Jean-Baptiste Lully - Armide

"'If you have heard 'Armide' performed well, you may flatter yourself on having heard the most beautiful piece of music to have been written in the past fifteen or sixteen centuries: of that I am most confident. [...] For myself, I believe I have seen a performance of 'Armide' that entitles me to put that work above everything so many centuries have produced. The memory of that night has always remained with me, and I cherish it.' 

 

"Thus enthused a young Rouen magistrate and opera-lover, Jean-Laurent Lecerf de La Viéville, over the last of the tragedies en musique produced by Quinault and Lully. Since Lecerf was only twelve years old in 1686, when the work was first performed, he must have attended one of the many revivals in Paris, probably in 1697 or during the 1703-04 season. For one who greatly appreciated Tancrède, composed by a man of his own generation, Campra, the older 'Armide' that made such a strong impression on him seemed the finest example of 'total theatre,' worthy of the plays of Euripides or Sophocles. In his 'Comparaison de la musique italienne et de la musique francaise,' published in 1706, he lauded the strength of both the libretto and the music. 'Do you know anything in all our operas more universally captivating and moving than the two pieces sung by Armide?' he wrote with reference to the two grand arias ('Enfin it est en ma puissance,' Act II, Scene V, and 'Renaud, Ciel, ô mortelle peine,' Act V, Scene IV). 

"And he was not alone in being moved by those later performances: 'When Armide is about to stab Renaud in the final scene of Act II,' he reported, 'I have seen the whole audience, all eyes and ears, frozen with fear, not daring to breathe, until the air for the violin at the end of the scene finally releases the tension and allows them to breathe again, and a hum of joy and admiration is heard. [...] This unanimous reaction showed that the scene was indeed amazing.'

 
"For Lecerf, everything about 'Armide,' 'the ladies' opera,' was admirable, 'supremely beautiful.' The music was 'simple. free and easy, and consistent,' with Lully 'skilfully bringing out the meaning [of every word] in the recitative.' Everything amazed him: the violin accompaniment, the exclamations, the 'vivid vocal expression,' the orchestra, the dances, and the choruses, 'more substantial than anywhere else in Europe.' Even the soloists found favour in his eyes, although most of them were past their prime. As Armide, Marie ('Marthe') Le Rochois met with great success. Louis Gaulard Dumesny, known as Dumesnil, took the part of Renaud, and 'fortunately he was sober!'

 
"By fifteen years after its creation, 'Armide' had thus become a model, a myth, the perfect example of a tragedie en musique. The work appears to have fascinated audiences from the start. Henry Baud de Sainte-Frique, a gentleman of Languedoc, a very distinguished member of the court, and a fine dancer who had taken part at Versailles in 'Le Triomphe de l'Amour' in 1681 and 'Le Carrousel des Galants Maures' in June 1685, was amazed by the attendance a week after the premier, 'there was such a large crowd that no more could enter at all. More than a hundred people were on the stage itself [...]. All the loges held ten people each, when they were already uncomfortably full with seven.' And the work continued to be an unfailing success. The enchantment scenes delighted the Siamese ambassadors when they attended the opera in January 1687. The Mercure of 1724 published an article with a detailed description of the work, including whole pages from Lecerf de La Viéville's 'Comparaison.' Quinault's heroine 'draws sighs and tears,' and Renaud's heroism in 'abandoning the princess of Damascus, despite the charms and pleasures of her company' it found admirable. Some fifteen years later Louis Racine compared 'Armide' to his father's 'Phèdre' and to Moliere's 'Le Misanthrope.' The work made such an impression that Philippe II, Duke of Orleans. who had studied with Charpentier, composed a 'Suite d'Armide, ou Jérusalem délivrée' in 1704, and Henry Desmarest wrote an opera, 'Renaud ou Ia suite d'Armide,' that was performed in 1722 as part of the celebrations for the arrival in Paris of the Infanta-Queen (Louis XV's little fiancée, Mariana Victoria of Spain). 

"Only Jean-Jacques Rousseau was critical of the masterpiece. He particularly objected to Armide's aborted vengeance with the celebrated monologue 'Enfin it est en ma puissance.' In his 'Lettre sur Ia musique française' (1753) he wrote: 'To sum up my sentiment [...] in a few words, I say that if one looks upon it as singing, neither metre, nor character, nor melody is found in it; if one wishes to see it as recitative, it has neither naturalness nor expressiveness!' He found 'the ornaments of song even more ridiculous in such a situation than they usually are in French music' and 'its modulation is regular, but puerile for the same reason, pedantic. without power, without perceptible feeling.' Rameau, then at the height of his fame, responded with a counter-examination in the 1754 'Observations sur notre instinct pour la musique, et sur son principe,' aiming 'to render to Lully the justice owed to him' after Rousseau's 'ill-founded' criticism. He strongly defended the monologue as 'a masterpiece,' a true demonstration of artistry; he praised Lully's skill, his ability to 'think in grand terms' ('Lully pensait en grand'), and dismissed Rousseau's contradictions and false interpretations. Many years later, in a letter of January 1787 addressed to Friedrich Melchior. Baron von Grimm, Diderot described the libretto of 'Armide' as Quinault's masterpiece ('le chef-d'œuvre de ce poète lyrique').'Everything the lovers say radiates the intoxication and frenzy of their happiness'; and he admires Renaud for the love that he 'sacrifices only to glory'. Finally, the libretto inspired Gluck to compose his own version of it in 1777.
 

"The opera was immediately a huge success, but its genesis came in what was overall a very grim year for Lully. 1685 had begun very well with the first performance in January of a new tragédie en musique in collaboration with Quinault, 'Roland', which had been very well received. Several other works by the composer were premiered: 'Quare fremuerunt', which was to serve as a model of the grand motet for the four recently appointed sous-maitres of the royal chapel; 'L'Idylle stir la paix', to a text by Jean Racine, given at Sceaux; the opera-ballet 'Le Temple de la Paix', performed in October during the court's residence at Fontainebleau (the Mercure praised its dialogues as 'beautiful beyond anything we have seen of such a nature'). There was also a great deal of instrumental music, with the already-mentioned 'Carrousel des Galants Maures' at Versailles and sumptuous entertainments at Marly. However, times had changed. 'Entertainments at Versailles have given way to devotion,' reported the Dutch gazettes. Under the influence of Madame de Maintenon, the king henceforth forsook entertainments, went daily to Saint-Cyr and took an interest in religious doctrine. That was the time of the persecution of the Huguenots, the passing of the decree known as the Code Noir, expeditions against the Barbary States, tensions with the Holy Roman Empire, soon further complicated by the death of Charles II, Elector Palatine, and finally, in October, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Pleasures were clearly no longer on the king's agenda. He declined the Duke of Mazarin's invitation to Rueil for the inauguration of an equestrian statue portraying him 'in French costume', for example, and his doing so at the last moment, after everything had been lavishly prepared to receive him, meant that the divertissements composed specially for the occasion by Charpentier and Brossard were never performed. 

