Stances du Cid (with works by Lambert, Morel & Couperin)
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CHARPENTIER
Stances du Cid (with works by Lambert, Morel & Couperin)
Cyril Auvity (counter-tenor) / L'Yriade
[ Glossa / CD ]
Release Date: Monday 25 April 2016
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Cyril Auvity and L'Yriade make their debut on Glossa with a programme of airs de cour, 'Stances du Cid', ideally devised for the French haute-contre tenor's voice.
17th century France had an extraordinary enthusiasm for the air de cour: a secular song genre popular across the social spectrum and singable, it seems, by everyone from cobblers to marquises...
Even still, one distinctive voice which proved to be ideal for such airs was the haute-contre, a high tenor, sweet-sounding and clear; precisely the instrument possessed by Cyril Auvity, and it is no coincidence that the singer has, in recent years, been enjoying much success with his performances of the music of, among many others, Lully and Charpentier (the latter was an haute-contre himself).
'Stances du Cid' presents a selection of Charpentier's secular vocal works, including the seldom-recorded stanzas (whose text is taken from Pierre Corneille's tragicomedy 'Le Cid', which enjoyed great popularity for years after its 1637 première in Paris). The bucolic character of Charpentier's other airs is complemented by a pair of airs de cour from an earlier master of the genre, Michael Lambert, and the expressive flavour of the music of ancien régime. France is suitably represented on this recording also by instrumental interludes taken from François Couperin's trio sonatas 'Les Nations', deftly handled by L'Yriade.
In his booklet essay Vincent Borel supplies a colourful defence, both of the potency of the air de cour and of its quintessential voice, the haute-contre.
"Auvity's ardent characterisation conveys a beleaguered lover's anguish in 'Perce jusque au fond du coeur'...Nine more Charpentier miniatures are performed delightfully, with Auvity's flexible mastery of florid details and poetic declamation adept throughout shifting contrasts between soft seductiveness and indignant complaints." (Gramophone March 2016)
"This is a desirable disc - one in which Auvity's distinctive haute-contre amply conveys the emotions of these varied and beautiful airs. L'Yriade are excellent in their accompaniment…the sound is beautifully captured and well balanced…Glossa should be applauded for this release" (MusicWeb March 2016)
