Campra: Le Destin du Nouveau Siècle
LA TEMPESTA, PATRICK BISMUTH CHATEAU DE VERSAILLES SPECTACLES CVS061
ANDRÉ CAMPRA IS REMEM bered as the leading French opera composer in the era between Lully and Rameau. More than a dozen of his stage works survive, yet this charming opéra-ballet, first mounted in 1700 before a group of students at the Collège de Louis-le-Grand, a Jesuit institution in Paris, exists only in a copy of the score dating from 1740, discovered as recently as 2015. It was this historic document that sparked performances a couple of years later by the French ensemble La Tempesta and its director/leader, Patrick Bismuth, who contributes detailed notes on the work in the booklet for this CD release from that production.
The title of the 80-minute work, “The Fate of the New Century,” calls for a resolution of the war-and-peace struggle within, designed for moral enlightenment of the young under the reign of Louis XIV. Through archetypes and heroes of Greek myth, it details a conflict between Mars (a role taken here by French baritone Marc Mauillon), along with his warlike followers Bellonne and La Gloire (both sung by French soprano Claire Lefilliâtre), and that of the peace-makers under La Paix (Canadian soprano Florie Valiquette).
Taking the form of a prologue and three “Narratives,” Le Destin is blessed with some lovely music, by turns lyrical and urgent, with solo and choral sections interspersed with instrumental baroque dances such as rigaudon, minuet, jig and musette. The starring cast is small and the story is simple and timeless, so it would have relevance for performances before young people even today.
Lefilliâtre displays a nice bright, clear tone in the first narrative’s “Air pour La Gloire,” with delectably agile runs, even if she doesn’t come across as entirely comfortable and assertive for a character bent on war. Mauillon as Mars sings a stirring call
