Opera 6
les Talens Lyriques
Christophe Rousset
It has taken me a long time to get round to listening to an opera by Lully. In some ways that is a surprise because Rameau is one of the composers who I most admire and in many ways he was Lully's successor. I had somehow formed the impression that Lully would be the 'penny plain' to Rameau's 'twopence coloured" - ie rather boring and dull.
Wherever I got this idea from I don't know, but it is clearly misconceived. This was really attractive music with lots of interesting colours, rhythmic invention, choral singing and attractive melodies. It is a long peice- 5 acts plus a prologue - but it held me attention throughout. What perhaps surprised me most was how often it reminded me of Purcell. I suppose that that is not really unexpected. Purcell's operas are almost exactly contemporary with this piece and clearly there was a lot of musical cross-fertilisation going on across the channel.
Perhaps Rameau still takes the crown - his invention is on another level, but I how have a better picture f Lully as a composer of real achievement and substance - I'll certainly see (and hear) him in a new light after this opera.
No comments:
Post a Comment