by Chia Han-Leon

Naxos is not pulling our legs as it continues to issue releases in its Lully "Great Motets" series. Though, like its companion Vol.1, this too was recorded quite a while ago - April 1994. No matter - all the more the comparable quality to more recent recordings, and for that matter, performances. When I flipped open the CD sleeve, I noticed that, printed at the end of the notes, almost like fine print, were the names of the solo vocalists. The lead soprano on record is Véronique Gens.

My initial kneejerk reaction was "Wow! First-class soprano!!". My second reaction was to wonder why is it Naxos has not printed her name, and the rest of the soloists', on the cover or the back of the CD - surely the presence of such distinguished singers would improve sales?

And superb singers these are indeed! One only needs to hear the first motet in this volume, the spectacular and vivacious 13-minute Quare fremuerunt in order to appreciate this. And I think this piece alone makes the CD worth more than the price. The brilliant instrumentalists match the sunny and vibrant singing - qualities of "lightness" so very important in the performance of French music.

The C-major setting is based on Psalm II ("Why do the heathen rage..."), written in the mid-1680s reflecting the social environment then which was of war. Though the notes describe the opening as "violent", it really is more of military festivity!

The deliciously crisp phrasing, the fragrant tone and the carefreely evinced rhythms are all in plentiful display in the performance. The vocal soloists negotiate the Latin with French delicacy, creamily light voice, while the choir laughing away in their swaggering runs. This is a splendid rendition all the away to the heady perfumed choral trill that graces the final bars (gosh, just listen to that final chord).

On the rest of the disc are more solemn pieces, including the sorrowful setting of O Lachrymae, of tears shed in plea for redemption, setting a poem by Pierre Perrin. But the sadness gives way to reverent celebration in the second movement. Throughout we hear the remarkable range of emotion and atmosphere these performers are capable of, along with the vocal elasticity of the soloists. The youthful and pleasant voice of the countertenor, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, is especially distinctive and pleasant.

Drama of the French theatrical variety appears in the Dies irae, a comparatively mild 16-minute setting in which Lully focused more on death as deliverance, as opposed to say the Howitzer variety in the manner of Verdi. Like in the De profundis which concludes this volume, here many tranquil passages of much vocal-instrumental beauty abound, floating in almost pastoral elegance. Melancholy drifts next to the sweet, or the bittersweet, then the regal, the light-hearted with the solemn.

Shifts of such subtle character are not easily achieved, but Le Concert Spirituel succeeds with impressive uniformity - though I must add the grandiose unity and typically French dramatism (subtle in texture yet somehow immense in impression) can sometimes bore those who prefer the directness of German or English Baroque music. Still - be patient and try the slow but majestic conclusion of the Dies irae.

Now, I must try some of the Charpentier series...

Chia Han-Leon advises that when you are in France, speak anything except English. I hear even Mandarin is better welcomed than English.

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693: 12.4.2000 ©Chia Han-Leon

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