"In that rather bleak context. Lully was caught at the beginning of the year in a scandalous affair with one of the king's young 'music pages'. It became the talk of Versailles and provided a subject for street ballads of the day. Abbe Bourdaloue preached a sermon at Versailles about the dangers to youth of vice. The young castrato Atto Melani related all this to his patron, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The page in question was packed off to a monastery, and Lully was informed that he could no longer count on the king's protection. Then in the spring another scandal broke, this time at the Académie royale de musique (the Opera), where, following Lully's decision to cut off the pensions to veterans, four of the institution's finest and most eminent singers walked out, to the great displeasure of the opera-going public. Once again, the king had to step in and overrule the composer. To add further to Lully's worries, in the autumn of that year the Theatine monastery opposite the Louvre began to present regular concerts for paying audiences 'in the manner of the Roman oratories', and these, presenting as they did the most excellent singers as well as fine musicians under the maitre de musique Paolo Lorenzani (whose music was very much to the liking of Louis XIV), soon became exceedingly popular. Perceiving a threat to his monopoly, Lully attempted to put a stop to those church performances of what he deemed to be 'veritable operas'. But his efforts were in vain: the king refused to call the devotional concerts into question (La Gorce). Finally, at the end of the year (according to Lully's letter of dedication to the king, which appeared in the printed score, published shortly after the first performance of 'Armide') the composer suddenly fell dangerously ill, suffering 'the most violent pains [he had] ever endured', but he nevertheless managed to complete the work on time. Lully was no doubt hoping to obtain the king's sympathy. For Louis XIV had been unable to attend the performances because of his own great discomfort: he was about to undergo a complex and very delicate operation to treat an anal fistula.

 
"The earliest documents that mention 'Armide' date from May 1685, when Philippe de Courcillon, Marquis de Dangeau, recounts in his memoirs Quinault's meeting with Louis XIV in the apartments of Madame de Montespan. As usual, the poet took with him three different plots for the king to choose from. In the first one, set in fourth-century Gaul at the time of the Roman emperor Constantius, the great general Sylvanus was valiantly saved by Malaric, king of the Franks, from a conspiracy to discredit him. The second project. based on Ovid ('Metamorphoses'), told of the love between Cephalus and Procris and the jealousy of Aurora, goddess of the dawn (a subject that was to be taken up a few years later by Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre). Finally, borrowed from Torquato Tasso's 'Gerusalemme liberata', there was the tale of Armide, who for all her magic powers is unable to prevent Renaud, after an infatuation with pleasure and diversion, from obeying the call of duty and returning to Godefroy's camp to fulfil his military and religious obligations. Louis loved tales of chivalry and he chose the latter, thus marking a new direction in theatrical entertainments at Versailles: a move away from the image of the king as Apollo and towards the 'new Charlemagne'. Had he heard read to him in his youth 'Les Amours d'Armide', a delightful romance by Pierre Joulet, or the more recent 'Avantures de Renaud et d'Armide' by Antoine Gombaud, Chevalier de Mere? Anyway, the character of the beautiful, passionate princess appealed to him, as did the mysterious East (Damascus), the Crusades, the scenes of enchantment promised by Quinault and, above all, the presence of Renaud, a prince with whom he could identify. Furthermore, the plot held many opportunities for Lully to provide spectacular divertissements: the peoples of Damascus celebrating Armide's victory; the demons transformed into flying zephyrs; Renaud's sleep scene, with more demons in the guise of nymphs and shepherds; visions of the underworld; Hate and the Furies; then Ubalde and the Danish knight, more demons in disguise, caves and wild beasts, abysses and terrifying monsters... not forgetting the entertainments provided by the Pleasures and the 'fortunate lovers'.

 
"The libretto was not completed until the end of 1685, when Quinault submitted it for reading to the Dauphin and Dauphine. However, Lully had worked on the music while 'Le Temple de la paix' was in performance. 'Armide' was to have been given at Versailles, but such was the success of 'Le Temple de Ia paix' that it received additional performances in December 1685 and January 1686, which delayed the opening of the 'Ballet de la jeunesse' (Dancourt and Lalande) until 28 January. Then that in turn ran until 25 February, by which time it was in alternation with Henry Desmarest's opera 'Endymion'. As the Mercure mentioned: since the delay prevented 'Armide' from being performed at court, it was finally presented in Paris at the Théâtre Royal de Musique (Lully's public theatre in the Palais-Royal) on 15 February 1686. 

"'Armide' was included among the 'illustrious women' of Madeleine de Scudery: 'If we consider [Armide] from one angle, she is an Enchantress, she is artful; she is a cruel person; she is a young woman who has renounced the modesty of her sex; and in short, if we wished to paint her portrait thus, it would most certainly be a rather unattractive one: but it is also true that it would not be a very good likeness. If, on the other hand, we see her as a Princess, who has acted only as a Woman Warrior and a Lover, all her charms will be innocent; all her artifices will bring her glory; her cruelty will be fair: her modesty spotless, and our portrait will no doubt be a good likeness, and (unless I am mistaken) it will not be at all unpleasant.'" (Jean Duron. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Les Talens Lyriques, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Christophe Rousset, Marie-Adeline Henry, Antonio Figueroa, Judith van Wanroij, Mari-Claude Chappuis, Marc Mauillon, Douglas Williams, Cyril Auvity, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Etienne Bazola

