Marc-Antoine Charpentier - La Descente d'Orphée aux Enfers

"Charpentier was born in Paris in 1643. We know nothing of his early life in France, but in the 1660s he went to Rome, where he studied for several years with Giacomo Carissimi, master composer of church music, oratorios, and chamber cantatas. Back in Paris about 1670, Charpentier was apparently given lodging and support by the pious, music-loving Marie de Lorraine, duchesse de Guise (always called 'Mademoiselle de Guise'); he remained in her service, as composer and singer, until about 1687. During the same period, however, he collaborated with the Troupe de Roi - Molière's company, renamed the Comédie Française - composing songs, orchestral overtures, and dances for their plays, and comic skits for the intermèdes between acts. He came close to service at court for a few years (around 1680), as composer for the chapel of the Dauphin - and wrote for him one of two operatio divertissements ('Les plaisirs de Versailles', perhaps also 'La fête de Ruel') - but was never appointed by Louis XIV to a royal post.

"By the mid-1680s, having achieved a considerable reputation as a composer of sacred music, Charpentier was appoint maître de musique at the most prestigious Jesuit church in Paris, St. Louis, renowned for the high quality of its music. And ultimately, in 1698, he became maître de musique at the Saint-Chapelle, a position in French sacred music second only to that of music director in the King's chapel. He remained there until his death early in 1704.

"Quite possibly, had Jean-Baptiste Lully and Michel Richard de Lalande not dominated so successfully the music at the court of Louis XIV, Charpentier might himself have become a figure there and composed more instrumental music and especially works for the theatre. He had great talent for musical drama, as is apparently in the stage work we have by him - notably the sacred opera 'David et Jonathas' (1688); 'Médée', perhaps the greatest masterpiece (produced at the Académie Royale, the Opéra, in 1693); and operatic divertissements, pastorales, and cantates - not to mention dozens of dramatic motets (histoires sacrées). With 'La descente d'Orphée aux enfers', Charpentier joined the many composers drawn to the myth of Orphée as the basis for operas.

"Understandably: not only is it a poignant love story and dramatic tragedy, it celebrates the mysterious and formidable power of music itself, over even supernatural forces. The earliest surviving operas, composed in Italy about 1600, were based on that myth (settings by each of the Florentines Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini of Rinuccini's libretto, 'Euridice', and Claudio Monteverdi's masterpiece, for Mantua, to Striggio's 'Orfeo'). Other operatic versions predating Charpentier's were Stefano Landi's 'La morte d'Ortfeo' (1619) and Luigi Rossi's 'Orfeo' (1647) - which was staged at the Palais Royal, as part of Mazarin's campaign to italianize French culture. Charpentier himself composed a sort of warm-up for 'La descente d'Orphée' in a chamber cantata (probably the first of that genre by a French composer): 'Orphée descendant aux enfers', a modest work for three male singers (representing Orphée and the shades Ixion and Tantale) and a small chamber ensemble.

"About three years later - late 1686 or early 1687 - came 'La descente d'Orphée aux enfers'. Charpentier composed it for the musicians of M'lle de Guise, though we know nothing about the circumstances of its performance. Although not on the grand scale of the 'tragédies en musique' staged at court (with their full orchestras, generous corps de ballet, massive choruses, and panopolies of solo-vocalists), the work called for the entire musical équipe of M'lle de Guise, plus some extra instrumentalists: Charpentier's manuscript mentions by name five female and five male singers, with an instrumental ensemble consisting of flutes (alternating with violins), viols, and harspichord. 'La descente d'Orphée' seems also to have been the last major work in which Charpentier participated as a singer: he had been for years the principal 'haute-contre' of the de Guise establishment, but in this opera, a newly appointed one, François Anthoine, sang the title role and Charpentier was relegated to the secondary one of Ixion. Charpentier's score also mentions (as player of flute or violin) 'Luollié' - Etienne Loulié, best-known as a music theorist - and a pair of flautists, 'Anth' and 'Pierrot', probably the brothers Antoine and Pierre of the family Pièche, well known at the time in court circles. Various 'chœurs' appear in the opera: a high-voiced 'Chœur de Nymphes' and a mixed-voice 'chœur de Nymphes et de Bergers' in Act I; in Act II, a mixed 'Chœur de Furies', a slighter 'Chœur d'Ombres heureuses et de Furies'. Not independent choral ensembles, these were varied combinations of the named solo singers, who may also have served as dancers for the brief ballet entrées in both acts.

