Orchestre de la Chapelle Royale, Philippe Herreweghe - Rameau - Les Indes Galantes (2000)

Rameau had the somewhat dubious fortune (in his own time, at least) to be such a powerful creative personality in the field of orchestral music that the quality of his dances sometimes overwhelms the operatic context in which he places them. From our point of view today, this hardly seems a liability, especially when it permits the performance of marvelous orchestral suites such as this from his various theatrical productions. Les Indes galantes (1735) contains some wonderful dance music, scored with the composer's usual imaginative flair. Philippe Herreweghe plays the slower numbers (Air pour les Amours, for example) with his customary suave grace, but he might have attacked the vigorous Tambourins with a bit more guts. Still, there's much to enjoy here, including the delicious flutes in the Contredanses, the evocative string writing in Adoration du Soleil, and Herreweghe's band admirably rises to the challenge of the imposing final Chaconne, with its regal trumpets and drums. Realistic recorded sound adds to the attractions of a fine, if perhaps slightly underplayed, performance. -- David Hurwitz