1.1. Prologue: Ouverture

1.2. Prologue: 'Tout Doit Céder Dans L'univers'

1.3. Prologue: 'D'une Égale Tendresse'

1.4. Prologue: Entrée

1.5. Prologue: Menuet

1.6. Prologue: Gavotte

1.7. Prologue: 'Suivons Notre Héros, Que Rien Ne Nous Sépare'

1.8. Prologue: Entrée

1.9. Prologue: Menuet

1.10. Prologue: 'Que Dans Le Temple De Mémoire'

1.11. Prologue: Ouverture (Reprise)

1.12. Acte I, Scène I: 'Dans Un Jour De Triomphe, Au Milieu Des Plaisirs'

1.13. Acte I, Scène I: 'Je Ne Triomphe Pas Du Plus Vaillant De Tous'

1.14. Acte I, Scène II: 'Armide, Que Le Sang Qui M'unit Avec Vous'

1.15. Acte I, Scène III: Entrée

1.16. Acte I, Scène III: 'Armide Est Encore Plus Aimable'

1.17. Acte I, Scène III: 'Suivons Armide Et Chantons Sa Victoire'/'Que La Douceur D'un Triomphe Est Extrême'

1.18. Acte I, Scène IV: 'Ô Ciel! Ô Disgrâce Cruelle!'

1.19. Acte I, Scène IV: 'Poursuivons Jusqqu'au Trépas'

1.20. Acte I, Scène IV: Entracte

1.21. Acte II, Scène I: 'Invincible Héros, C'est Par Votre Courage'

1.22. Acte II, Scène II: 'Arrêtons‐nous Ici, C'est Dans Ce Lieu Fatal'

1.23. Acte II, Scène III: 'Plus J'observe Ces Lieux, Et Plus Je Les Admire'

1.24. Acte II, Scène IV: 'Au Temps Heureux Où L'on Sait Plaire'

1.25. Acte II, Scène IV: 'Ah! Quelle Erreur! Quelle Folie!'

1.26. Acte II, Scène IV: Premier Air

1.27. Acte II, Scène IV: Second Air

1.28. Acte II, Scène IV: 'On S'étonnerait Moins Que La Saison Nouvelle'

1.29. Acte II, Scène IV: 'Ah! Quelle Erreur! Quelle Folie!'

1.30. Acte II, Scène V: 'Enfin Il Est En Ma Puissance'

1.31. Acte II, Scène V: Entr'acte

2.1. Acte III, Scène I: 'Ah! Si La Liberté Me Doit Être Ravie'

2.2. Acte III, Scène II: 'Que Ne Peut Point Votre Art?'

2.3. Acte III, Scène III: 'Venez, Venez, Haine Implacable'

2.4. Acte III, Scène IV: 'Je Réponds À Tes Vœux, Ta Voix S'est Fait Entendre'

2.5. Acte III, Scène IV: Entrée

2.6. Acte III, Scène IV: 'Amour, Sors Pour Jamais, Sors D'un Cœur Qui Te Chasse'

2.7. Acte III, Scène IV: Air

2.8. Acte III, Scène IV: 'Sors, Sors Du Sein D'Armide, Brise Ta Chaîne'

2.9. Acte III, Scène IV: Entr'acte

2.10. Acte IV, Scène I: 'Nous Ne Trouvons Partout Que Des Gouffres Ouverts'

2.11. Acte IV, Scène II: 'Voici La Charmante Retraite'

2.12. Acte IV, Scène II: Gavotte

2.13. Acte IV, Scène II: Canaries

2.14. Acte IV, Scène II: 'Allons, Qui Vous Retient Encore?'

2.15. Acte IV, Scène III: 'Je Tourne En Vain Les Yeux De Toutes Parts'

2.16. Acte IV, Scène IV: 'D'où Vient Que Vous Vous Détournez'

2.17. Acte IV, Scène IV: 'Que Devient L'objet Qui M'enflamme?'

2.18. Acte IV, Scène IV: Entr'acte

2.19. Acte V, Scène I: 'Armide, Voous M'allez Quitter!'

2.20. Acte V, Scène I: Passacaille

2.21. Acte V, Scène II: 'Les Plaisirs Ont Choisi Pour Asile'

2.22. Acte V, Scène II: 'Allez, Éloignez‐vous De Moi'

2.23. Acte V, Scène II: Prélude

2.24. Acte V, Scène III: 'Il Est Seul; Profitons D'un Temps Si Précieux'

2.25. Acte V, Scène IV: 'Renaud! Ciel! Ô Mortelle Peine!'

2.26. Acte V, Scène V: 'Le Perfide Renaud Me Fuit'

2.27. Acte V, Scène V: Prélude

flac/16-bit

Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville - Les Fêtes de Paphos

"An eighteenth-century French music lover would surely be surprised at the scant attention paid to Mondonville in our century. Here was a man who held some of the most prestigious musical appointments in France, a man who, in his heyday, was considered Rameau's near-equal as an opera composer and very much his superior in the realm of the motet. As Pierre-Louis Daquin, son of the composer Louis-Claude Daquin, observed: 'If I were not Rameau, there is no one I would rather be than Mondonville' 

"Yet until the past few years modern performances have been rare. One reason for this neglect is that Mondonville's music does not always look especially interesting on the page. In performance, however, it comes alive in a surprisingly direct way. Now that performers have learned this lesson, we can expect to hear much more of so talented a composer. 

"Mondonville's biography is for the most part a catalogue of success. Born into an impoverished but aristocratic Languedoc family and baptised on Christmas Day 1711, he spent his formative years in Narbonne and Bordeaux. In 1733 he succumbed to the inevitable lure of Paris and soon established a reputation as a composer and virtuoso violinist. Thanks to his aristocratic background, he possessed the social skills to win powerful allies at Louis XV's court, among them the king's mistress, Madame de Pompadour. She helped him acquire several coveted posts in the royal chapel and the 'chambre du roi.' He eventually succeeded Royer in 1755 as one of the directors of the Concert Spirituel, the principal concert-giving organisation in Paris, where his motets and instrumental works had long enjoyed, and would continue to enjoy, widespread popular acclaim. Indeed, during his lifetime his vocal works were performed there more often than those of any other composer. 

 

"Surprisingly, Mondonville's operatic career began badly with the failure of 'Isbe' in 1742. By contrast, 'Le Carnaval du Parnasse,' produced seven years later, was a huge box-office hit, and was followed by a succession of operatic triumphs: 'Titan et l'Aurore' (1753), which rallied the supporters of French opera in their dispute with the devotees of Italian opera buffa during the notorious Querelle des Bouffons; 'Daphnis et Aleimadure' (1754), written in the dialect of his native Languedoc; and 'Les Fêtes de Paphos,' the present work (1758). This enjoyed twenty-nine consecutive performances and, although only the third act was ever revived, the popularity of the whole was never in doubt. 

 

"Alongside these works for the Paris Opera Mondonville composed two one-act operas for Madame de Pompadour's Theatre des Petits Cabinets, in which his patroness indulged her passion for amateur theatricals and took many of the leading roles. These works, 'Érigone' (1747) and 'Venus et Adonis' (1752), were to provide much of the material for the present opera. Les Fetes de Paphos, though described on the title page as a ballet heroïque, is better classified as an opera-ballet. Whereas the former genre normally involved one continuous plot spread over three acts, the latter typically comprised three or four acts (they were usually known as entrées in this context), each with its self-contained plot; the subject matter of the entrées was nevertheless linked to some general theme set out in a prologue. 

