The musical world owes a debt of gratitude to French conductor Christophe Rousset not only for the vital, exquisite performances he delivers with the ensembles Les Talens Lyriques and Choeur de Chambre de Namur, but for his work in bringing to light neglected masterpieces of Baroque opera. Lully's Bellérophon, premiered in 1679, was a huge success in its time, with an initial run of nine months. Part of its popularity was doubtless due to the parallels that could be drawn between its plot and certain recent exploits of Louis XV, but even the earliest critics recognized the score's uniqueness and exceptional quality within Lully's oeuvre, so it's perhaps surprising that it has never been recorded before. The distinctiveness of the music was likely a result at least in part of the fact that Lully's preferred librettist Philippe Quinault was out of favor at the court of Louis XV at the time, so the composer turned to Thomas Corneille for the libretto, and Corneille's literary and dramatic styles were so different from Quinault's that Lully was nudged out of his comfort zone and had to develop new solutions to questions of structure and the marrying of music to text. It is the first opera for which Lully composed fully accompanied recitatives, and that alone gives it a textural richness that surpasses his earlier works. The composer also allows soloists to sing together, something that was still a rarity in Baroque opera. There are several duets and larger ensembles; the love duet, "Que tout parle à l'envie de notre amour extreme!," is a ravishing expression of passion and happiness, as rhapsodic as anything in 19th century Italian opera. The level of musical inventiveness throughout is exceptional even for Lully; the expressiveness of the recitatives, the charm of the instrumental interludes, the originality of the choruses, and the limpid loveliness of the airs make this an opera that demands attention. Rousset and his forces give an outstanding performance that's exuberantly spirited, musically polished, rhythmically springy, and charged with dramatic urgency. The soloists are consistently of the highest order. Cyril Auvity brings a large, virile, passionate tenor to the title role and Céline Scheen is warmly lyrical as his lover Philonoë. Ingrid Perruche is fiercely powerful as the villain, Stéenobée, and Jean Teitgen is a secure, authoritative Apollo. Soloists, chorus, and orchestra are fluent in the subtle inflections of French middle Baroque ornamentation. The sound of the live recording is very fine, with a clean, immediate, realistic ambience. This is a release that fans of Baroque opera will not want to miss. Highly recommended. © TiVo

In 2006, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth, the Salzburg Festival set itself the task of producing all 22 of Mozart's operas, and this recording of highlights from Le nozze di Figaro is a result of a live performance. Nikolaus Harnoncourt's reading of the score is marvelously nuanced; it's clear that the performance reflects a lifetime of living with and performing the opera. His dramatic pace tends toward briskness, which works well in a work as wordy as this. He's especially skillful at bringing out the instrumental colors of the score, particularly of the winds and timpani; he makes the listener especially aware of the inventiveness, cleverness, and subtlety of Mozart's orchestration. The Vienna Philharmonic and Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor perform with finesse, warmth, and sensitivity to the opera's poignancy and humor. The singers are both dramatically and vocally superb; this is probably as close to a dream cast for the opera as one is likely to get. Ildebrando D'Arcangelo and Anna Netrebko are completely winning as Figaro and Susanna, and there's real chemistry between them. D'Arcangelo is an embodiment of Mediterranean masculinity; his dark and supple baritone is in the service of a portrayal that's both ferociously impetuous and goofily playful, without ever compromising his dignity. Netrebko is adorably girlish, but her Susanna is obviously the most grounded and grown-up character in the opera. Her voice is silken, velvety, and infinitely expressive. Bo Skovhus' Count is a genuinely creepy character, alternating between furtiveness and bluster, but his tone is consistently round and robust. Dorothea Röschmann's large soprano is incisive and richly textured. She brings a deep sense of resignation and anger to the to Countess; at the opera's end there's little assurance that she will find joy with the Count again. Christine Schäfer's Cherubino is jaw-droppingly assured; she spins out her lines with abandon and exquisite musicality. As Basilio, Patrick Henckens manages to sound lyrical and full-bodied, and at the same time convey his character's unctuousness. Franz-Josef Selig's Bartolo is splendidly gruff and Marie McLaughlin is hilarious as Marcellina, but her voice seems a little inflexible. The sound is remarkably fine for a live recording; it's bright and clear, as well as warm and intimate, and the singers' volume levels are steady despite their movement around the stage.© TiVo

This Marriage of Figaro is perhaps the most exciting to happen for quite some time. The maestro in charge is Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who directs the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and a star-studded roster of singers specially selected for the occasion. The idea for this recording came out of the numerous modern reinterpretations of the piece, coupled with the aim to recreate the sounds of the past. As such, when you listen to the piece, it's at once powerfully modern yet "obvious". The recitativos are conceived musically rather than theatrically (surely a plus on an audio recording!) while the recording itself took place at a concert in Baden-Baden in 2015, which helps the performance move along tremendously and flow between each piece. A real gem. 

