Les éléments Tempêtes, orages & fêtes marines (2016)

During the 18th century, European and, in particular, French musicians forged a speciality in the art of tone painting. Jean-Féry Rebel set out his intentions in his Foreword to the The Elements, writing: the Air is depicted by sustained notes followed by candenzas played on piccolos. In this live recording of a concert performed at the Fontfroide Festival, our musical painters Matthew Locke, Marin Marais, Georg Philipp Telemann, Antonio Vivaldi, Jean-Philippe Rameau and Jean-Féry Rebel speak for themselves. The first part opens with the extraordinary and striking representation of chaos, which Rebel included in his ballet The Elements in 1737. (...) The recording closes with a selection of storms, thunder rolls, earthquakes and Contredanses composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau for the operas Les Indes Galantes, Hippolyte et Aricie, Zoroastre and Les Boréades. (bron: Alia Vox)