 

"Given the nature of opera-ballet, it was easy enough for Mondonville to incorporate his two one-act operas for Madame de Pompadour into the present work. Suitably modified, 'Venus et Adonis' became the first entrée and 'Érigone' (retitled 'Bacchus et Érigone') the second. To these were added a final entrée, 'L'Amour et Psyche,' and a prologue. This last, according to the libretto, was soon suppressed 'so as to avoid too long an entertainment' and has not survived. 

 

"Each entrée had a different librettist: 'Venus et Adonis' was by Collé, a minor literary figure, while 'Bacchus et Erigone was the work of La Bruère, who had supplied Rameau with the libretto of one of his finest tragedies, 'Dardanus' (1739). Mondonville himself claimed to have written the libretto of L'Amour et Psyche, but few believed that this was so. As the Due de la Vallière wryly observed: 'I know that Mondonville boasts of being the author of the text of 'Psyche'; but if he continues to peddle this fiction, I will put it about that I myself wrote the music'. On balance, the evidence suggests that this entrée was by the Abbé de Voisenon, though why he chose to remain anonymous is a mystery. 

 

"With one disastrous exception (his resetting of the libretto of Lully's 'Thésée' was booed off the stage in 1765), Mondonville never cultivated the more serious genres of French opera. He was at his best in the less demanding pastorale and opéra-ballet. One contemporary, Louis de Cahusac, neatly characterised the difference between this latter genre and the tragédie en musique, the loftiest sub-species of French opera at that time: if the tragédie was like a vast canvas by Raphael or Michelangelo, the opera-ballet was made up of pretty Watteaus — delightful miniatures that demanded precision of design, graceful brush-strokes and a brilliant palette of colours. At the start of the eighteenth century, when the opera-ballét first established itself as a leading genre, works of this kind involved modern, everyday characters and situations. By Mondonville's time, however, librettists had reverted to the stock personages of ancient myth and legend. Thus 'Les Fêtes de Paphos' centres on the amorous exploits of three Classical deities. As the preface to the libretto puts it (with some geographical licence): 'Reunited on the island of Paphos, Venus, Bacchus and Cupid decide to enliven their leisure in such a pleasant location by celebrating their first loves, and this gives rise to the [plots of the] following three acts and the title 'Les Fêtes de Paphos.' 

 

"The choice of Paphos — not, of course, an island but a town on the west coast of Cyprus — was appropriate. It was here that Venus, or more properly Aphrodite, was believed to have been born, rising naked from the sea (aphro means 'foam') on an oyster shell. Here, too, was the centre of one of the most powerful cults of Aphrodite in the ancient world. 

 

"Yet 'Les Fêtes de Paphos,' unlike many of Rameau's operas, makes no use of local colour. (That may well have to do with the circumstances of its creation and desire to recycle existing material.) Indeed, nowhere does the libretto refer to Paphos. Rather, it is the amorous intrigues that unite the three entrées, each plot leading up to a celebration of the loves of the central characters. In the first, the god Mars sees to it that Adonis, his youthful rival for Venus's affections, is killed by a monster. When the goddess metamorphoses Adonis into an anemone, Mars tries to destroy the flower, but Venus implores Jupiter to intervene, and the youth is restored to life. In the second, Bacchus is at first indifferent to the charms of the nymph Érigone, but succumbs during a celebration in his honour ordained by Jupiter. In the final entrée Venus tries unsuccessfully to thwart the love of Psyche and Cupid by various means, among them torment by the fury Tisiphone, a shipwreck and the transformation of the nymph into an ugly hag. 

 

"Such a libretto was ideally suited to Mondonville's talents. The plots may be conventional, but they provide exactly the range of contrasting moods and situations that the composer relished. This is particularly so of the final entrée which, with its storm scenes, its descent into Hades and other twists and turns, is almost too full of incident. 

 

"When 'Les Fêtes de Paphos' appeared, French opera had been in existence for some seventy-five years. For much of that period it had been slow to evolve: the repertory was still dominated by the works of Lully (who had founded it virtually single-handed in the 1670s) many decades after his death in 1687. By the mid-eighteenth century, however, tastes were rapidly changing. Mondonville, with his thorough command of the latest idioms, both native and foreign, was more aware of this than most. Outwardly, the overall structure and internal organisation of 'Les Fêtes de Paphos' conform to tradition. But the musical substance reflects the extent to which the French operatic style had recently developed, whether in response to Rameau's innovations of the 1730s and 1740s or to the inroads of foreign musical styles, Italian and German especially. 

 

"The extent to which this is so is immediately apparent in the overture. As D'Alembert put it, a shade simplistically, 'for over sixty years there was only one overture at the Opéra' — the quintessential ouverture à la françoise, with its pompous, sharply dotted first movement and faster, fugal second. Mondonville follows Rameau's lead in abandoning this tradition. His overture is a lively single movement which exploits the newly-fashionable crescendos, the symphonic contrasts of loud and soft, and virtuosic instrumental figurations. While he does not follow Rameau in connecting the overture thematically with the ensuing opera, the style of orchestral writing sets the tone for much of what follows. The movement acquired a life of its own in Mondonville's day when Balbastre arranged it for organ, in which form it proved immensely successful at the Concert Spirituel for years to come. 

 

"Yet although Mondonville's inclination was towards up-to-date foreign idioms, he was aware of the need to court his more conservative listeners. He must have observed that audiences usually took time to warm to the operas of Rameau, so often the subject of heated debate. One of Mondonville's talents widely conceded even by his enemies was an uncanny knack of knowing how to please a wide cross-section of the public — no mean achievement, given the volatility of contemporary audiences. Thus, in 'Les Fêtes de Paphos,' as in his other works, brilliant coloratura movements such as the Act Two duo 'Amour lance tes traits' (a smash hit in Mondonville's day) coexist with popular vaudeville-style melodies like Adonis's air 'Tout doit céder a ma valeta' in Act One; dramatic orchestral movements that would not sound out of place in the latest German symphony are juxtaposed with simple French-style airs that could almost have been written by Lully's immediate successors half a century earlier. 

