Search - Masset, Reyne :: Musiques Aux Etats

Great intorduction to the French Baroque, but lacking....

music_lover_in_n_ca | Silicon Valley, CA (USA) | 12/16/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Musiques aux États du Languedoc (Music of the states of Languedoc [southern France]) provides the listener with an excellent introduction to the French baroque style from its beginnings with Jean-Baptiste Lully (actually Giovanni Battista Lulli of Florence) to its greatest heights with Jean-Philippe Rameau. Most of these selections are from "opera ballets" which were the premiere form of entertainment of the day.However good the music, this CD lacks in two ways: First, the instrumental music sounds muted -- it lacks the fullness that most baroque ensembles provide (e.g., Hesperion XX/XXI). Second, all of the vocal parts are for solo soprano. Now, don't get me wrong, Francoise Masset is a wonderful soprano, but to miss out on the chorus, counter-tenor, tenor, bass, and baritone parts of these selections is truly a loss. It should be a 2-CD set with a greater selection of excerpts from the same opera-ballets.My reason for this purchase was that it was the only recording of the aria "Revenez, Revenez amours" from Lully's Thesee, his most popular and widely produced, though still scarce, opera-ballet.My recommendation is to buy this if you don't know the French baroque or if you have a particular favorite which is on the CD, but otherwise avoid it and buy complete opera-ballets by the composers represented here as produced and interpreted by others."

A wonderful recording, and great selections

conquistador69 | 08/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of my favorite recordings of French Baroque music. Works by the very best of the time:Lully,Marseille, Campra,Mouret(and not the masterpiece theater piece) Mondonville, and Rameau. From an aria in Spanish, ("El esperar en amor) to a 'pastorale languedocienne' in the Gascon dialect of southern France, this recording goes in all aspects beyond what most recordings of French Baroque music have gone. Mr. Reyne does a very outstanding job, and the same I say about soprano Francoise Masset, she sings with the charm and exellence that this music requires, indeed a five-star recording."