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It's hard to tell from the gorgeous cover of this French release what you're getting into, and, as the booklet notes point out, Rameau is a tough nut to crack for most people anyhow. Stick with it, however, for the entire package here offers what may be the closest thing yet to a good introduction to Rameau, even if it gets rather involved. You could start with the painting on the cover, annotated, as with all the others in this series from the Alpha label, by Denis Grenier of Laval University in Quebec. François Boucher's "The Setting of the Sun" (1752) is both conservative and radical, and the same could be said of Rameau's music. The painting is packed with mythological detail, almost abstruse, yet just as important as the set of classical references but the dramatic pattern of light and shadow into which the entire painting breaks down. Rameau is the same way: both complicated and shocking. It's a hard combination to get a grip on, but the French group Ausonia and director Fréderick Haas clarify it with an unusual kind of program: a set of excerpts from two different operas. Zoroastre, a tragedy, and Zaïs, a pastoral. It's a great idea: the excerpts are not simply isolated selections but connected items that represent a chunk of musical thinking. The two operas form a contrast of darkness and light, as well, and they offer some of the really striking instrumental effects that kept drawing audiences to Rameau's operas even as simpler Italian fare was clearly establishing itself as the wave of the future. The depiction of chaos and dawn from the Prologue of Zaïs (tracks 1-4) is an excellent example, and it rivals any of the better-known treatments of the same ideas from the eighteenth century. Ausonia consists of two superb soloists and 10 instrumentalists, plus Haas conducting from the harpsichord keyboard, and all have obviously immersed themselves in this music. As with all the Alpha releases, the listener who focuses on this one will get a bit of an education in the history of French culture, and this class session is an especially useful one. All texts are given in French and English.
© TiVo
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Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Eugénie Warnier, Performer - Arnaud Richard, Performer - Ausonia, Performer - Frédérick Haas, Performer - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Composer
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
Album review
It's hard to tell from the gorgeous cover of this French release what you're getting into, and, as the booklet notes point out, Rameau is a tough nut to crack for most people anyhow. Stick with it, however, for the entire package here offers what may be the closest thing yet to a good introduction to Rameau, even if it gets rather involved. You could start with the painting on the cover, annotated, as with all the others in this series from the Alpha label, by Denis Grenier of Laval University in Quebec. François Boucher's "The Setting of the Sun" (1752) is both conservative and radical, and the same could be said of Rameau's music. The painting is packed with mythological detail, almost abstruse, yet just as important as the set of classical references but the dramatic pattern of light and shadow into which the entire painting breaks down. Rameau is the same way: both complicated and shocking. It's a hard combination to get a grip on, but the French group Ausonia and director Fréderick Haas clarify it with an unusual kind of program: a set of excerpts from two different operas. Zoroastre, a tragedy, and Zaïs, a pastoral. It's a great idea: the excerpts are not simply isolated selections but connected items that represent a chunk of musical thinking. The two operas form a contrast of darkness and light, as well, and they offer some of the really striking instrumental effects that kept drawing audiences to Rameau's operas even as simpler Italian fare was clearly establishing itself as the wave of the future. The depiction of chaos and dawn from the Prologue of Zaïs (tracks 1-4) is an excellent example, and it rivals any of the better-known treatments of the same ideas from the eighteenth century. Ausonia consists of two superb soloists and 10 instrumentalists, plus Haas conducting from the harpsichord keyboard, and all have obviously immersed themselves in this music. As with all the Alpha releases, the listener who focuses on this one will get a bit of an education in the history of French culture, and this class session is an especially useful one. All texts are given in French and English.
© TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 26 track(s)
- Total length: 01:07:35
- Main artists: Eugénie Warnier Arnaud Richard Ausonia Frédérick Haas
- Composer: Jean-Philippe Rameau
- Label: Alpha Classics
- Genre: Classical
- Collection: Ut Pictura Musica
2009 Alpha 2008 Alpha
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