus who was a musician in the service of Luis XIII, his music features on the disc Douce Félicité - Airs de cour (MF8027) along with that of Lambert, Lully and Sainte-Colombe. His music is earlier in feel and less adventurous than that of the other composers, although the soprano Emmanuelle de Negri makes a sparkling case for his music in ‘Ah, que vous êtes heureux!’, as does mezzo Anna Reinhold in the beautifully passionate ‘Laissez durer la nuit, impatiente Aurore’.

This is a wonderfully engaging and interesting release, one which once again shows that Les Arts Florissants and William Christie remain masters of this repertoire. The singers and instrumentalists are excellent throughout, with their unfetted clean lines captured perfectly well by the engineers. Excellent notes and full texts in French, English and German are included, makr this along with the first volume, a most worthy addition to any collection of French baroque music.

Stuart Sillitoe