"In sum, as conceived by Charpentier, 'La descente d'Orphée' was a chamber opera, probably performed only once - and not in public but in the private quarters of M'lle de Guise (or perhaps of her less single-mindedly devout younger relative known as Mme. de Guise').

"The librettist of 'La descente d'Orphée is unknown, but the ultimate source is the 'Metamorphoses' of Ovid (Libre X, histoire 1). The leading actors in the drama are, of course, Orphée and his bride Euridice (the latter mortally stung by a serpent on their wedding day). To Ovid's couple the librettist added, in the happy first scene of Act I, some nymphs and shepherds; as the act ends, Apollon, father of Orphée, also makes a brief appearance, inviting Orphée to go to Hades and persuade its sovereign, Pluton, to allow Euridice to return to the upper world. (Apollon appears similarly as 'deus ex machina' in Monteverdi's 'Orfeo'.) In Act II, the opera's underworld characters are all Ovidian: the 'ombres coupables' Tantale (punished by eternal hunger and thirst), Ixion (bound to a revolving wheel), and Titye (his liver torn by vultures), as well as a crowd of Furies - all brought to tears (the Furies for the first time ever) by the beauty of Orphée's singing.

"Pluton is at first resistant to Orphée's pleading and not persuaded by Orphée's argument (as related by Ovid) that, after all, both Euridice and Orphée must eventually return to Hades and thus, surely, Pluton can afford to make a temporary -loan- of Euridice! Ultimately, however, implored by his queen Proserpine (supported and echoed by groups of shades), Pluton yields and gives permission for Euridice to be restored to Orphée.

"And here is where Charpentier's opera ends - or, at least, where the unique surviving score (the composer's autograph) ends. Some believe that he intended to end here - and indeed, Act II has an effective conclusion, a 'Sarabande légère' to be danced by the 'Fantômes' who, moments before, have lamented that the beautiful voice of Orphée will be only a 'souvenir si doux' when he departs with Euridice. I believe, however, that Charpentier planned (and may in fact have composed) a third, concluding act, the music for which has not survived.

"The little opera is full of musical charm and cunning characterization. It opens with an overture that is vaguely Lullian (in two parts, each repeated, the first a sort of march, the second a livelier, more contrapuntal triple-meter dance), but lighter in texture and briefer than most overtures by Lully - perfectly appropriate in scale for the chamber opera to follow. The tonality is A-major, characterized as 'joyeux et champêtre' by Charpentier in a list he once drew up of 'Energie des modes', thus preparing perfectly the pastoral ambience with which the drama opens.

"Nymphs and shepherds celebrate the marriage of Orphée and Euridice with bright, light songs and dances. These are interrupted by a single cry - 'Ah!' - from Euridice, which her friend Enone blithely laughs off as due only to a thorn-prick. But Euridice's next words contradict her: 'Soutiens-moi, chère Enone, un serpent m'a blessée'. Charpentier sets these to a descending bass figure much favored by Baroque-era composers as an 'emblem of lament' (as the American musicologist Ellen Rosand has put it), and with it a shift from A-major to A-minor ('tendre et plaintif') for the brief, heartbreaking scene of Euridicie's death. The same 'emblem of lament' marks Orphée's griefstricken reaction to Euridice's loss (and the chorus's echo of it), and the gloomy pall of A-minor hovers over the mournful scene, which ends with Orphée wishing death for himself. Whereupon Apollon appears (to mild music - but in the key of C-major, 'gai et guerrier', according to Charpentier). He succeeds in arguing Orphée out of suicide and into a determination - not a very optimistic one, as both his words and the music to A-minor tell us - to attempt to gain back Euridice.

"Act II is set in Hades, and we hear first the bitter complaints of the trio of guilty, tortured shades (Ixion, Tantale, and Titye). Orphée sings - to a new, alluring soft sonority: viols, not the more brilliant violins or the rustic flutes heard before - and the shades, even the 'Chœur de Furies', are utterly beguiled ('Que tes chants ont d'appas!'). Pluton and Proserpine appear. Orphée goes to work - sensuously, seductively, lyrically - overcome Pluton's blustering opposition. (Prosperine is immediately won over, as is the Chœur d'Ombres heureuses'.)

