Performer: Reinoud Van Mechelen, A Nocte Temporis
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Alpha
Catalogue: ALPHA992
Release: 2023
Size: 1.24 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Laborde: Thétis et Pelée: Ouverture
02. Laborde: Que mon destin est déplorable (from Thétis et Pelée)
03. Laborde: Ciel! en voyant ce temple redoutable (from Thétis et Pelée)
Berton: Sylvie
04. Conduisez ces captifs
05. Air pour les cyclopes
06. Air gracieux
07. Trial: Amour, si tu te plais à ma douleur mortelle (from La fête de Flore)
08. Gluck: Iphigénie en Aulide: Overture
09. Gluck: J’obtiens l’objet que j’aime (from Iphigénie en Aulide)
10. Gluck: Accablé de regrets (from Orphée et Eurydice)
Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice, Wq. 41, Act II
11. Ballet des ombres heureuses
12. Quel nouveau ciel pare ces lieux!
13. Gluck: J’ai perdu mon Eurydice (from Orphée et Eurydice)
Gossec: Alexis et Daphné
14. Loin de ces bois charmants à regret entraîné
15. Vers le sommet de la montagne
16. Gretry: Parais, mortel amoureux (from Céphale et Procris)
Gretry: Céphale et Procris
17. Ballet des Nymphes de Diane
18. Contredanse
19. Gretry: Déesse des beaux jours (from Céphale et Procris)
20. Legros: C’est ici que j’ai vu pour la première fois (from Hylas et Églé)
21. Piccinni: Ô funeste amitié! Confiance accablante! (from Atys)
Bach JC: Amadis de Gaule, W.G 39
22. Largo
23. Gluck: Quel langage (from Iphigénie en Tauride)
Tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen concludes his trilogy dedicated to hautes-contre with “Legros, Gluck’s haute-contre”. Joseph Legros (1739-1793) was a singer at the Paris Opera, renowned for his extraordinary musical abilities, wide range and brilliant high notes. “His contemporaries appreciated the fact that his vocal delivery was not forced and that his taste was less mannered than that of his predecessors. His pronunciation was perfect and his face pleasing, although he did not cut a graceful figure and his stage acting left something to be desired” writes Benoit Dratwicki, of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, which is a partner in this series… Legros sparked renewed interest among modern composers for the haute-contre voice. The first to write for him were La Borde, Trial and Berton. Then came Gossec (Alexis et Daphne) and Gretry (Cephale et Procris). In 1774, Gluck’s arrival in Paris marked a turning point in Legros’s career: he made a name for himself in Orphee et Eurydice, caused a sensation in Iphigenie en Aulide and Iphigenie en Tauride… The title roles in Amadis de Gaule by J. C. Bach and Piccinni’s Atys were the last roles in which he shone. After Legros, the haute-contre voice gradually disappeared, giving way to that of the “true tenor”, a more powerful voice, but one that had difficulty tackling the high register of the old repertoire…