‘PROFONDS ABÎMES DU TÉNARE’ l’air de l’Envie
From ‘LE TEMPLE DE LA GLOIRE’ by RAMEAU
This clip takes me way back to the 1980’s — a marvelous time for re-discovering the unknown masterpieces of Jean-Philippe Rameau — and my humble part at the center of that activity in France in those days, during which I sang in ‘Les Indes galantes,’ ‘Hippolyte et Aricie,’ ‘Dardanus,’ ‘Le Temple de la Gloire,’ ‘Zoroastre,’ and ‘Les Paladins,’ and so many other baroque-period works with all of the “specialists” you can name. The master of orchestration demonstrates here his attachment to the plaintive colors of the bassoon, and his characteristic, exemplary word painting (to the memorable libretto of Voltaire himself). I had nearly forgotten this vinyl recording (stored along with others literally under my bed) but didn’t know until today that this clip has been on Youtube since last year! So thanks very much to the kind reviewer Christopher Corwin who messaged me with this, with his kind words, and for bringing his online article to my attention.
But it’s time to share this incredible music! As Debussy said, “Vive Rameau!”