Mondonville - Les Fêtes de Paphos / Gens, Piau, Mellon, Fouchécourt, Lalouette, Harvey, Les talens lyriques, Rousset

Act 1: Ouverture
Act 1, scene 1: Marche
Act 1, scene 1: Vous qu à mes pas enchaîne la victoire
Act 1, scene 1: Ce bruit annonce sa présence
Act 1, scene 2: Deux Menuets
Act 1, scene 2: Qu il est doux après la victoire
Act 1, scene 2: Tambourin
Act 1, scene 2: Délivrons les forêts de ce monstre odieux
Act 1, scene 3: Adonis, se peut-il que malgré ma tendresse
Act 1, scene 3: Tout doit céder à ma valeur
Act 1, scene 4: Adonis... Adonis... vainement je l apelle!
Act 1, scene 4: Fuyons ce monstre! échappons à sa rage!
Act 1, scenes 5 and 6: Cher objet de ma flamme
Act 1, scenes 5 and 6: Laissons de mon amour
Act 1, scene 7: Mars près de vous s avance
Act 1, scene 7: Tonnerre - Contre une injuste violence
Act 1, scene 8: Ô Ciel! en croirai-je mes yeux?
Act 1, scene 9: Que je plains les mortels!
Act 1, scene 10: Air pour la Suite de Vénus
Act 1, scene 10: Ô vous qui de Vénus accompagnez les pas
Act 1, scene 10: Deux Menuets
Act 1, scene 10: Lorsque Vénus vint à paraître
Act 1, scene 10: Deux Gavottes
Act 1, scene 10: Pour rendre homage
Act 1, scene 10: Air pour les Plaisirs
Act 1, scene 10: Régne à jamais sur nos coeurs
Act 1, scene 10: Contre danse
Act 1, scene 10: Entr acte: Tambourin

An absolute joy from start to finish - A wonderful French Baroque opera from one of Rameau s younger contemporaries. Like Rameau s Les Indes Galantes or Les Fêtes d Hébé, Les Fêtes de Paphos is an opera-ballet consisting of a collection of entrées. The music is rich and colourful, although, unlike similar works of Rameau, it doesn t feature any local colour.The cast consists of some very familiar and fine singers - Sandrine Piau, Véronique Gens, Agnès Mellon, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Olivier Lallouette, Peter Harvey and James Oxley [the only one not known to me]. Les Talens Lyrique plays this music with great style and pizzazz, only Les Arts Florissants or Les Musiciens du Louvre seriously rival them in this musical genre. Note that the beautiful and talented Emmanuelle Haïm plays the harpsichord continuo in this recording. I don t she d taken up conducting when this recording was made (1997) - she was still working with Les Talens Lyriques and Les Arts Florissants as a continuo player at that time, I think. To be sure, Christophe Rousset was only just starting to make a name for himself as a musical director in the mid 90s.If you re a lover of the operas of Jean-Philippe Rameau, and, let s face it, who isn t!, then Les Fêtes de Paphos will delight you. Let us hope that further operas by Jean Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville are recorded in the near future. I d love a DVD of Les Fêtes de Paphos.

A wonderful surprise. - Rousset s instrumental forces display plenty of verve and the vocalists are top notch. The surprise is the wonderful music itself, by the rarely-recorded Mondonville. Admirers of Rameau will undoubtedly appreciate much that is to be heard here. Though Mondonville is very much his own man. there are plenty of choruses and other lively flourishes that Rameau would have been proud of. Spread over three discs, the set does run a little too long for its own good, but there is enough fine music here to justify a 5-star rating. The sound quality is first class.