Spontini: La vestale Les Talens Lyriques, Flemish Radio Choir & Christophe Rousset

• Gaspare Spontini (1774 - 1851): La vestale:
• 1 Spontini: La vestale: Ouverture 06:28
• La vestale, Act I:
• 2 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Récit et Air. La nuit achève sa carrière 02:40
• 3 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Récit. Près de ce temple auguste à Vesta consacré 02:05
• 4 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Air. Dans le sein d’un ami fidèle 02:18
• 5 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Récit. Eh bien ! Partage donc mon crime et ma fureur 02:23
• 6 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Duo. Quand l’amitié seconde mon courage 03:34
• 7 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Hymne du matin. Fille du ciel, éternelle Vesta 04:32
• 8 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Récit et Marche. Prêtresses, dans ce jour, Rome victorieuse 01:32
• 9 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Récit. Pour la dernière fois 02:17
• 10 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Air. L’amour est un monstre barbare 02:43
• 11 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Récit. Au nom de tous les dieux, de Vesta que j’adore 02:53
• 12 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Air et Chœur. Licinius, je vais donc te revoir 02:48
• 13 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Chœur. De lauriers couvrons les chemins (I) 03:19
• 14 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Récit et Scène. Mars a guidé nos pas aux champs de la victoire 02:16
• 15 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Chœur. De Vesta chaste prêtresse 02:36
• 16 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Scène. Grands dieux ! Soutenez ma faiblesse 01:24
• 17 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Chœur. La paix est en ce jour le prix de vos conquêtes 02:52
• 18 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Récit. Peuple, cessez vos jeux 00:25
• 19 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Marche pour le départ des Vestales 00:51
• 20 Spontini: La vestale, Act I: Chœur. De lauriers couvrons les chemins (II) 01:22
• La vestale, Act II:
• 21 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Hymne du soir. Feu créateur, âme du monde 02:49
• 22 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Récit. Du plus auguste ministère 01:45
• 23 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Air. Toi que j’implore avec effroi 05:29
• 24 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Récit et Air. Sur cet autel sacré que ma douleur assiège 06:03
• 25 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Récit. Julia ! 01:50
• 26 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Air et Récit. Les dieux prendront pitié du sort qui nous accable 04:18
• 27 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Duo et Récit. Quel trouble ! Quels transports ! 04:08
• 28 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Trio avec chœur et Récit. Ah ! Si je te suis chère 03:55
• 29 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Chœur. Les dieux demandent vengeance 01:44
• 30 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Scène. Ô crime ! Ô désespoir ! Ô comble des revers ! 02:46
• 31 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Air. Ô des infortunés, déesse tutélaire ! 02:03
• 32 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Scène. Nommez le mortel téméraire 01:56
• 33 Spontini: La vestale, Act II: Finale. De son front, que la honte accable 02:13
• La vestale, Act III:
• 34 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Prélude et Récit. Qu’ai-je vu ! quels apprêts ! quel spectacle d’horreur ! 02:33
• 35 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Air. Non, non, je vis encore 01:29
• 36 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Récit. Cinna, que fait l’armée ? 00:40
• 37 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Air. Ce n’est plus le temps d’écouter 02:16
• 38 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Récit. Mais avant de tenter un combat inégal 00:37
• 39 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Récit. Pontife de nos dieux ! 02:58
• 40 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Duo. C’est à toi de trembler 02:08
• 41 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Récit. Différons, croyez-moi, l’instant du sacrifice 00:35
• 42 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Chœur. Périsse la vestale impie 05:57
• 43 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Duo et Récit. Adieu, mes tendres sœurs 02:31
• 44 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Air. Toi que je laisse sur la terre 03:41
• 45 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Arioso et Récit. Dieux puissants de cet empire 00:55
• 46 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Chœur. Vesta, nous t’implorons pour la vierge coupable 01:29
• 47 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Scène. Les dieux ont prononcé son juste châtiment 02:43
• 48 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Chœur et Scène. Ô terreur ! Ô disgrâce ! 03:09
• 49 Spontini: La vestale, Act III: Chœur et Danse générale. Chants d’allégresse 05:39
• Total Runtime 02:11:37