"The more Pluton denies him, the more Orphée's song becomes persuasively voluptuous (and the more Proserpine pleads on his behalf). Finally Pluton relents (before he and his queen depart) - warning Orphée, however, that although Euridice will follow him, Orphée is not to look back to make sure. Orphée has one final prophetic couplet - 'Amour, brûlant Amour, pourras-tu te contraindre?'/'Ah! Que le tendre Orphée à lui-même est à craindre' - before he too leaves the stage. The trio of 'Coupables' and the 'Chœur d'ombres heureuses et de Furies' are left to lament his loss, or rather that of his captivating voice - but their music belies their words: foreshadowing in both its bright D-major key ('joyeux et très guerrier') and its rhythms the finale 'Sarabande légère', it seems in fact to be voicing joy over the lovers' reunion. (H. Wiley Hitchcock. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Les Arts Florissants, William Christie, Patricia Petibon, Monique Zanetti, Kátalin Karolyim, Sophie Daneman, Paul Agnew, Jean-François Gardeil, Steve Dugardin, François Piolino, Fernand Bernadi

1. Ouverture

2. Acte I, Scène I: 'Inventons Mille Jeux Divers'/'Ruisseau Qui Dans Ce Beau Séjour'

3. Acte I, Scène I: 'Compagnes Fidèles'

4. Acte I, Scène I: 'Soutiens-moi, Chère Énone'/Scène II: 'Qu'ai-je Entendu, Que Vois-je?'

5. Acte I, Scène II: 'Ah! Bergers, C'en Est Fait'

6. Acte I, Scène II: Entrée De Nymphes Et De Bergers Désespérés/'Lâche Amant'

7. Acte I, Scène III: 'Ne Tourne Point, Mon Fils'

8. Acte I, Scène III: 'Que D'un Frivole Espoir'/'Juste Sujet De Pleurs'

9. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène I: Prélude/'Affreux Tourments'

10. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène II: Prélude/'Cessez, Cessez, Fameux Coupables'

11. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène II: 'Je Ne Refuse Point Le Secours'/'Il N'est Rien Aux Enfers'

12. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène II: Les Fantômes

13. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène III: Prélude/'Que Cherche En Mon Palais'

14. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène III: 'Je Ne Viens Point Ici'/'Pauvre Amant'

15. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène III: 'Euridice N'est Plus'/'Le Destin Est Contraire' (Pluton) - 'Ah! Puisqu'avant Le Temps'

16. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène III: 'Tu Ne La Perdras Point, Hélas'/'Quel Charme Imperieux'/'Courage Orphée'

17. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène III: 'Souviens-toi Du Larcin'

18. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène III: 'Je Cède, Je Me Rends'

19. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène IV: 'Vous Partez Donc, Orphée'

20. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène IV: Entrée Des Fantômes

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Marc-Antoine Charpentier - David & Jonathas

"Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Biblical tragedy ('tragédie Biblique'), 'David et Jonatahas' (H. 490), with a libretto by Père Bretonneau, was performed at the Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris on 28 February 1688. It was revived in 1706 and 1715 (Collège d'Harcourt), and later at other Jesuit colleges, at Amiens and La Flèche (1741) among others. 'David et Jonathas' has nothing in common with the 'tragédie lyrique' composed by Lully; for instance, the prologue is an integral, overlapping part of the work (on the model of the Italian opera). It is a piece of sacred music destined for the divine office, of a profoundly inward, meditative character. The main body of the work resembles a statis theatrical piece, the five acts appearing to be vertiable psychological tableaux for each of the principal characters. Recitative (i.e. the action) is virtually entirely absent from the work which abounds in elaborately developed 'airs', often with orchestral accompaniment (such as the 'air' of Jonathan, 'A-t-on jamais souffert' in Act IV), choruses, 'simphonies' and dance numbers. 'David et Jonathas' was intended to serve as an interlude for a five-act Latin tragedy by Père Chamillart, 'Saül', recited by the pupils of the college. The complete work therefore consisted of eleven acts (prologue of 'David', Act I of 'Saül', Act I of 'David', and so on), and the spoken Latin text overlapped the sun French one. All of the action was concentrated in 'Saül'.

