Couperin: L'Apothéose de Lulli (Christie, Rousset)

François Couperin - L'Apothéose de Lulli 

-Clavecin-

William Christie

Christophe Rousset

Review by: ClassicsToday

These duets for harpsichords by François Couperin are significant because they emerged during the period in which French composers were trying to counter the style and influence of Corelli, as shown by many of Lully’s keyboard works. Couperin didn’t subscribe to the movement, recognizing that both schools were of equal value. Rather, he published a set of pieces in 1724 as The Apotheosis of Corelli, following it a year later with The Apotheosis of Lully, a counterbalance extolling the glories of French music. Both groups are played here by William Christie and Christophe Rousset, along with a number of smaller free-standing works. The two Apotheoses are littered with Classical allusion far too detailed to explain here; they’re best heard in their complete context, joined by the helpful references to the composer’s fanciful programs reproduced in the booklet notes.

Christie and Rousset, both acknowledged authorities in music of this period and genre, give crisply alert, expert accounts. The recording, made at the Salle Adyar, Paris, in August 1987, isn’t quite as detailed and pin-sharp in its focus as many harpsichord discs. It does, however, place the two instruments antiphonally, so the sense of dialogue and sometimes open combat between them is strongly conveyed.

Andrew Bartlett

Francois Couperin is considered by many to be a composer of lighthearted, and therefore only lightly considered, music. It goes without saying that Couperin has, as a result, been underestimated. These recordings won't rectify the matter, but they do show how Couperin adapted a terrific sense of humor to the task of composition. The thesis of the two apotheoses (composed in 1724) is that one was for Corelli and one for Lulli, and that the pair addressed the debate between the Italian and French styles of composition in the 18th century. Couperin went to great lengths to make his intent clear, although he peppered the discursive titles here with humorous mythological associations. Musically, these are scintillating pieces--especially for fans of the harpsichord, but even for those who react negatively to the instrument's sometimes-tingly sensations. William Christie and Christophe Rousset move very quickly across the keyboards, following Couperin's pacing brilliantly. But they also play exceptionally hard, especially on parts of the Lulli piece, sometimes whipping the piece to a feverish intensity. This is also a fine point of contrast with the Astree chamber version of these pieces.