Info for Spontini: La vestale

Guilty of allowing the sacred fire to go out while declaring her love to the general Licinius, the Vestal Virgin Julia is sentenced to be buried alive. But her execution is averted by a divine intervention, which rekindles the altar flame and absolves the victim. The simple plot of Gaspare Spontini’s La Vestale achieved resounding success in 1807 thanks to the highly skilled treatment of the characters’ psychology and the transparency of the political allusions – Licinius is an allegory of Napoleon Bonaparte himself. Yet the work is more than a mere piece of propaganda: it represents one of the links between the tragédie lyrique of the Ancien Régime and the future grand opéra à la française, even anticipating Bellinian bel canto. The opera’s focal point is the character of Julia, which requires an exceptional soprano to do it justice. After the creator, Caroline Branchu – whom Berlioz described as ‘operatic tragedy incarnate’ – and Maria Callas at La Scala in 1954, Marina Rebeka takes on in masterly fashion a role that seems tailor-made for her impressive vocal resources, supported by the energy and precision of the period instruments of Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset. The result is genuinely revelatory.

Marina Rebeka, soprano(Julia)
Stanislas de Barbeyrac, tenor (Licinius)
Tassis Christoyannis, baritone (Cinna)
Aude Extremo, mezzo-soprano (La Grande Vstale)
Nicolas Courjal, bass (Le Grand Pontife)
Flemish Radio Choir
Les Talens Lyriques
Christophe Rousset, direction

Christophe Rousset
During his youth in Aix-en-Provence, Christophe Rousset developed a passion for the Baroque aesthetic. At the age of thirteen he decided not to study archaeology but to satisfy his keen interest in the discovery of the past through music instead, by taking up the harpsichord. That took him to the Schola Cantorum in Paris, where he studied with Huguette Dreyfus, then to the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, to work with Bob van Asperen. At twenty-two he won the prestigious First Prize, as well as the Public Prize, in the Seventh Bruges Harpsichord Competition (1983).

At Aix he also developed his love for opera and the stage by attending rehearsals at the Festival d’Art Lyrique. It was there that opera gave him his first strong emotions, which still guide him in his work today.

Christophe Rousset’s performances as a harpsichordist soon attracted the attention of the international press as well as record companies. He became a member of Les Arts Florissants, then Il Seminario Musicale, before embarking on a career as a music director, which led him to form his own ensemble, Les Talens Lyriques, in 1991. Firing the ensemble with his enthusiasm as a conductor and researcher, he was soon among the front runners of Baroque, acclaimed in France and internationally.

Engagements at the world’s Baroque festivals, numerous recordings (Harmonia Mundi, L’Oiseau-Lyre, Fnac Music, Emi-Virgin, Decca, Naïve and Ambroisie), film soundtracks (Farinelli)… within a few seasons Christophe Rousset had established his reputation as a talented, industrious and conscientious young director with a passion for the voice and for opera, an indefatigable discoverer of original scores (Antigona by Traetta, La Capricciosa Corretta by Martin y Soler, Armida Abbandonata by Jommelli, La Grotta di Trofonio by Salieri, Temistocle, by Jean-Chrétien Bach …), a soloist and chamber musician always at his peak, and a patient and untiring teacher.

His various projects lead him to explore European music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (opera, cantata, oratorio, sonata, symphony, concerto, suite…), constantly shedding light on all the forms that played a part in the history of music before Rossini, and ‘serving’ music in a very personal way.

His many recordings include the complete harpsichord works of François Couperin, Jean-Philippe Rameau, d’Anglebert and Forqueray, and his interpretations of works by J. S. Bach (Partitas, Goldberg Variations, Harpsichord Concertos, English Suites, French Suites, Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann ) are regarded as references. With his ensemble Les Talens Lyriques, his great successes on disc include Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Mitridate, Overtures by Rameau, and Persée and Roland by Lully.

Christophe Rousset is an Officier des Arts et Lettres, and “Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite”.

Booklet for Spontini: La vestale