Composer Reynaldo Hahn is known mostly for his songs, and his music in the less common two-piano genre is all but forgotten. This release by pianists Frank Braley and Éric Le Sage may change that. The main attraction here, the waltz set Le Ruban Dénoué, contains marvelously evocative music; a "ruban dénoué" is an untied ribbon, and this work is indeed a gift for the listener who may not have heard it. The work consists of 12 waltzes, capped with a song rendered here by the ethereal Sandrine Piau; the waltzes have titles that seem to carry an unlikely degree of specificity ("Indolent Decrees of Chance," "The Lost Ring"), but listen and hear how the complexity of Hahn's textures brings them alive. Braley and Le Sage do not miss a detail. These pieces appeared in 1915 when Hahn was serving as a clerk at the front in World War I, and they feel like an uncannily detailed look back into a past that was instantly disappearing. The program is filled out with interesting two-piano works by Chabrier and Hahn; especially charming is Hahn's three-movement Pour bercer un convalescent ("Rocking a Convalescent"), limpid despite the use of two pianos. A delightful release that may leave listeners wondering where this music has been all their lives.© James Manheim /TiVo

Christophe Rousset and the Talens Lyriques bring us to the stage of the Royal Academy of Music where Pygmalion, an act of ballet by Jean-Philippe Rameau inspired by an episode of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, was created in 1748. Love, showing empathy for Pygmalion’s despair of loving a statue, invigorates the sculpted woman who immediately falls in love with her creator. Very suggestive, the music of this tender and mischievous ballet deploys the grace of 18th century dances. Like Ovid’s Love, Christophe Rousset instils life in this score, one of Rameau’s greatest successes in his day, and offers us, thanks to his sense of drama and his impeccable leadership, a new and essential reading of this ballet. © Aparté

This new recording of Jean-Marie Leclair's only opera was made in Warsaw in 2021. Stefan Plewniak made the decision to record the first edition of the work – the one which contains the maximum amount of Leclair's original music.Already renowned for his instrumental music throughout Europe, Jean-Marie Leclair tried his hand at opera late in life, following in the footsteps of the great Jean-Philippe Rameau. His first attempt was a masterpiece. A great violinist himself, Leclair showed great skill in handling timbres and composing challenging lead violin parts. The vocals are equally well-conceived, with both the solo and choral compositions featuring skilful counterpoint.The main characters are portrayed by Mathias Vidal, Chiara Skerath and Florie Valiquette, whilst the Polish ensemble Il Giardino d'Amore (founded in 2012 by Stefan Plewniak) takes care of the instrumental parts. This meticulous recording brings Leclair's opera back to life, compensating for the lack of success it was met with when it was first released in 1746. Although Rameau's operas undeniably serve as a basis for Leclair's only attempt at stagecraft, this is more than a mere replica. His opera is full of adventurous harmonics, dances, and interludes. Its relative lack of success probably stems from its tragic ending (optimism was all the rage at the time) and the fact that the genre had fallen out of favour. Forgotten for more than two centuries, its resurrection is due in no small part to Sir John Eliot Gardiner, who presented it in concert in London and then on stage at the Opéra de Lyon (the composer's birthplace) in 1986. © François Hudry/Qobuz

Backed by the Sun King despite a lukewarm audience reception at first, Lully's Atys (1676) went on to become one of the composer's most successful operas, with revivals at French court theaters as late as 1753. In modern times, however, it is a considerably rarer item due to the massive forces and time required. Christophe Rousset was in the pit as harpsichordist when conductor William Christie gave the first modern revival of the work in the late '80s. That experience marks this 2024 release, which made classical best-seller lists at the beginning of that year. That is not common for a hefty five-act Baroque opera, but even a bit of sampling will confirm why it happened: Rousset, from the keyboard, brings tremendous energy to the opera. He pushes the tempo in the numerous dances and entrance numbers, and the musicians of Les Talens Lyriques and the singers of the Choeur du Chambre de Namur, all of whom have worked closely with Rousset in the past, keep right up. The singers in the solo roles are all fine; haut-contre Reinoud Van Mechelen in the title role and Ambroisine Bré as the goddess Cybèle, who sets the tragic plot in motion, are standouts. The sound from the increasingly engineering-expert Château de Versailles label is exceptionally clear in complex textures, and the sensuous cover art (representing, it is true, not the Roman mythological figure of Atys but Hippomène and Atalante) is a bonus. In the end, this is Rousset's Atys, and that is a very good thing.© James Manheim /TiVo

Beyond the neglect of French Baroque music in general, it is a bit hard to understand why composer Pancrace Royer was almost completely unknown until Christophe Rousset came along to champion him, first in harpsichord music and now, with these suites of music drawn from operas, in orchestral music. In the 18th century, Royer was quite well known and admired among others by Rameau, whose music he helped along considerably. Royer certainly inhabited Rameau's stylistic world, but from the evidence here, his music is distinctive and merits the adjective "surprising" that Rousset has attached to it. It is colorful, given to unexpected turns of harmony, and vivid in its evocation of the exotic scenes of French opera. Sample the "Air pour les turcs" ("Air for the Turks") from Zaïde, reine de Grenade, with its crackling percussion. Royer challenged his orchestra with virtuoso ensemble writing in the likes of the "Premier et second tambourins" from Almasis, and Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques step up with precise, vigorous readings that one imagines would have made the composer overjoyed. The inclusion of two alternate versions for movements from Zaïde is also unusual and gives insight into the compositional thinking of the day. Essential for specialists and enthusiasts interested in the French Baroque, this album is a lot of fun for anyone, with only overdone church sound detracting from the overall effect. © James Manheim /TiVo