Peter Harvey, Philippa Hyde, London Baroque – Rameau & Campra: French Cantatas (2007) Hi-Res

Rameau’s secular chamber cantatas are early works, written before he got his longed-for chance to compose for the stage. While they are clearly the works of a talented and skilled artist, it has to be admitted that they only hint at the powerful personality and individuality of the operas. Yet even that is something to be valued from someone like Rameau, and we can be glad that London Baroque have made them the subject of one of their relatively rare excursions into French repertoire.

The two solo cantatas are the more arresting works: Aquilon et Orithie is a somewhat reprehensible tale of how the North Wind wins the fair Orithie by impressing her with violence, Thétis a depiction of a furious contest between Jupiter and Neptune for the hand of the eponymous nymph, and both contain the kind of stirring rage music we might expect from Rameau, as well as the odd passage of jaunty tunefulness. The duet Les amants trahis is less striking, though at least shows an opera composer’s delight in presenting simultaneously the contrast of one shepherd who laments for love and another who laughs at it. To these are added Campra’s Les femmes, less a cantata than an assiduously varied, rather grumpy song-cycle about why women are not worth a man’s time and effort.

Peter Harvey takes the lion’s share of the singing, and while his is not always the most lyrically sustained of voices, he has an intelligent and lucid approach to text; he is at his most impressive in the blustery music of Aquilon and Thétis. Philippa Hyde has less to do but does it well enough and with a pleasing sound. The instrumentalists show typical assurance but are undermined by an over-lively acoustic which occasionally clouds the harmonies. An enticing release for French Baroque fans, nevertheless.