"There is no action in 'David et Jonathas' because it had just been narrated in 'Saül': the two works were interwoven with one another. But the matter is rendered even more complex by the fact that 'David', on the one hand, and 'Saül', on the other, are not one and the same drama, but two contrasting aspects of the same drama, each one reacting on the other, thereby investing one another with greater power. The 'Saül' + 'David' structure does not show the drama of one -or- the other, but alternatively both the one -and- the other. The psychology of the characters is increasingly refined, each gesture being presented to the spectator with its various consequences in the two camps: the characters appear all the more human as their actions are contradictory or are received as such in the two camps; they seem more objectively real. 'Saül' is set in the camp of the Israelites, 'David' in that of the Philistines, their enemies. We are not very far from the multiple-scene theatre of today.

"Almost unique in its genre, because there was only one 'precedent' - in 1687 ('Celse', also by Charpentier, but this work is lost), the project presents something of the aspect of a wager; it dates from 1688, and was thus composed immediately after the death of Lully, as if to challenge the operatic monopoly of the Royal Academy. The audience was not mistaken, by the way, when it applauded 'David' and dropped 'Zéphire et Flore' by M. de Lully le Cadet, performed at the same period on the prestigious stage of the Royal Academy of Music: the chronicler of the 'Mercure' (March 1688) devoted an article of five pages to the former while dismissing the latter in a few rigid lines.

"Until 1687 the Lullyist type of the 'tragédie lyrique' seemed to be the only possible operatic principle in France. At the same time the (modernist) concepts regarding the imitation of the ancients were defended by Perrault, Longepierre, Fontenelle and others. It was highly tempting to young authors to create a new type of operatic spectacle, particularly since Lully was no longer there to enforce his monopoly. The Lullyist type of the 'tragédie lyrique' aimed at being an imitation of the great tragedies of ancient Greece. 'David et Jonathas', composed by Charpentier at the age of 44, during a crucial period, cannot be regarded in any other way but as a counter-proposition to the Quinault-Lully model, as were other, by the way, such as Racine's 'Esther' and 'Athalie'.

"'David et Jonathas' is an opera and by no means an oratorio. As if to cut short any possible disput on the subject, Marc-Antonine Charpentier had composed an oratorio on the same subject in 1681-82, 'Mors Saülis et Jonathae' (H. 403)." (Jean Duron. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Les Arts Florissants, William Christie, Gérard Lesne, Monique Zanetti, Jean-François Gardeil

