Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704)
Orphée descendant aux enfers (Cantata)
Airs & Sonate à huit
Henri Ledroit
Ricercar Ensemble
Ricercar 206722
1987
(flacs & scans)
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...If these seem to be mostly less important little pieces by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, they are worth hearing as complement to the much-recorded sacred music and big theatrical works.
...The opening Orphée has little resemblance to the familiar opera scenes, for the characters here, in addition to Orpheus, are Ixion and Tantalus, and this is notable as the first French cantata in a form that quickly became very popular.... The program likewise closes with the first French Sonata.... Ledroit, of course, is a superb Ghost. It's inexplicable that this piece has been overlooked all this time, and it's worth the price of the disc all by itself. -Fanfare