Dardanus Lots of people love Mozart. Many are excited about Vivaldi. Handel is very much likeable. Rameau is different. No one is just fond of Rameau; he’s the kind of composer people are fanatical about. Like Wagner, he’s a composer people will travel to hear. There is something about the breadth of his dramatic ability which makes it effortless to be beholden by the twists of his operas. Although there is almost universal agreement that the libretto for Dardanus is not of the highest quality, the music with which it is set, like so many operas, more than makes up for any shortcomings in the story. The opera exists in two versions, one from 1739, and one from 1744. The latter is the result of Rameau’s reworking of the opera to address some of it’s structural issues. One of Pinchgut Opera’s challenges was to make a viable modern edition out of the wealth of material. Their sensitivity to the musical contours of the opera is remarkable, for they thoroughly succeed in crafting a coherent musical statement spanning this double cd. Their accomplished large scale structuring is made even better by the attention to details such as transitions between each section. Indeed their care in this regard goes well beyond the already high level necessitated by eighteenth century French song. The early scenes of the third act, and the second scene of act five are examples of the quick pace which sustains the tension despite the dense libretto. Their Dardanus flows smoothly, with a minimum of narrative clutter. It is also a lesson in musical pacing. Neal Peres Da Costa (harpsichord) deserves especial praise for his playing which is agile and subtle, expressing in an instant the complex changes of the text. The Orchestra of the Antipodes (under the direction of Antony Walker) plays with equal care. The romping tambourins in the third act are beautifully performed with the changes in articulation and tempo perfectly co‑ordinated. With fate such a conspicuous part of the opera’s libretto, all the tempi need to be just right, and the small orchestra helps achieve the necessarily swift changes of speed. The instrumentalists all play with conviction. Rameau gives all parts exciting material, which the performers play with palpable relish (the bassoons are particularly wonderful). Both the solo singers and the chorus sing with an intensity that matches Rameau’s high drama. The soloists are all world‑class. The casting is also right, in particular: Stephen Bennet as Teucer, king of Phrygia; Kathryn McCusker as Iphise, the king’s daughter; and Paul Agnew in the title role as Dardanus. The performance is brilliant, and the recording is unerringly good. Although a DVD would be preferable, the sound quality is almost as good as a studio recording and the composition works on an audio disc. © Michael Hooper
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michael at hoopermusic dot com |