 

"It is in his dance music that Mondonville came closest to tradition. When Berlioz remarked that the French would provide an excuse for a ballet 'even in a representation of the Last Judgment', he was commenting on a centuries-old national obsession. Dance had been an essential element of French opera from its foundation in the 1670s. And of all the sub-species current in Mondonville's day, opera-ballet gave it most prominence. In 'Les Fêtes de Paphos' there are no fewer than thirty ballet movements. Here the musical style, though more obviously French, is often enlivened by borrowings from foreign idioms. The final 'pas de trois' of 'L'Amour et Psyché' is what was known as a ballet figure, in which the dancers mimed an action (in this case the attempted abduction of the nymph Flora by Boreas, god of the North Wind) which was related to the main plot but independent of it. 

 

"One idiosyncracy of Mondonville's writing may be heard in the recitative. Ever since Lully had established it in the previous century, French recitative had altered little. In the hands of Rameau the vocal leaps may have become bolder and the harmonies richer, but the essential melodic contours and flexible rhythms remained unchanged. Mondonville's declamation differs from that of his fellow composers in only one important respect. Virtually all the continuo-accompanied recitative is in triple time; scarcely anywhere do we find the fluctuating metres with which French composers sought to capture the subtle inflexions of spoken declamation. Yet if Mondonville's declamation, here and in other operas, lacks the flexibility and nuance of traditional French recitative, it does acquire a more consistently song-like character, which may well be easier on the modern ear. Had be been alive today, Mondonville would doubtless have enjoyed a hugely successful career in film or television music. To be sure, his operas never plumb the emotional depths of Rameau's, but that should not blind (or deafen) us to their considerable artistic merits or to the skill and invention which they reveal. In the words of one contemporary, 'Nothing may astound you, yet everything pleases.'" (Graham Sadler. From the liner notes.)

 

Performers: Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Véronique Gens, Peter Harvey, Olivier Lallouette, Agnès Mellon, Sandrine Piau

