Cantatas and Harpsichord Pieces in concert
PRESENTATION
2014,
250th anniversary of the death of Jean-Philippe Rameau
20th anniversary of the Amarillis ensemble !
A true salon opera, the French cantata has taken over all the great fashionable themes. For his works, Rameau retains both tragic subjects – such as the myth ofOrpheus – than pastoral – like that of thePastor fido. Brilliant tunes and tender tunes alternately let the passions so dear to the Baroque flow. This sense of theater, ubiquitous in the cantatas, is also expressed inharpsichord parts where Rameau treats the instrument alternately as soloist and accompanist.
Many thanks to all of you who have contributed to the success of this project by mobilizingviaKissKissBankBank. We would like to personally thank :
Hubert Armand Jacques Duloroy
Michel Bernard Andre Dupas
Michel Baillou Alix Gaillard
Suzanne Charmoy Catherine Grandperret
Agnes Chassevent Paul Iogna-Prat
Julien Dambron Michele Perin
Thierry Dechaume Sophie Quesnel
Jean-Daniel Delley Michel Rochais
Mylene Sommier
… and all those who wanted to remain anonymous.
This disc has received the support of ADAMI
DISTINCTIONS
Musikzen Happiness guaranteed
ForumOpera.com 3 hearts
Diapason * * * * – Technique 4/5
Telerama 4 FFFF
Opera Magazine 4 keys
Muse baroque 5 muses
Crescendo Joker
Classic 3 ***
ConcertoNet 3 quavers
WHAT THE PRESS SAYS
ForumOpera.com { 10 October 2014 } Yvan Beuvard
“Aware of the subtleties of baroque music, French in particular, the musicians led by Héloïse Gaillard delight us in these pieces whose varied expressive palette allows them to go from elegiac reverie to the vigor of the subject.Mathias Vidal confirms his remarkable qualities : a vocal line whose support and ornamentation do not interfere with eloquence or diction, perfect, an attractive timbre, a subtly dosed projection. A style model, elegant, refined but also vigorous and clear. We have a great ramist there. He gives his Orpheus an obvious dramatic character. The central declamation is exemplary. In The Faithful Shepherd, the first recitative followed by the first aria take on an operatic dimension, worthy of the great pages that will follow. […] Qu'Amaryllis, in the splendor of his youth, we still have such joys! »
Musikzen { 17 September 2014 } Francois Lafon
« Vocal eloquence and instrumental discourse : by composing this program for the Rameau Days of the Baroque Music Center of Versailles, the four ladies of Amarillis and the tenor Mathias Vidal indeed go around the question, or rather travel to the center of ramist art. […] Amarillis gave a little boost to this dialectic by enriching the accompaniment of the voice in the cantatas and by choosing for the Pieces in concert the richest instrumentations among those planned by Rameau.. To complete the success of the company, frank voice, the impeccable style and diction of Mathias Vidal are in unison with the very expressive sounds and speech of the four instrumentalists. "Must Amarillis perish ? », wonders the faithful Shepherd. It would be a shame, In effect."
Odb-Opera.com & Blog cmsdt-spectacles { 15 October 2014 } Emmanuelle Pesque
«[…] It is however a singular version of the harpsichord pieces in concert that we hear here : Rameau having left his performers latitude to vary the instrumentation […], Amarillis has wisely chosen to present the second concert in a concertante version of their own where "the violin, the viol and the oboe successively share the countermelody” […], while retaining the original instrumentation of the fifth concert. This happy bias "annoys" the ear just like the movement of the same title, who "teases" (to use the current term) therefore the listener and unfolds with a dapper and impulsive charm… This deployment of variegated colors, shimmering and shiny is a treat just as great as the perfect understanding of a musical language that has no secrets for musicians.
[…] No nuance, no irony of the poems escapes Mathias Vidal who puts the approval of his tone, his impeccable diction and expressive musicality in the service of seductive and lively tableaux, brushed with a lot of spirit by musicians who here play mischievous genre painters. The torments of the two mythological lovers, […], are sketched with an empathy that does not evade either the colors or the design (purpose). »
Opera Magazine { November 2014 } Michel Parouty
«[…] Of these operas in miniature, conducive to sentimental outpourings, Mathias Vidal is the excellent interpreter. The brilliance of the timbre of the French tenor, the delicacy of his phrasing, the clarity of his speech, his always fair expression and never having recourse to artifice help him to browse this map of Tendre without any problems, originally intended for a soprano voice. In this studio recording, his accomplices from Amarillis […] offer him lively and colorful support.[…] »
Telerama { 06 December 2014 } Gilles Macassar
«[…] This irrepressible creative overflow, the pleasing recording of the Amarillis ensemble illustrates this in the purely instrumental field. […] The voluble harpsichord of Violaine Cochard plays the eager masters of ceremonies, draped in Harlequin's colorful coat, while the flute and oboe of Héloïse Gaillard alternate in Colombine and Pierrot. […] The Rameau year could not have ended better than with this bouquet in the form of a review finale, deploying the range of seductions of an art that is both calculated and proliferating, reasoner without renouncing the irrational. »
Classical { February 2015 } Philippe Venturini
“As in the Concerts, the quartet of musicians from Amarillis finds the tempo, the tone and the ad hoc nuances and welcomes the song of a superior elegance of Mathias Vidal. »
Crescendo { 22 February 2015 } Quentin Mourier
“Among the initiatives of the Rameau year, which was definitely rich in beautiful surprises, the last disc of the Amarillis ensemble where vocal and instrumental music intertwine. […]
Mathias Vidal, tenor with perfect diction, sing like a real theater actor, giving a different personality and timbre to each character. Orpheus despairs, then Diane reprimands him… A real radio soap opera ! […] All the affects of the text are underlined by the discrete continuo, but full of inventiveness, by the excellent harpsichordist Violaine Cochard, who correctly uses decreases, ornaments and other register breaks.
His sparkling harpsichord blends smoothly into the vocal line, to better reappear as a group leader in the Pieces in Concerts, or, in a constant dialogue, his virtuosity responds to the grace of melodic instruments. […] A communicative pleasure in this successful record, simple and full of freshness, as we would like to see often ! […] »
Gramophone { February 2015 } David Vickers
“Vidal is a transparent story-teller who delivers the key dramatic moments in each cantata mellifluously, strongly, plaintively or gleefully as required. Liberal reassignment also occurs in the instrumentation of all four works, with oboe, recorder and violin used interchangeably. Héloïse Gaillard’s choice of oboe in ‘La Laborde’ overpowers Marianne Muller’s gentle viola da gamba and Violaine Cochard’s articulate concertante harpsichord. I preferred the subtler textural balance and consistent aesthetic achieved when the top part is played exclusively by violinist Alice Piérot throughout the Cinquième concert, including sublime tributes to members of the viol-playing Forqueray and Marais dynasties.”
Release 2014
Label Naïve
Distribution Harmonia Mundi
DISTRIBUTION
“A group of three young women passionate about early music
Mathias Vidal tenor
AMARILLIS
Héloïse Gaillard recorder, baroque oboe
Violaine Cochard harpsichord
Alice Pierot violin
Marianne Muller viola da gamba