Les Arts Florissants, William Christie - Campra: French Cantatas (1992)

Is it fair to say that most born Frenchmen have considered themselves exceedingly fortunate in their nativity? Moi? I didn't enjoy such luck. Neither did Jean-Baptiste Lully, the favorite of Louis XIV and thus the tyrant of French music for thirty-four years. Lully was born in Florence in 1632, but carried to France as a youthful Ganymede; he entered the service of the Sun King in 1653 as a dancer, and he rose to a position of monopoly influence in Louis XIV's court despite his flagrant debauchery and libertine sexuality. Just as Louis declared, that 'he was the State,' Lully could well have said "French Music, it's me!"
It's no easy thing to 'become' French, as many of us unfortunates have learned the hard way. American-born conductor/harpsichordist William Christie has achieved it more than most; with his ensemble Les Arts Florissantes, he's performed some of the finest recordings of French baroque music ever marketed, including this one of cantates françaises by Andre Campra (1660-1744). Campra is usually regarded as the most important French composer between Lully and Rameau and a transitional figure in French opera. The gangrenous toe that killed Lully in 1687, in fact, opened the way from the French-born Campra to pursue his development. And where did he turn for inspiration? To Italy! The vogue for the cantata form in France at the start of the 18th C was basically a revival of interest in Italian musical styles. I have to warn you that you'll need to be very well versed in baroque styles to hear the Italian influence in Campra's cantatas, but it's there, chiefly in the instrumental support for the utterly French vocal performance. That's where Bill Christie triumphs; nobody does French baroque with an Italian accent better than Bill. This performance was recorded in 1986, in Arles, and listeners today are lucky to find it re-released at such a bargain price. Curiously, many of the musicans of Les Arts Florissants in 1986 were American or British: violinist John Holloway, flautist Robert Claire, theorbist Stephen Stubbs, and the superlative soprano Jill Feldman, from San Francisco.
Feldman has lived in France most of her adult career, but she didn't sound as effortlessly French in 1986 as male alto Dominique Visse. Jill's voice is one of the wonders of the musical world; her CD 'Il Pianger di Dolcezza' is the finest performance of Italian 17th C cantatas I've ever heard, so let's credit her with embodying the Italian affect in Campra's music. But if you want to hear quintessential French vocal technique, listen to Visse on this CD, singing the cantata 'La Dispute de l'Amour et de l"Hymen.' Baritone Jean-François Gardeil, the third voice on this CD, contributes his pure French inflection to the performance also, but no one sounds as French as Dominique Visse.
I suppose the most urgent question about this CD is whether you, the potential listener, have acquired a taste for French baroque music yet. I say "yet" because it is an acquired taste, unless you were born French, and if you don't speak French you will be disadvantaged in appreciating the degree to which the singing is thoroughly devoted to expressing the words and the affect of the words. There are few of the arpeggiated fireworks of Italian baroque arias to be heard in these cantatas, which value nuance over flamboyance. So, if you've already concluded that you don't like French baroque, this CD is unlikely to change your mind. If you do enjoy French baroque in small doses, you're likely to make this performance one of your favorites, as it deserves to be. If you're undecided about French baroque after some minor exposures, this might be the CD that could make you a fan. If you've never heard a bar of French baroque, this recording is as good a starter as any; you won't like it at first, but give it a second and third chance. It is an acquired taste.