 J.P.Rameau Le Temple de la Gloire (1745) Nicholas McGegan, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, Soloists PhilharmoniaBP, 2018  |
Neglected but fun, this is Rameau for the whole family!
In 2018, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, led by early music expert Nicholas McGegan out of Berkeley, put on Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera-ballet Le Temple de la Gloire (to Voltaire’s text) which you’d be forgiven if you didn’t know that it is surrounded by editorial controversy: To play the moralist original 1745 version or the revised-for-entertainment 1746 version, that is apparently the editor’s question. It’s the former, here, but even French baroque-opera aficionados might not care particularly, given the amount of topsy-turvy musical gayety – some of his very best – that this Rameau work contains. The Californian forces give it a lively, very live (literally; lots of applause) reading: Light, over-the-top fun. Careful: the thick, informative booklet, not affixed to the digipack, will plonk on your feet upon opening the 2-CD set. The (only?!) available rival recording is on Ricercar, with Guy van Waas; Jean-Claude Malgoire’s pioneering recording hasn’t made the jump to the digital age.
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