Charpentier - MA©dA©e / Hunt, Padmore, Deletre, Zanetti, Salzmann, Les Arts Florissants, Christie

Charpentier's Médée gets this writer's vote for the greatest opera of the entire French Baroque era. In their retelling of the Medea legend, Charpentier and his librettist Corneille combine all the grace, charm, and artifice typical of the French Baroque era with truly gripping drama. William Christie and Les Arts Florissants give a thrilling performance with a fabulous cast featuring stellar high tenor Mark Padmore and "La Divina" Lorraine Hunt (yes, she is the Maria Callas of 18th-century opera) in the role that made her a Baroque superstar. --Matthew Westphal Amazon.com essential recording

Baroque Opera with very Modern Sounds

Marc-Antoine Charpentier's 'Medee' comes from what often sounds to me like the least interesting era of 'serious music', between the robustly primitive sounds of the Renaissance, with their especially devout liturgical music and the glories of the Baroque, capped by the great achievements of Bach, Hayden, and Handel. This opera is a great counterexample to this prejudice. Much of the instrumental work sounds very much at home in the late 17th century, but very often, the vocals, both solos and choral pieces seem to bust the bounds of the era's conventions and sound like something from an early 20th century composer. And, this performance, like everything else I've heard from William Christie and company, is excellent. March 24, 2007

One of the best recordings on an opera on CD

I've listened to this thing over and over and over again since I bought it and I cannot say much more than this is how opera should be recorded on CD. For starters, we have here one of the greatest operas, based on a powerful story with an excellent libretto, of the entire Baroque period by one of the greatest composers of the period. Next we have William Christie - 'nuff said! - with his superb Les Arts Florissants ensemble.

Lorraine Hunt sang the title role. I will not compare her voice to the unlovely and overwrought metallic sound of the American singer, Maria Callas, but suffice it to say, she was a great singer of Baroque music. The entire cast is ideal and I've never detected any weak links. The pace of the opera is natural and strong - the recording was based on a stage production and this was the second time William Christie recorded the work (the first recording included some cuts, necessitated by the fact that the older recording on Harmonia Mundi was released on Lp records).

It is clear that William Christie wanted to make this recording of Médée as complete as possible and I think I can say with some confidence that it will be the definitive recording of this great work for many years to come. I admit that I haven't managed to acquire the Hervé Niquet recording of this work on DVD yet, nor have I seen it.

So, if you're a lover of Baroque music, you should own this. If you love French opera and French Art & Music in general, you should seriously consider this recording. If you are curious or just have an interest in opera, please have a listen.

Along with William Christie's recordings of Lully's "Atys", Purcell's "King Arthur" and Rameau's "Castor et Pollux" and "Les Indes Galantes", this is one of Les Arts Florissants' very finest recordings. It also happens to be one of the finest recordings of an opera on CD. March 4, 2007

Charpentier's 1693 and Cherubini's 1797

Medee is the seventh French Baroque opera in my collection together with three by Lully and three by Rameau. Charpentier intervened between the two. The opera dates 1693, six years after Lully's death. The plot includes events from the Jason-Medea mythology not found in Cherubini's "first grand opera" Medee, dating a century later in revolutionary Paris in 1797. The sprightly and largely unruffled dignity of Charpentier's music poses a sharp contrast to the thunder of Cherubini's Medee. The contrast between the two operas serves as an index of the vast change from French monarchy at high tide under Louis XIV to the angry republic of revolutionary France in the aftermath of the Regicide of Louis XVI and subsequent Reign of Terror. Cherubini's Medea is a one-woman terror. Not so Charpentier's Medea although she warns of her magical powers with a short musical outburst early in the opera and eventually uses these powers to murder Jason's intended bride Creusa. Charpentier brings in a character, Oronte, lacking in Cherubini. Oronte allies himself with the Corinthian King Creon and then with Medea in a common cause with her as a rejected lover of Creusa just as Medea is rejected by Jason. The whole tenor of the opera is different because Medea sings the opening lines rather than being held back, as Cherubini does, to bring the angry woman on to disturb the peace of Jason's impending wedding. In other words Charpentier's work features a more conventional build-up of motives unlike the diabolical frenzy which Cherubini transferred from the Terror to the ancient sorceress. There are powerful moments in the 1693 work but the dominant qualities are delicacy and regal dignity and optimism. The reason for that optimism is stated in the Prologue by allegorical Victory who has made her home in France for a long time. Louis VIV was a winner in battle. The courtship scene between Jason and Creusa in Act II is one of the most super-refined instances of such an exchange I have ever heard. October 14, 2006

The power of music and classical drama!

I was fortunate to listen to this production, performed in Lisbon in 1994, and I will never forget Lorraine Hunt on her black long dress, calling the spirits of the underwold in the third act... it was a magical moment, something I have no words to express. The recording shows not only that Charpentier and Corneille conceived the best lyrical drama of all time, but also that William Christie and his orchestra are among the best performers of baroque music. If I would have to choose only one record for a desert island, this would be the one! If you don't have it on your collection, you just can't imagine what you are missing... October 14, 1999

Magnificent!

I agree with the in-house reviewer that Charpentier's Medee is arguably the finest French baroque opera ever written. And the superb quality of this recording fully matches the beauty and subtlety of Charpentier's music. This may well be the finest recording ever produced by Les Arts Florissants. August 12, 1999

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