Adèle Carlier, Marc Scoffoni, David Tricou, Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal, Gaéton Jarry
89:15 (2 CDs in a card triptych)
Château de Versailles Spectacles CVS105
The pairing of these two pastoral operas in this latest release from the performance series at Versailles Palace is not just a stylistic decision – performances of a parody of Pergolesi’s intermezzo La Servante Maîtresse in Paris in 1752 established the important strand of Italian opera in France, inspiring Rousseau to write Les Amours de Bastien et Bastienne, taken up as a German libretto by the young Mozart. As a homage to this Parisian milieu, both operas are performed here in French. They rely on a lightness of touch in their musical settings. Mozart uses flutes, oboes and bassoon to enrich the orchestral colour, as well as a pair of horns to enhance the rustic atmosphere, and the subtle interaction of orchestra and voices, the hallmark of his later operatic masterpieces is already evident here. Lovely, neat playing from the period instruments of the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal injects great charm and energy into this performance, while the three principals characterise their roles well beyond the two-dimensional. Neither of the plots even flirts with profundity, but from the pens of such masters as Pergolesi and Mozart we have beautifully crafted melodies, exquisitely scored, which are very well sung and played here. Listening to the Pergolesi, the less familiar work from my point of view, and a piece more often referenced than performed, it is easy to imagine the stir it caused at these Parisian performances in 1752. This frothy bucolic fare is the perfect foil to the often rather worthy French operas of the time, and it established an attractive alternative which would co-exist with the indigenous musical culture. What I had not noticed before hearing this fine performance in French is the extent to which this 1754 parody of Pergolesi’s original intermezzo (La serve padrona) is in turn influenced by French opera. In addition to presenting both works in fine, well-crafted performances, this version has done us a very useful service in juxtaposing them in performance.
D. James Ross