1.1. Prologue: Ouverture

1.2. Prologue, Scène I: 'Où Suis-je? Qu'ai-je Fait?'

1.3. Prologue, Scène II: 'Dois-je Éprouver Le Secours De Vos Charmes?'

1.4. Prologue, Scène III: 'Retirez-vous Affreux Tonnerre'

1.5. Prologue, Scène IV: 'Quelle Importune Voix Vient Troubler Mon Repos?'

1.6. Prologue, Scène V: 'C'est Assez? Ai-je Enfin Épuisé Ta Colère?'

1.7. Acte I: Marche Triomphante

1.8. Acte I, Scène I: 'Du Plus Grand Des Héros Publions Les Exploits'

1.9. Acte I, Scène II: 'Allez, Le Ciel Jaloux Attend Un Légitime Hommage'

1.10. Acte I, Scène III: 'Ciel! Quel Triste Combat En Ces Lieux Me Rappelle?'

1.11. Acte I, Scène IV: 'Le Ciel Enfin Favorable À Mes Vœux'

1.12. Acte I: Menuet

1.13. Acte II: Prélude

1.14. Acte II, Scène I: 'Quel Inutile Soins En Ces Lieux Vous Arrête?'

1.15. Acte II, Scène II: 'Dépit Jaloux, Haine Cruelle'

1.16. Acte II, Scène III: 'A Votre Bras Vainqueur Rien Ne Peut Résister'

1.17. Acte II: Chaconne

2.1. Acte III: Symphonie d'Ouverture

2.2. Acte III, Scène I: 'Ah! Je Dois Assurer Et Ma Vie Et L'Empire'

2.3. Acte III, Scène II: 'Objet D'une Implacable Haine'

2.4. Acte III, Scène III: 'David Peut-il Attendre Un Retour Favorable?'

2.5. Acte III: Gigue

2.6. Acte IV: Prélude

2.7. Acte IV, Scène I: 'Souverain Juge Des Mortels'

2.8. Acte IV, Scène II: 'Vous Me Fuyez'

2.9. Acte IV, Scène III: 'A-t-on Jamais Souffert Une Plus Rude Peine?'

2.10. Acte IV, Scène IV: 'Venez, Seigneur, Venez: Säul Va Vous Attendre'

2.11. Acte IV, Scène V: 'Enfin, Vous M'écoutez, Seigneur?'

2.12. Acte IV: Rigaudon

2.13. Acte IV: Bourrée

2.14. Acte V: Bruits d'Armes

2.15. Acte V, Scène I: 'Courez: Säul Attend Un Secours Nécessaire'

2.16. Acte V, Scène II: 'Que Vois-je? Quoi Je Perds Mon Fils & Mon Empire!'

2.17. Acte V, Scène III: 'Victoire! Victoire!'

2.18. Acte V, Scène IV: 'Qu'on Sauve Jonathas... Allez...'

2.19. Acte V, Scène V: 'Vois, Traître, Et Reconnais Ta Nouvelle Victime'

2.20. Acte V, Scène VI: 'Joignez À Vos Exploits L'Honneur Du Diadème'

2.21. Acte V: Chœur Des Triomphants

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Marc-Antoine Charpentier - Médée

"Reporting on the premiere performances of 'Médée' at the Academie de la Musique (the Opéra) in Paris in December 1693, the monthly Mercure Galant enthused. Louis XIV had accepted the dedication to him of the work, though neither its composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier nor its librettist Thomas Corneille were in his service, and His Majesty had been heard to say of Charpentier that 'He was convinced that [Charpentier] was an able man, and He knew that there were very fine things in his opera.' Of ten performances, the Grand Dauphin had attended two, and Monsieur (the king's brother) four. Marthe Le Rochois, the most celebrated soprano of the era, had portrayed Medea 'with warmth, subtlety and intelligence.' In the libretto of Corneille (younger brother of the more celebrated Pierre), 'The emotions are so vivid in it that, even if the role [of Medea] were only to be spoken, it would not fail to make a great impression on the audience.' In sum, 'true connoisseurs found many admirable passages in the opera 'Médée.' 

 

"But not everyone agreed with the gossipy monthly's opinion — especially since the Mercure was exceptionally partial to Charpentier, its editor having collaborated several times with the composer (and with Corneille, too). A more impartial report, if much later, would seem to be that of Sebastien de Brossard, composer and erudite music scholar; writing in 1724, Brossard said: "[The opera 'Médée'] is unquestionably the most expert and exquisite of all that have been published, at least since the death of M. de Lully; and although thanks to cabals of the envious and ignorant it was not received by the public as well as it deserved, or even as well as many others, it is this one, more than all other operas without exception, from which may be learned the essentials of good composition.' 

 

"Note the qualification: '...at least since the death of M. de Lully.' Jean-Baptiste Lully, born in Florence in 1632 but at the French royal court from 1646, and at the time of his death in 1687 effectively composer-laureate of the realm, was still being considered — thirty-seven years later, and by an unprejudiced and learned musician — the unparalleled musical dramatist of France. This suggests who were behind the 'cabals of the envious and ignorant' that doomed Charpentier's 'Médée': Lullistes, faithful to the memory of the late Superintendent of the King's Music, who had virtually invented French opera with a series of annual 'tragédies en musique' beginning with 'Cadmus et Hermione' (1673) and culminating with 'Armide' (1686). For such Lullistes, Charpentier — who had been shaped as a composer in Rome under Giacomo Carissimi — was the enemy: not a composer of 'pure' French music but one who had been seduced by the 'excesses' of Italian Baroque music. And 'Médée' was indeed doomed, at least for almost three hundred years. Charpentier's score was printed in 1694 under royal privilege, and the opera made an abortive appearance in Lille in 1700 (a fire destroyed the decors and the opera's run had to be cancelled). But then it was forgotten and never heard integrally again until 1984 — in a Robert Wilson/Michel Corboz production at the Opera de Lyon and in a different version recorded by Les Arts Florissants under William Christie, which was revised and given a triumphant stage production in 1993-94, giving rise to the present recording. And now that we are able to take the full measure of the work, it is generally agreed that Med& is Charpentier's consummate masterpiece. 

