United Kingdom
BIS: BISCD1495
Rameau / Campra - French Cantatas
Jean-Philippe Rameau: Les Amants trahis; Aquilon et Orithie; Thétis; Air à boire
André Campra: Les Femmes
Normally: £11.95 NOW: £9.95 special offer ending 30/03/2010
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Vocal/Choral
Artist(s): Peter Harvey (baritone), Philippa Hyde (soprano), London Baroque
Release Date: 29th April 2007
More Details on Rameau / Campra - French Cantatas
Rameau’s cantatas are early works in which he experimented with the forms and styles which he would later incorporate into his operas. Both Aquilon and Thétis, each based on a classical subject and featuring an obbligato violin part, were written about 1704 by a composer who had just entered his twenties.
Some ten years later Les Amants trahis appeared, in which two shepherds discuss the inconstancy of women. The short Air à boire is likewise a duet, first published in 1707 in the collection Airs serieux et à boire. As implied by its title it is a lusty drinking song, in Burgundian dialect. Published one year later, Les Femmes by Rameau’s older colleague André Campra (1660-1744) rounds off this programme of French Cantatas.
London Baroque is joined by Peter Harvey, with a fine reputation for a beautiful voice as well as for great communicative skills based on an extensive career on stage and on record. In the works for two voices he is supported by English soprano Philippa Hyde.
