Vinatge LP Classical Music Jean-Philippe RAMEAU Excerpts from "La Danse"
RARE VINTAGE
CLASSICAL OPERA
JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU
Biography by Chris Morrison
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the truly multifaceted musicians of his day. Acclaimed for his innovative and popular operas, he was also known as one of the greatest organists in France, and his theoretical writings continue to influence musical thinkers over two centuries later.
La Danse
Third Entree from Les Fetes d'Hebe
Les Fêtes d'Hébé ou Les Talents lyriques, ballet héroïque
(Excerpts)
Composition Description by Rita Laurance
In the hybrid opéra-ballet of the eighteenth century French court, dance predominated, and there was no dramatic plot unifying the whole. An opéra-ballet consisted of a prologue and three or four independent entrées, each with its own plot and programme. They were unrelated to one another, except perhaps by a general theme, and usually contained a good deal of spectacle. Campra was the first major composer in the genre; his were diverting entertainments, sometimes with lighthearted mythological themes.
Les Fêtes d'Hébé did not have a single librettist; a group of writers from the circle of La Pouplinière, Rameau's influential financier employer, put together this pastiche for Rameau. The libretto was considered so bad that no single author would take credit for it, and Rameau is said to have boasted that he could set the Gazette de France if he wanted to. When the work had its premiere in 1739, the libretto elicited such criticism that Rameau hired the Abbé Pellegrin, a known author, to help him revise it. As a theatrical piece, it was an instant success, and was revived several times for a total of over 200 performances.
The music contains much sensuous and rich scoring. Several of the pieces used were taken from earlier works by Rameau for the harpsichord and adapted to the orchestra. In particular, the second entrée contains an arrangement of L'entretien des Muses, from a harpsichord collection of 1724. The third likewise contains a piece from the same collection.
and performed by Soloists
Jill Gomez, Soprano
Anne-Marie Rodde, Soprano
Jean-Claude Orliac, Tenor
Marilyn Sansom, Violoncello
Nicolas Kraemer, Harpsichord
with the
Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra
directed by
John Eliot Gardiner
Biography by Joseph Stevenson
John Eliot Gardiner is one of the leading conductors in the active "authentic performances" movement in England, performing Baroque music but also extending his range into later repertoire. He first conducted at the age of 15, and after finishing school he studied at King's College, Cambridge. While still an undergraduate, he conducted the combined Oxford and Cambridge Singers on a 1964 tour of the Middle East and founded the Monteverdi Choir, which has consistently performed on his recordings since.
SLEEVE IS IN VERY GOOD CONDITION, LP IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION
THE MUSICAL HERITAGE SOCIETY MHS 4247
14.99
USD
LimitedAvailability