 

"Ironically, 'Médée' is very much a Lullian opera —in its external form (prologue and five acts); its subject matter (classical myth); its literary style (poetic throughout, and versified mostly in couplets and quatrains of alexandrines); its precise declamation and text-dominated vocalism (as opposed to the Italians' music-dominated, aria-filled 'concerts in costume'; its exotic and fantastic divertissements rich in song-and-dance delights (one in every act but the last); its substantial choruses; its double orchestra (a full grand chœur — with strings in five parts, winds, trumpets, and percussion — aerated often with a petit chœur of solo instruments in three parts) and of course an accompanimental basse continue of semi-improvising harpsichords, lutes, and bowed and blown bass instruments. Having said that in 'Médée' Charpentier and Corneille accepted the Lullian mould of the tragédie lyrique, one must immediately insist on the ways they broke the mould. First of all, Charpentier filled the opera with some of his most magnificent music, sustaining the inspiration throughout a very long work. The elements of his personal style shine all through it: a unique synthesis of lyrical, warmly Italianate vocalism and precise French declamation; a rich harmonic palette abounding in poignant chromaticism and evocative dissonances; a unique vocal arioso for the solo recits; a flair for unusual orchestral colors; and a magisterial command of instrumental and choral polyphony. 

 

"One is perhaps struck most by the sheer theatricality of 'Médée' and its powerful evocation of diverse characters and the complete range of their emotions. As the French scholar Catherine Massip has emphasized, this is 'an opera whose subtlety and complexity are found as much in its dramatic texture as in Charpentier's response to the libretto.' Like virtually every earlier playwright reworking the legend of Jason and Medea, Thomas Corneille had his own slant on it. Unlike the versions of Euripides, Seneca, and even his older brother, Corneille begins his account with the first days in Corinth of Medea and Jason (Medea having fled her own country with Jason after he acquired the Golden Fleece, and having borne his children) and with Jason's infatuation with the Corinthian princess Creusa, daughter of King Creon. Corneille portrays Jason as a weak-willed anti-hero — irresolute, impressionable, and opportunistic — while his Medea is a complex character —aware of her supernatural powers; jealous but proud; wanting acceptance as a desirable woman rather than rejection as a rank outsider, as a loving mother rather than a sorceress; and resistant to believing the worst about the man she loves, though, when she does, resolving, 'Et que le crime nous separe/Comme le crime nous a joints' ('And may murder separate us/Just as murder has united us.') 

 

"At the moment of that resolution (Act III, scene 4), Corneille and Charpentier climactically invoke sorcery and black magic. Understandably: the 1680s had been full of them, at court and in Paris. The scandals of the 'Affaire of the Poisons,' which led to many trials and tortures, convictions and deaths, and in which even the king's longtime mistress, Madame de Montespan, had been implicated, was on everyone's lips. So, of course: sorcery in 'Médée.' But, as Jean-Marie Villegier, director of the production of Les Arts Florissants, has written, one of the opera's main subtexts is that 'Even if woman is a sorceress, this sorceress is a woman.' 

 

"Charpentier brings to Corneille's libretto an extraordinary sensitivity to dramatic nuance, his music powerfully conveying human passions and affects. The Prologue leaves little room for such characterization: it is antiseptically allegorical, all about the peaceable reign (!) of Louis XIV. (Such a prologue, on such a theme, was obligatory under the Sun King.) Pleasant vocal trios are echoed in choruses punctuated by bright orchestral ritournelles. Toward the end, a chain of cheerful dances - loure, canaries, menuet, passepied - confirms a message of peaceful pleasures: 'Le bruit des tambours, des trompettes / Ne viendra point troubler nos jeux.' ('The noise of drums and trumpets/Shall no more disturb our games.') 

 

