Paco Gracia, Etienne Bazola, Ensemble Les Surprises, Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas
66:49
Alpha Classics Alpha 1129
I suspect that for many ‘veterans’ of the HIP age (well, me anyway), Couperin’s Leçons will be forever associated with the Kirkby/Nelson/Hogwood recording (LP, 1978!) but, though sopranos seem to have been Couperin’s preferred scoring, his preface does offer the music to all voice types, with transposition where necessary. The gentlemen here are very capable, but to me they just don’t make the music sound special – and it really is. What I did really enjoy was the programme as a whole, with Couperin’s three gems, rather than being presented as a cycle, being surrounded by related works by Charpentier, Lalande and Bouzignac – this last a striking motet which opens the programme.
But there are performance practice issues that disappoint, in particular the allocation to multiple voices of music intended for soloists and fussy changes of sonority in the continuo section. There are also weaknesses in the documentation. Nowhere can I see information about pitch or temperament, there are no H numbers for the Charpentier works, and the graphic designer should know that white print on pale grey, especially when the font is small, is never going to work!
All of which is a shame, as the basic conception here is strong.
David Hansell