1.1. Ouverture

1.2. Acte I, Scène I: Marche

1.3. Acte I, Scène I: 'Vous Qu'à Mes Pas Enchaîne La Victoire'

1.4. Acte I, Scène I: Prélude Fanfare. 'Ce Bruit Annonce Sa Présence'

1.5. Acte I, Scène II: Deux Menuets

1.6. Acte I, Scène II: 'Qu'il Est Doux Après La Victoire'

1.7. Acte I, Scène II: Tambourin

1.8. Acte I, Scène II: 'Délivrons Les Forêts'

1.9. Acte I, Scène III: 'Adonis, Se Peut-il Que Malgré Ma Tendresse'

1.10. Acte I, Scène III: 'Tout Doit Céder À Ma Valeur'

1.11. Acte I, Scène IV: 'Adonis... Adonis... Vainement Je L'appelle!'

1.12. Acte I, Scène IV: 'Fuyons Ce Monstre!'

1.13. Acte I, Scène V/VI: 'Cher Objet De Ma Flamme'

1.14. Acte I, Scène VI: 'Laissons De Mon Amour'

1.15. Acte I, Scène VII: 'Mars Près De Vous S'avance'

1.16. Acte I, Scène VII: 'Tonnerre - Contre Une Injuste Violence'

1.17. Acte I, Scène VIII: 'O Ciel ! En Croirai-je Mes Yeux?'

1.18. Acte I, Scène IX: 'Que Je Plains Les Mortels!'

1.19. Acte I, Scène X: Air Pour La Suite De Vénus

1.20. Acte I, Scène X: 'O Vous Qui De Vénus Accompagnez Les Pas'

1.21. Acte I, Scène X: Deux Menuets

1.22. Acte I, Scène X: 'Lorsque Vénus Vint À Paraître'

1.23. Acte I, Scène X: Deux Gavottes

1.24. Acte I, Scène X: 'Pour Rendre Hommage'

1.25. Acte I, Scène X: Air Pour Les Plaisirs

1.26. Acte I, Scène X: 'Règne À Jamais Sur Nos Coeurs'

1.27. Acte I, Scène X: Contre Danse

1.28. Acte I, Scène X: Entr'acte Tambourin

2.1. Acte II, Scène I: 'Dieu Des Amans Recoi Les Voeux'

2.2. Acte II, Scène II: 'Belle Nymphe, Espérez Le Sort Le Plusheureux'

2.3. Acte II, Scène III: Air Pour Les Sylvains

2.4. Acte II, Scène III: Air Pour Les Corybantes, Ou Prestres De Bacchus

2.5. Acte II, Scène III: 'Cher Bacchus, C'est Assez Répandre Les Allarmes'

2.6. Acte II, Scène III: Air Pour Les Bacchantes Et Les Sylvains

2.7. Acte II, Scène III: 'La Victoire Vole À Ta Voix'

2.8. Acte II, Scène IV: 'Tout Conspire À Combler Vos Voeux'

2.9. Acte II, Scène IV: 'Cette Langueur Étrange'

2.10. Acte II, Scène V: 'L'Amour Suit Cet Objet Charmant'

2.11. Acte II, Scène V: 'Dieux! Quel Charme Inconnu Me Ravit Etm'enflamme?'

2.12. Acte II, Scène V: 'De La Gloire Terrible Suspendez Les Travaux'/Air: Erigone

2.13. Acte II, Scène V: 'Quel Trouble Votre Aspect M'inspire!'

2.14. Acte II, Scène V: 'Amour Lance Tes Traits, Épuise Ton Carquois'

2.15. Acte II, Scène VI: 'Chantez Dans Vos Fêtes Charmantes'

2.16. Acte II, Scène VI: Loure

2.17. Acte II, Scène VI: Gigue

2.18. Acte II, Scène VI: Musette/'Dieu Des Coeurs'

2.19. Acte II, Scène VI: Rondeau En Chaconne

2.20. Acte II, Scène VI: 'Cessez, Guerriers, Cessez De Lancer Letonnerre'

2.21. Acte II, Scène VI: Tambourin

2.22. Acte II, Scène VI: Entr'acte Rondeau En Chaconne

3.1. Acte III, Scène I: Ritournelle

3.2. Acte III, Scène I: 'O Vénus, N'as-tu Pas Épuisé Ta Vengeance?'

3.3. Acte III, Scène II: Prélude

3.4. Acte III, Scène II: 'De Tes Attraits, L'Amour Va Perdre La Mémoire'

3.5. Acte III, Scène II: Gavotte

3.6. Acte III, Scène II: 'Mais L'Amour Va Paraître, Il Faut Suivre Mes Pas'

3.7. Acte III, Scène III: 'On Vous Dérobe En Vain À Mon Impatience'/Récitatif Et Ariette: L'Amour

3.8. Acte III, Scène IV: 'Crains Sans Cesse, Crains Un Affreux Trépas'

3.9. Acte III, Scène IV: 'Tempeste - Justes Dieux, Prenez Ma Deffence'

3.10. Acte III, Scène V: 'Vents Furieux, Rentrez Dans Le Silence- L'Amour, Psyché, Tisiphone

3.11. Acte III, Scène VI: 'Non! Non! Non! N'espère Pas Que Ton Tourment Finisse'

3.12. Acte III, Scène VI: Air Pour Les Démons

3.13. Acte III, Scène VI: 'Amour, C'est Toi Seul Que J'implore'

3.14. Acte III, Scène VI: 'J'ai Perdu Mes Attraits, Et L'Amour Va Paraître'

3.15. Acte III, Scène VII: 'Je Viens Enfin Terminer Vos Allarmes'

3.16. Acte III, Scène VIII: 'Quel Changement! Quel Palais Enchanté'

3.17. Acte III, Scène VIII: Air Pour Les Zéphyrs

3.18. Acte III, Scène VIII: Air Pour Les Grâces - Mon Bonheur Estextrême'

3.19. Acte III, Scène VIII: Deux Menuets

3.20. Acte III, Scène VIII: 'Pour Vous L'aimable Aurore Fait Éclore - L'Amour A Psyché'

3.21. Acte III, Scène VIII: Pas De Trois: Flore Seule - Zéphyr Et Flore - Borée, Suite Des Zéphyrs, Plaintes De Flore - Borée Enlevé Flore - Zéphyr Cherche Flore - Regrets De Zéphyr - Les Zéphyrs Ramènent Flore

flac/16-bit

Jean-Baptiste Lully - Isis

"'Isis' - following 'Cadmus et Hermione' (1673), 'Alceste' (1674), 'Thésée' (1675) and 'Atys' (1676) - was the fifth 'tragedie en musique' resulting from the collaboration between Jean-Baptiste Lully and his librettist Philippe Quinault. The opera was premiered on Tuesday 5 January 1677 at the chateau vieux of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which was then the only royal residence with a theatre suitable for opera performances. In December 1669, at the request of Louis XIV, the architect Carlo Vigarani had transformed the original ballroom, built in the sixteenth century under Francois I, into a theatre, complete with stage machinery capable of elevating performers and shifting sets, and accommodating some six hundred and fifty spectators. 

 

"Like 'Thésée' and 'Atys,' also premiered at Saint-Ger-main-en-Laye, 'Isis' was sung by artists from Lully's Academie Royale de Musique (also known as the Opera) and from the Musique du Roi. The two basse-contre parts were taken by Jean Gaye of the Chambre du Roi (Hierax) and Francois Beaumavielhe of the Opera (Jupiter). Lully gave the title role to Marie Aubry, the first soprano in his troupe, who the previous year had created the role of Sangaride in 'Atys.' As for the jealous goddess Juno, who persecutes the poor nymph Io, her part was taken by the great Mademoiselle de Saint-Christophle of the Opera, who specialised in the roles of goddesses and enchantresses, and had created that of Cybele in Atys. A hundred musicians, members of the Grande Ecurie, the Chambre du Roi and the Opera, formed an impressive orchestra composed of the finest instrumentalists in the realm. Some of them played on stage, including several trumpeters from the Grande Ecurie accompanying Fame (La Renommée) and her attendants in the prologue, and four members of the famous Hotteterre family (Louis, Jean, Nicolas and Jeannot) playing the flute in the Act III divertissement telling the story of Pan and Syrinx. 

"Louis XIV had begun to take a very keen interest in opera performances in 1675 when, at the age of thirty-seven, he retired from dancing in public. After Thesée, many other works by Quinault and Lully were first presented at court during the Carnival period, then staged in Paris at the Opera: 'Atys' (1676), 'Isis' (1677), 'Proserpine' (1680), 'Le Triomphe de l'Amour' (1681), 'Phaeton' (1683), 'Roland' (1684). 

"Rehearsals, covering a period of almost two months, board and lodging for all the artists (accommodated by locals), the making of the sets and costumes, designed respectively by Carlo Vigarani and Jean Berain: everything was paid for by the royal treasury, with no expense spared. The aim was to dazzle all present - especially foreign ambassadors, but also the courtiers and the Parisians who were allowed to attend certain performances - and to show off the opulence and splendour of the court of the Sun King, while at the same time asserting the power of France. Rehearsals of 'Isis' began at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 19 November 1676. On 23 December, with preparations in full swing, Quinault read the prologue to the Academie Francaise, and was complimented on the beauty of his writing, which raised hopes for the great success of the work. Quinault was inspired for his libretto by the story of Io as related in the first book of Ovid's Metamorphoses. For understandable reasons, he omitted Io's transformation into a white heifer, but took up the episode in which Jupiter hides the nymph in a cloud in order to escape his wife's jealous eye. The encomiastic prologue, to the glory of Louis XIV, alludes to the French naval victory of 1676 over the Dutch and the Spanish in the Franco-Dutch War 'Mon empire a servi de théâtre a la guerre,' sings Neptune. 

"Eyewitnesses of the first performance found Jean Berain's costumes admirable, and the ballets choreographed by Pierre Beauchamp and François-Hilaire d'Olivet also received much applause. The reception of the opera was nevertheless mitigated. Quinault was criticised for producing a libretto that was considered below his normal standard, without any real dramatic action, and some critics found Lully's music too 'savant.' Apparently Louis was dissatisfied with a work for which he himself had chosen the subject, and Madame de Montespan, the king's mistress for the past ten years, attended only a few performances: she disliked the opera, finding its subject improper. Despite its relative lack of success, however, 'Isis' continued to be performed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, alternately with 'Thesée,' until the end of February 1677.

"Little did Louis realise, when he approved the libretto, that during the summer of 1677 the court would identify the jealous and irascible goddess Juno with Madame de Montespan, and the character of Io with the young Marie-Elisabeth de Ludres, one of the royal mistress's fines d'honneur, with whom the king had become infatuated. Madame de Sevigne was among those who described the events of June-July 1677 (shortly before the work was taken to Paris) through the characters of 'Isis.' Quinault was accused of deliberately making fun of La Montespan; as a result he had to suffer two years of disgrace, during which time he wrote no more librettos for Lully: Thomas Corneille was to provide the texts for 'Psyché' (1678) and 'Bellerophon' (1679). Jean-Francois Lalouette, Lully's assistant, also got into trouble for having reportedly boasted that he was the author of some of the best parts of 'Isis': Lully dismissed him and appointed the composer Pascal Collasse to take his place. 

