Rameau, J P - 10CD-BOX: Opera Box Set - Les Arts Florissants

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250 years after his death, Jean-Philippe Rameau continues to fascinate, as is shown by the number of new productions of his operas scheduled for 2014 and beyond. However, the Dijon-born composer also owes some of his current popularity to the passionate advocacy of William Christie: this sumptuous box set presents the critically-acclaimed Rameau recordings he made for harmonia mundi in the 1980s and 1990s. Its selection of opéra-ballet, tragédie lyrique and harpsichord pieces on 10 cds, many unavailable for some time, highlights the multiple facets of Rameau's oeuvre, masterfully interpreted by the American Baroque pioneer so completely at home in French music. A must! 'a first-rate performance of one of Rameau's most endearing stage works; Christie's control of his forces, his convincing pacing of the piece the Prologue and first entree sounded hurried and unsettled in the Aix-en-Provence production that preceded the recording and his feeling for colour, gesture and rhythm contribute towards making this perhaps his finest achievement on disc, so far. His choir is lively and well-disciplined and the instrumentalists of Les Arts Florissants play with greater finesse than I have previously heard. The booklet contains full texts in French, English and German and the music is vividly recorded in a pleasing acoustic. All in all, a considerable achievement which should provide readers with enduring pleasure.' Nicholas Anderson, Gramophone Feb 1992 [Les Indes Galantes] 'Christie's performance does seem to me to have the stronger solo vocal cast, and this applies to smaller roles as well as the principal ones the sopranos Veronique Gens and Sandrine Piau are both outstanding...Christie.. unquestionably gives us new and subtle insights to the opera and does, I believe, more convincingly realize the element of tragedy, above all in the First Act.' Nicholas Anderson, Gramophone July 1993 [Castor]