A good friend sent me a CD where two of my all-time favourite singers, Véronique Gens and Sandrine Piau, sing eleven arias from the 18th century French operatic repertoire. Thus we hear the music of such well-known (?) composers as Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis, André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry, Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny, and Nicolas Dalayrac. The eleven arias are allocated alternately to the two French sopranos, with three of the arias being duos. Some of the arias are quite long (8-10 minutes) and all are sung in French. Though both Gens and Piau are sopranos, their voices are easily distinguishable, with Gens having more “gold” in her voice, and Piau more silver.
The music is uniformly lovely. I first listened to the CD in the evening after a good meal, and immediately fell in love with it. After the 18th century, the idea that music had simply to be enjoyable became rarer in the “classical” music world. The music of Dalayrac, de Persuis et al is fully of the 18th century and serves as a timely reminder that that century was not all German or Italian, and that the French musical scene thrived, particularly where opera was concerned. Difficult to imagine anything here being better done by other than Véronique Gens, Sandrine Piau, and Le Concert de la Loge directed by Julien Chauvin. A big Bravo to all concerned, including the recording team for the Alpha label. Three stars. Sit back. Listen. Enjoy the music and the singing.