"Its lack of success at court meant that 'Isis' was not given in Paris as soon as the Opera reopened after Easter, as was customary; instead Lully revived 'Thesée.' Parisians did not have a chance to see the work until August 1677, when it was performed with the same costumes and sets at the theatre of the Academie Royale de Musique in the Palais-Royal, and with a change in the cast: Francois Baumavielhe, who had sung the role of Jupiter at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, took over the part of Hierax, previously sung by Jean Gaye, thus performing two roles. The work ran continuously until March 1678, when 'Psyché' was taken up again. Meanwhile, printed copies of the work had a wide distribution: 'Isis' was Lully's first printed score: part-books, running to at least six editions in 1677, were sold at performances (The full score was not published until 1719). During the composer's lifetime the work was also given in Amsterdam (25 November-30 December 1677, and 3 February 1678) and Regensburg (1683), and sometime around 1686 excerpts from the opera were presented in Ansbach.

 
"There were only three known revivals of 'Isis' at the Paris Opera in the eighteenth century (1704, 1717-18 and 1732-33). The last revival during the remaining years of the Sun King's reign took place on 14 February 1704. The 1717 revival was a great success: the cast was outstanding and particular care had been taken over the costumes and sets. Isis remained on the bill for five months, from 14 September 1717 to 9 January 1718, and gave rise to a parody by Jacques Charpentier, 'La Vache Io ou Les Amours de Jupiter et d'Io,' presented at the Foire Saint-Laurent that same year, 1718. The last Paris revival, from 14 December 1732, received much applause for its first-rate cast and its fine ballets choreographed by Michel Blondy, but the work as a whole was not very successful and it was taken off on the following 25 January. Despite such a short run, this last revival gave rise to two more parodies, both by Louis Fuzelier: 'La Jalousie avec sujet' (1732, not performed), and 'À Fourbe, fourbe a demi ou Le Trompeur trompé' (Foire Saint-Germain, 1733). On 16 and 21 March 1733 'Isis,' including Jean-Fery Rebel's 'Fantaisie,' was given 'pour la capitation des Acteurs.' After that 'Isis' left the repertoire of the Paris Opera. In the provinces, it was given in Lyon in 1698, Marseille in March 1701, and Dijon in 1729. Excerpts from the first three acts were given in Strasbourg in 1732.

"'Isis' stands apart among Quinault and Lully's operas. Doubtless because the chosen subject, the myth of Io, with its limited plot, provided the authors with few dramatic possibilities, they chose to give a large role to divertissements, episodes providing opportunities for spectacle and dance. As he had done previously in 'La Comédie sans comédie' of 1654, Quinault introduced in Act III a play within a play - or rather a mini-opera within an opera - when the story of Pan and Syrinx is enacted to put Argus to sleep: one of the finest passages in the work. Quinault also had Io transported for her sufferings to different climes, in response to the requirement of varietas, thereby giving the composer, choreographer and stage designer fine opportunities to show their skills, but not permitting a tightening of the plot. The strong presence of very carefully scored orchestral pieces and airs accompagnes, together with the many divertissements, led the work to become known as 'l'opera des musiciens' (Jean-Laurent Le Cerf de La Vieville, 'Comparaison de Ia musique italienne et de Ia musique françoise, Volume I,' 1704).

 
"Lully's sensibility and artistry are displayed to the full in many beautiful musical passages. Let us mention, for example, the descent of Apollo and the muses in the second scene of the prologue, with a prelude in G minor alternating orchestral tutti with a trio of flutes and violins: a piece showing great refinement in its writing and in the use of modulation. Then there is the announcement of the arrival of Jupiter, 'Échos retentissez dans ces lieux pleins d'appas' (Act I, Sc. 5), with its echo effects. And Pan's lament after the death of Syrinx, 'Hélas! quel bruit! qu'entends-je? Ah, quelle voix nouvelle!' (Act III, Sc. 6), with a basso continuo descending the twelve tones of the chromatic scale and an accompaniment of flutes symbolising Syrinx reincarnated as the reeds blowing and lamenting in the wind - a passage regarded at the time as Lully's masterpiece. But it is the fourth act that presents the greatest concentration of remarkable sequences. The first scene includes the famous chorus 'L'hiver qui nous tourmente,' sung by the people of the frozen regions, preceded by an instrumental entrée, each note of which has to be 'tremblée' in imitation of their shivering. This chorus, widely admired, inspired Purcell's 'Chorus of the Cold People' in Act III of 'King Arthur' (1691). In Scene 3, the Chalybes, famed as forgers of steel, make effective use of onomatopoeia ('Tot, tot, tot') as they strike the red-hot metal on their anvils. The chorus 'Exécutons l'arrêt du sort,' sung by the followers of the Fates in Scene 5, is punctuated by interventions from coryphdes representing War, Famine, Fire, Flood and Violent and Languishing Illnesses; the composer treats this passage with much humour. The act ends with the trio 'Le fil de la vie,' sung by the Fates (Les Parques): vertical writing is animated by brief vocalisations on the word 'tourne' (the image of the Fates spinning the thread of life); this piece was greatly admired for its skilful composition, and Lully was particularly proud of it. It probably inspired Rameau for the scene with the Furies at the end of Act II of 'Hippolyte et Aricie' (1733). (Pascal Denécheau. From the liner notes.)

 

Performers: Les Talens Lyriques, Chœur de Chambre de Namur, Christophe Rousset, Ève-Maud Hubeaux, Cyril Auvity, Edwin Crossley-Merger, Philippe Estèphe, Ambroisine Bré, Bénédicte Tauran, Fabien Hyon, Aimery Lefévre

