Scherzi Musicali - Lecons de tenebres - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Marc-Antoine Charpentier's drama in miniature Actéon retells the myth of the hunter who was punished by Diana for having surprised the goddess while she was bathing. Actéon was originally composed for a countertenor, but Charpentier reworked the piece a few months later and then entrusted the title role to a treble. Set for a mix of performers that Charpentier liked to use often-a few singers, two violins, two flutes, and basso continuo-Actéon and Actéon changé en Biche reveal all his dramatic and expressive skills. Scherzi Musicali now presents a comparison of these two versions the second version is recorded here for the first time.

Jean-Noël Hamal's musical language is a perfect reflection of this transitional period in which the Baroque galant style merges into the classical style. One senses in Hamal's music a communicative vitality, a charmingly poetic note, a keen sense of elegant melody and a theatricality in dynamic contrasts which in some ways evokes the Mannheim school. As soon as he was able, he exploited the ample space available by writing works for two choirs and two orchestras. He seems also to have had a very pronounced preference for major tonalities (he even went so far as to write an astonishingly cheerful Dies irae in C major) and for very readable harmonies, although these sometimes risk being too predictable or conventional. But he was also capable of being a visionary by their tripartite structure and the autonomous form his symphonies make him a precursor of the classical symphony. He is equally capable of entirely unexpected surprises and attractive details, as is apparent in his motets delivered respecting the practices then in force in Liège by Nicolas Achten and Scherzi Musicali ensemble, mixing subtlety and theatricality. Album Tracks 1. Io Ti Vorria Contar, LV 658 2. Quand Mon Mary, LV 153 3. La Bataille Ad Secundam 4. Iay Un Mary 5. Madonna Mia Pietà, LV 30 6. Passomezo D'italye Ad Quintam 7. Du Corps Absent, LV 171 8. Avecques Vous Mon Amour, LV 38 9. La Nuict Froide Et Sombre, LV 578 10. Balletto 11. Ricercare Del Nono Tuono Per B 12. Contrappunto Sopra Susanna Un Jour Di Orlando Per Suonare a Doi Liutti 13. Balletto Alla Francese 14. Volta Quarta Alla Francese 15. Canzone Prima 16. Ciparissa, Gagliarda 17. Veni in Hortum Meum, LV 114 18. Gagliarda 19. Susanneken 20. Susanne Un Jour, LV 98 21. Robin Is to the Greenwood Gone 22. The Lord Viscount Lisle His Galliard 23. Fantasia

The tenebrae are among the prayers of the hours of Holy Week in the Catholic Church. Since the 15th century, settings of Jeremiah's lamentations have been an integral part of church services, which, especially in France, were among the musical highlights of this otherwise rather InchmusiclessInch period. Lully's father-in-law, Michel Lambert (1610-1696), was court Kapellmeister in Versailles from 1670. His Lecons de tenebres are characterized by a subtle setting of texts, which use sparse but all the more delicately applied ornamentation. Soprano Monique Zanetti and the ensemble Les Temps Presents present us here the Lecons for the Wednesday of Holy Week. Album Tracks 1. Première Leçon Du Mercredi Saint 2. Première Leçon Du Mercredi Saint 3. Deuxième Leçon Du Mercredi Saint 4. Psaume en Fa Majeur VM 7.675 5. Psaume en Fa Majeur VM 675 6. Troisème Leçon Du Mercredi Saint 7. Simphonie en Sol Majeur