"In Act I, Charpentier swiftly plunges us deep into Medea's passionate, proud, fierce character. Her big récit 'S 'il me vole son cœur, si la princesse y règne,/De plus grands efforts feront voir/Ce qu'est Médée et son pouvoir' (If his heart has been stolen, if the Princess holds sway there,/Greater efforts will reveal/Who Medea is, and what are her powers') has a unique accompaniment, pulsing with barely contained power; and the récit, which establishes the main theme of the drama, is framed with angry, rushing passagework for the strings. In the divertissement that concludes the act, Charpentier is careful to distinguish the four-part Chorus of Corinthians (initially offstage, a nice coup de theatre and a great novelty) from the three-part Chorus of Argians. In Act II, we meet Medea as mother, and her softer side is deftly suggested, especially in the accompaniment, for soft strings and two gentle flutes, of her récit 'Princesse, c'est sur vous que mon espoir se fonde' ('Princess, 'tis upon you that my hopes are founded.') This act also closes with a divertissement, a fantasy in which the nubile Creusa is addressed by Cupid and 'Captifs d'amour de plusieurs nations' ('Slaves of Love from several nations') (including Italy, of course, as an excuse for a distinctly Italianate air, to an Italian text); the concluding 'Passecaille en rondeau' finds the chorus alternating with a vocal trio, representing 'Three Slaves of Love,' that is enchantingly reminiscent of sixteenth-century chanson style. The dramatic tension deepens and intensifies in Act III. Medea has several powerful monologues, each differentiated sonorously and rhythmically. The first 'Quel prix de mon amour?' ('Such is the price of love') is rounded off with a return to the opening lines of text, but with subtle reshaping of their music. The second 'C'en est fait, on m'y force' ('But it's all over, I'm forced to it') displays the angry Medea, competing once again with rushing strings. Her resolution to turn to malignant sorcery is forcefully projected in both 'Noires filles du Styx' ('Black daughters of the Styx'), with a string accompaniment kept low and dark, and 'Dieu du Cocyte et des royaumes sombres' ('God of Cocytus and of the dark kingdoms,') even more darkly scored. These two récits are integrated into a divertissement that introduces fantastic creatures — snarling Vengeance and Jealousy, and a crowd of Demons. 

 

"Act IV begins with a delicately chromatic prelude for two flutes, two violins, and continuo: our first view of Creusa clad in the deceptively beautiful poisoned robe given her by Medea 'Jamais on ne la vit si belle' ('Never has she looked so beautiful.') Charpentier composes a stunning love scene for Creusa and Jason beginning with lyrical solos for each, out of the 'air de cour' tradition; the dialogue ends with a brief, wistful duet. Later in the act Creon and Medea have their final confrontation. Creon calls on his guards to seize her. Medea magically causes the guards to reject their king, then calls up a horde of phantoms to immobilize them — which they do in an utterly eerie divertissement. (Charpentier suggests the insubstantial phantoms with a mysterious, bassless chorus.) Creon finishes the act with a desperate récit 'Noires divinites, que voulez-vous de moi?' ('Black Divinities, what do you want of me?'). For Creon's drift into madness, Charpentier takes a cue from the line 'Tout s'abime, la terre s'ouvre!' ('There is an abyss, the earth opens up') and omits the treble instruments, divides the basses into two parts, and creates a dense, dark, literally abysmal accompaniment. An intermède leading to Act V is based appropriately on Medea's ferocious 'anger music,' which has by now become a leitmotif.

 

"Act V is highlighted by the Corinthians' choral lament on the death of Creon (evoking the memory of Lully's celebrated choral lament, 'Alceste est morte!') ('Alceste is dead!'); by the almost unbearably poignant scene of Creusa in torment in the poisoned robe; and by her death, postponed just long enough to permit an extraordinarily moving, bittersweet love-death duet for her and Jason 'Hélas! prets d'être unis par les plus douces chaines' ('Alas! Ready as we are to be united in the sweetest bonds'); and finally by Medea's ferocious adieu to Jason — introduced and followed, as by now we almost expect, by orchestral ritournelles in Medea's 'angry' style. That is the last sound we hear." (H. Wiley Hitchcock. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Les Arts Florissants, William Christie, Lorraine Hunt, Mark Padmore, Bernard Deletré, Monique Zanetti, Jean-Marc Salzmann

1.1. Prologue: Ouverture

1.2. Prologue: 'Louis Est Triomphant'

1.3. Prologue: 'Paroissez, Charmante Victoire'

1.4. Prologue: 'Le Ciel Dans Nos Vœux S'intéresse'

1.5. Prologue: Loure

1.6. Prologue: 'Dans Le Bel Âge, Si L'on N'est Volage'

1.7. Prologue: Passepied

1.8. Prologue: Ouverture (Reprise)

1.9. Acte I, Scène I: 'Pour Flatter Mes Ennemis'

1.10. Acte I, Scène I: 'Qu'il Le Cherche, Mais Qu'il Me Craigne'

1.11. Acte I, Scène II: 'D'où Vous Vient Cet Air Sombre?'

1.12. Acte I, Scène III: 'Que Je Serois Heureux, Si J'étais Moins Aimé'

1.13. Acte I, Scène III: 'Que Me Peut Demander La Gloire'

1.14. Acte I, Scène IV: 'L'Allégresse En Ces Lieux'

1.15. Acte I, Scène V: 'Seigneur, La Thessalie Attaquant Vos Estats'

1.16. Acte I, Scène VI: 'Courez Aux Champs De Mars'

1.17. Acte I, Scène VI: 'Que D'épais Bataillons, Sur Nos Rêves Descendent'

1.18. Acte I, Scène VI: Rondeau Des Corinthiens

1.19. Acte I, Scène VI: 'Quel Bonheur Suit La Tendresse'

1.20. Acte I, Scène VI: 'Que D'épais' (Reprise)

1.21. Acte I, Scène VI: Entr'acte

 

