Lambert - Leçons de Ténèbres / Brett, Crook, Rime & Stutzmann

On this CD:

1. Première Leçon Du Mercredi Saint for voice & continuo (1689)
Composed by Michel Lambert
Performed by Charles Brett, Mauricio Buraglia, Philippe Foulon, Ivete Piveteau, Ivete Piveteau

2. Deuxième Leçon Du Mercredi Saint for voice & continuo (1689)
Composed by Michel Lambert
Performed by Mauricio Buraglia, Philippe Foulon, Ivete Piveteau, Ivete Piveteau, Nathalie Stutzmann

3. Troisième Leçon Du Mercredi Saint for voice & continuo (1689)
Composed by Michel Lambert
Performed by Mauricio Buraglia, Philippe Foulon, Ivete Piveteau, Ivete Piveteau, Noemi Rime

4. Première Leçon Du Jeudi Saint for voice & continuo (1689)
Composed by Michel Lambert
Performed by Charles Brett, Mauricio Buraglia, Philippe Foulon, Ivete Piveteau, Ivete Piveteau

5. Deuxième Leçon Du Jeudi Saint for voice & continuo (1689)
Composed by Michel Lambert
Performed by Mauricio Buraglia, Philippe Foulon, Ivete Piveteau, Ivete Piveteau, Nathalie Stutzmann

6. Troisième Leçon Du Jeudi Saint for voice & continuo (1689)
Composed by Michel Lambert
Performed by Mauricio Buraglia, Howard Crook, Philippe Foulon, Ivete Piveteau, Ivete Piveteau

7. Première Leçon Du Vendredi Saint for voice & continuo (1689)
Composed by Michel Lambert
Performed by Mauricio Buraglia, Philippe Foulon, Ivete Piveteau, Ivete Piveteau, Noemi Rime

8. Deuxième Leçon Du Vendredi Saint for voice & continuo (1689)
Composed by Michel Lambert
Performed by Mauricio Buraglia, Philippe Foulon, Ivete Piveteau, Ivete Piveteau, Noemi Rime

9. Troisième Leçon Du Vendredi Saint for voice & continuo (1689)
Composed by Michel Lambert
Performed by Mauricio Buraglia, Howard Crook, Philippe Foulon, Ivete Piveteau, Ivete Piveteau

Lambert - Leçons de Ténèbres / Brett, Crook, Rime & Stutzmann, Music, Michel Lambert, Howard Crook, Ivète Piveteau, Noémi Rime, Philippe Foulon, Charles Brett, Nathalie Stutzmann, Mauricio Buraglia, Part Song/Glee/Music for Unaccompanied Voices, Vocal

Average customer rating:

Puristic Recording for Specialists

Lambert - Leçons de Ténèbres / Brett, Crook, Rime & Stutzmann
Michel Lambert , Howard Crook , Ivète Piveteau , Noémi Rime , Philippe Foulon , Charles Brett , Nathalie Stutzmann , and Mauricio Buraglia
Manufacturer: Virgin
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Partsongs | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
General | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000005GND
Release Date: 1995-01-01

Customer Reviews:

Puristic Recording for Specialists.......2004-12-17

“Leçons de Ténèbres” are a special genre within the French baroque. During the Middle Ages it had become a custom for selected passages from the biblical book of Lamentations to be chanted at early-morning vespers during Holy Week. In the course of time, these readings began to be held on the evening before by candle-light, the candles being slowly extinguished as the lessons proceeded. By the second half of the seventeenth century it had also become a custom to have these readings, now specially composed on Gregorian themes by the leading composers of the day, sung by opera singers instead of monks and nuns; according to eye-witness reports that have survived, these singers used to sit behind a curtain which they would occasionally open in order to wave to their enthusiastic supporters in the congregation. No wonder that some of the more pious clergy were not edified!

If you are new to this rather specialised genre, I would suggest that you sample the recordings of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Leçons de Ténèbres produced by Gérard Lesne and his Il Seminario Musicale on Virgin. These are unforgettable performances that have been exquisitely planned and recorded and are never in the slightest monotonous. In second place, it would probably be advantageous to turn to the Leçons by François Couperin, available in several excellent editions.

Ivète Piveteau’s 1988 recording of these Easter works by Michel Lambert (1610 – 1696) are really directed at specialists and lovers of this baroque period. Lambert is famous for his courtly Airs, of which he composed almost three hundred, but he also left us two cycles of Leçons. Piveteau gives us here three readings for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Holy Week in a fairly puristic recording. That means almost 140 minutes of solo chant, accompanied by a single viola da gamba, a theorbo and, alternatingly, by a harpsichord or an organ. The soloists are Charles Brett, countertenor, Nathalie Stutzmann, deep alto, Noémi Rime, mezzo-soprano, and Howard Crook, tenor. Brett, Rime and Crook are early music specialists and do an excellent job with this difficult, meditative music with its complicated system of decorations. Ms Stutzmann, although having a wonderfully deep alto voice, does not convince me here: she uses too much vibrato, making her lessons too dramatic, too much like opera recitatives (and the Hebrew letters are turned into mini-arias).

The recording is present and clear, but there is a considerable amount of background tape noise which does occasionally interfere with the musical enjoyment. On the whole, it is probably wiser to listen to these two discs in several sittings and to take the time to study the texts, which are interesting not only from the point of view of musical realisation but also from a theological standpoint.

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