1.1. Ouverture

1.2. Prologue, Scène I: 'Publions En Tous Lieux'

1.3. Prologue, Scène I: 'C'est Lui Dont Les Dieux Ont Fait Choix'

1.4. Prologue, Scène II: Premier Air Des Tritons

1.5. Prologue, Scène II: 'C'est Le Dieu Des Eaux Qui Va Paraître'

1.6. Prologue, Scène II: Deuxième Air Des Tritons

1.7. Prologue, Scène II: 'Mon Empire A Servi De Théâtre À La Guerre'

1.8. Prologue, Scène II: 'Célébrons Son Grand Nom Sur La Terre Et Sur L'onde'

1.9. Prologue, Scène III: Prélude Des Muses

1.10. Prologue, Scène III: 'Cessez Pour Quelque Temps, Bruit Terrible Des Armes'

1.11. Prologue, Scène III: Premier Air Pour Les Muses

1.12. Prologue, Scène III: Deuxième Air Pour Les Muses

1.13. Prologue, Scène III: 'Ne Parlez Pas Toujours De La Guerre Cruelle'

1.14. Prologue, Scène III: 'Ne Parlons Pas Toujours De La Guerre Cruelle'

1.15. Prologue, Scène III: Air Pour Les Trompettes

1.16. Prologue, Scène III: 'Hâtez-vous, Plaisirs, Hâtez-vous'

1.17. Prologue: Ouverture

1.18. Acte I, Scène I: Ritournelle

1.19. Acte I, Scène I: 'Cessons D'aimer Une Infidèle'

1.20. Acte I, Scène II: 'C'est Trop Entretenir Ces Tristes Rêveries'

1.21. Acte I, Scène III: 'M'aimez-vous? Puis-je M'en Flatter?'

1.22. Acte I, Scène IV: 'Ce Prince Trop Longtemps Dans Ses Chagrins S'obstine'

1.23. Acte I, Scène V: 'Le Dieu Puissant Qui Lance Le Tonnerre'

1.24. Acte I, Scène V: 'Échos, Retentissez Dans Ces Lieux Pleins D'appas'

1.25. Acte I, Scène V: 'C'est Ainsi Que Mercure'

1.26. Acte I, Scène VI: 'Que La Terre Partage'

1.27. Acte I, Scène VI: Premier Air Pour L'entrée Des Divinités De La Terre

1.28. Acte I, Scène VI: Deuxième Air

1.29. Acte I, Scène VI: 'Les Armes Que Je Tiens Protègent L'innocence'

1.30. Acte I: Entracte

1.31. Acte II, Scène I: Ritournelle

1.32. Acte II, Scène I: 'Où Suis-je, D'où Vient Ce Nuage?'

1.33. Acte II, Scène II: 'Vous Voyez Jupiter, Que Rien Ne Vous Étonne'

1.34. Acte II, Scène III: 'Iris Est Ici-bas Et Junon Elle-même'

1.35. Acte II, Scène IV: 'Arrêtez, Belle Iris, Différez Un Moment'

1.36. Acte II, Scène V: Prélude

1.37. Acte II, Scène V: 'J'ai Cherché Vainement La Fille D'Inachus'

1.38. Acte II, Scène VI: 'Dans Les Jardins D'Hébé Vous Deviez En Ce Jour'

1.39. Acte II, Scène VII: Entrée Pour La Jeunesse

1.40. Acte II, Scène VII: 'Les Plaisirs Les Plus Doux'

1.41. Acte II, Scène VII: Premier Air

1.42. Acte II, Scène VII: 'Aimez, Profitez Du Temps'

2.1. Acte II, Scène VII: Deuxième Air

2.2. Acte II, Scène VII: 'Que Ces Lieux Ont D'attraits'

2.3. Acte II, Scène VIII: 'Servez, Nymphe, Servez, Avec Un Soin Fidèle'

2.4. Acte II, Scène VIII: 'Que C'est Un Plaisir Charmant'

2.5. Acte III, Scène I: Ritournelle

2.6. Acte III, Scène I: 'Dans Ce Solitaire Séjour'

2.7. Acte III, Scène II: 'La Perfide Craint Ma Présence'

2.8. Acte III, Scène III: 'Liberté, Liberté!'

2.9. Acte III, Scène IV: 'De La Nymphe Syrinx, Pan Chérit La Mémoire'

2.10. Acte III, Scène V: 'Liberté, Liberté'

2.11. Acte III, Scène VI: Air Des Sylvains Et Des Satyres

2.12. Acte III, Scène VI: Marche Des Bergers Et Satyres

2.13. Acte III, Scène VI: Deuxième Air

2.14. Acte III, Scène VI: 'Quel Bien Devez-vous Attendre'

2.15. Acte III, Scène VI: Troisième Air

2.16. Acte III, Scène VI: 'Je Vous Aime, Nymphe Charmante'

2.17. Acte III, Scène VI: 'Aimons Sans Cesse'

2.18. Acte III, Scène VI: 'Faut-il Qu'en Vains Discours Un Si Beau Jour Se Passe?'

2.19. Acte III, Scène VI: 'Je Ne Puis Vous Quitter, Mon Coeur S'attache À Vous'

2.20. Acte III, Scène VI: 'Hélas! Quel Bruit! Qu'entends-je?'

2.21. Acte III, Scène VII: 'Reconnaissez Mercure Et Fuyez Avec Nous'

2.22. Acte III, Scène VIII: 'Revois Le Jour, Argus, Que Ta Figure Change!'

2.23. Acte III: Entracte

2.24. Acte IV, Scène I: Entrée Des Peuples Des Climats Glacés

2.25. Acte IV, Scène I: 'L'hiver Qui Nous Tourmente'

2.26. Acte IV, Scène II: 'Laissez-moi, Cruelle Furie'

2.27. Acte IV, Scène III: 'Tôt, Tôt, Tôt...'

2.28. Acte IV, Scène III: Entrée Des Forgerons

2.29. Acte IV, Scène IV: 'Quel Déluge De Feux Qui Sortent Des Forges'

2.30. Acte IV, Scène V: 'Exécutons L'arrêt Du Sort'

2.31. Acte IV, Scène VI: Premier Air Des Parques

2.32. Acte IV, Scène VI: Deuxième Air Des Parques

2.33. Acte IV, Scène VI: 'C'est Contre Moi Qu'il Faut Tourner'

2.34. Acte IV, Scène VII: 'Le Fil De La Vie'

2.35. Acte IV, Scène VII: 'Tranchez Mon Triste Sort D'un Coup Qui Me Délivre'

2.36. Acte IV: Entracte

2.37. Acte V, Scène I: Ritournelle

2.38. Acte V, Scène I: 'Terminez Mes Tourments, Puissant Maître Du Monde'

2.39. Acte V, Scène II: Prélude

2.40. Acte V, Scène II: 'Il Ne M'est Pas Permis De Finir Votre Peine'

2.41. Acte V, Scène III: 'Venez, Déesse Impitoyable'

2.42. Acte V, Scène III: 'Venez, Divinité Nouvelle!'

2.43. Acte V, Scène III: Premier Air Pour Les Égyptiens

2.44. Acte V, Scène III: Deuxième Air Pour Les Égyptiens

2.45. Acte V, Scène III: 'Isis Est Immortelle'

flac/16-bit