Campra: Le carnaval de Venise

Alain Buet, Andrew Foster-Williams, Marina de Liso, Salome Haller

Released on 9/5/11 by Glossa
Main artists: Salomé Haller
Genre: Opera

Digital booklet

Available in

16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

André Campra has the distinction of being the most prominent French opera composer in the decades between Lully and Rameau, but even the operas of those two great masters are so rarely performed or recorded that it's not surprising that Campra's are virtually unknown to modern audiences. That makes this very fine recording with Hervé Niquet leading Choeur et Orchestre du Concert Spirituel and Les Chantres du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles all the more valuable and welcome to fans of the French Baroque. Campra enthusiastically embraced the innovations of Italian opera, particularly the da capo aria, that Lully had scorned. The plot of Le Carneval de Venise (obviously) even takes place in Italy in an opera theater preparing a performance, and it involves an opera within an opera; it concludes with a performance of an operatic divertissement in Italian, Orfeo nell'inferi, in which Campra unabashedly adopts Italian conventions. The French sections are similar in sound and style to Lully's operas-ballets even though Campra doesn't have Lully's genius for simple, memorable melody. Orfeo nell'inferi very skillfully uses the florid manner of late 17th century opera, and the juxtaposition of the two styles, while intriguing to modern ears, must have been absolutely revolutionary to French audiences who were finally exposed to the innovations of Italian opera. The singers, chorus, and orchestra are skilled in both the Italian and French conventions of Middle Baroque performance practice and they offer a compelling account of the piece. The orchestra and the chorus (which is used very prominently in the French sections) play and sing with precision and lively energy. Niquet's tempos are fluid and he maintains a strong sense of momentum throughout. The soloists are never less than adequate and several stand out, particularly sopranos Salomé Haller and Sarah Tynan, tenor Mathias Vidal, baritone Andrew Foster-Williams, and bass Luigi de Donato. Glossa's sound is characteristically immaculate present and beautifully balanced.
© TiVo

More info

Campra: Le carnaval de Venise

Le Concert Spirituel

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From $10.83/month

Le Carnaval de Venise (André Campra)

Ouverture

Le Concert Spirituel

00:02:01

André Campra, Composer - Le Concert Spirituel, Ensemble, MainArtist - Herve Niquet, Conductor, MainArtist

Le carnaval de Venise, Prologue Scene 1 (André Campra)

Hastez-vous

Luigi De Donato

00:01:06

André Campra, Composer - Le Concert Spirituel, Ensemble, MainArtist - Herve Niquet, Conductor, MainArtist - Les Chantres du Centre de Musique baroque de Versailles, Choir, MainArtist - Luigi De Donato, Artist, MainArtist

Quelle divinité s'empresse

Luigi De Donato

00:01:04

André Campra, Composer - Le Concert Spirituel, Ensemble, MainArtist - Herve Niquet, Conductor, MainArtist - Luigi De Donato, Artist, MainArtist

Le carnaval de Venise, Prologue Scene 2 (André Campra)

Je quitte sans regret

Blandine Staskiewicz

00:01:10

Pour attirer les yeux

Blandine Staskiewicz