2.1. Acte II, Scène I: 'Il Est Temps De Parler'

2.2. Acte II, Scène I: 'Vos Reproches, Seigneur, Ne Sont Pas Légitimes'

2.3. Acte II, Scène II: 'Princesse, C'est Sur Vous Que Mon Espoir Est Permis'

2.4. Acte II, Scène III: 'Enfin À Ton Amour Tout Espoir Est Permis'

2.5. Acte II, Scène IV: 'Prince, Venez Apprendre Une Heureuse Nouvelle'

2.6. Acte II, Scène V: 'Qu'ay-je À Résoudre Encor?'

2.7. Acte II, Scène V: 'Quand Son Amour Seroit Extrême'

2.8. Acte II, Scène VI: 'Puisqu'un Fier Ennemy'

2.9. Acte II, Scène VII: 'Quelle Est Charmante'

2.10. Acte II, Scène VII: Chaconne

2.11. Acte II, Scène VII: Passacaille

2.12. Acte II, Scène VII: 'Vous Voyez À Quoi J'aspire'

2.13. Acte III, Scène I: 'L'orage Est Violent'

2.14. Acte III, Scène I: 'Souffrirez Vous Qu'on Vous Enlève'

2.15. Acte III, Scène II: 'Vous Savez L'exil Qu'on M'ordonne'

2.16. Acte III, Scène III: 'Quel Prix De Mon Amour'

2.17. Acte III, Scène IV: 'Croiras-tu Mon Malheur?'

2.18. Acte III, Scène V: 'Noires Filles Du Stix'

2.19. Acte III, Scène VI: 'L'Enfer Obéit À Ta Voix'

2.20. Acte III, Scène VII: 'Je Vois Le Don Fatal'

2.21. Acte III, Scène VII: Premier Air Pour Les Démons

2.22. Acte III, Scène VII: 'Dieu Du Cocyte & Des Royaumes Sombres'

2.23. Acte III, Scène VII: Seconde Entrée Des Démons

 

3.1. Acte IV, Scène I: 'Jamais On Ne La Vit Si Belle'

3.2. Acte IV, Scène II: 'Ah! Que D'attraits'

3.3. Acte IV, Scène III: 'Si-tost Que Je Parois'

3.4. Acte IV, Scène IV: 'Vos Soupçons Estoient Vrais'

3.5. Acte IV, Scène V: 'D'où Me Vient Cette Horreur?'

3.6. Acte IV, Scène VI: 'Objets Agréables'

3.7. Acte IV, Scène VI: 'Vos Adieux Sont-ils Faits?'

3.8. Acte IV, Scène VII: Premier Air Des Phantômes

3.9. Acte IV, Scène VII: Phantômes Et Gardes

3.10. Acte IV, Scène VII: 'Tout Resent Le Pouvoir'

3.11. Acte IV, Scène VIII: 'Mon Pouvoir S'est Connu'

3.12. Acte IV, Scène IX: 'Noires Divinités'

3.13. Acte V, Scène I: 'On Ne Peut Sans Effroy'

3.14. Acte V, Scène I: 'Ne Les Épargnons Pas'

3.15. Acte V, Scène II: 'Si La Pitié Vous Peut Trouver Sensible'

3.16. Acte V, Scène III: 'Venez, Parlez'

3.17. Acte V, Scène III: Air Funeste (Reprise)

3.18. Acte V, Scène IV: 'Eh Bien, Barbare'

3.19. Acte V, Scène V: 'Quel Feu Dans Me Veines S'allume'

3.20. Acte V, Scène VI: 'Ah, Roy Trop Malheureux'

3.21. Acte V, Scène VII: 'Elle Est Morte, Et Je Vis!'

3.22. Acte V, Scène VIII: 'C'est Peu, Pour Contenter La Douleur'

 

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