Charpentier: Pastorale de Noël (1992)

Although during his lifetime he was overshadowed by his contemporary Lully, Marc-Antoine Charpentier has been rediscovered as one of the most prolific and versatile composers of the French middle Baroque. William Christie and his vocal and instrumental ensemble Les Arts Florissants bring their considerable expertise in period performance practice; gorgeous, pure sound; and an infectious passion to this music. Christie's organic flexibility of tempo gives the music an unforced sense of momentum and urgency, and the ... Read More

Although during his lifetime he was overshadowed by his contemporary Lully, Marc-Antoine Charpentier has been rediscovered as one of the most prolific and versatile composers of the French middle Baroque. William Christie and his vocal and instrumental ensemble Les Arts Florissants bring their considerable expertise in period performance practice; gorgeous, pure sound; and an infectious passion to this music. Christie's organic flexibility of tempo gives the music an unforced sense of momentum and urgency, and the straightforward, unmannered performances allow the drama to blossom. Charpentier's charming and exuberant Pastorale sur la naissance de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, a drama of the shepherds' vision of the heavenly host and their homage at the stable in Bethlehem, owes a musical and dramatic debt to "bergeries," popular pastoral plays of shepherds and shepherdesses, in its incorporation of popular dance forms and its lightness of touch. His brief Latin oratorio In Navitatem D.N.J.C. Canticum,... Read Less

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2006, Harmonia Mundi UPC: 794881817122 CD See All