Offer,Charpentier, M-A: David et Jonathas

Pascal Charbonneau (David), Ana Quintans (Jonathas), Neal Davies (Saul), Frédéric Caton (Achis), Krešimir Špicer (Joabel), Dominique Visse (La Pythonisse) & Pierre Bessière (L’Ombre de Samuel)

Les Arts Florissants, William Christie, Andreas Homoki

Christie directs a fine ensemble performance with near-flawless instrumental playing and magnificent solo singing. The lead soloists are entirely convincing with Pascal Charbonneau, as David,... — BBC Music Magazine, November 2013, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 29th Apr 2013
Catalogue No: BAC093
Label: Bel Air Classiques

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Charpentier, M-A: David et Jonathas

Tragédie en musique, Libretto: Père François de Paule Bretonneau
Pascal Charbonneau (David), Ana Quintans (Jonathas), Neal Davies (Saul), Frédéric Caton (Achis), Krešimir Špicer (Joabel), Dominique Visse (La Pythonisse) & Pierre Bessière (L’Ombre de Samuel)
Orchestra & Chorus of Les Arts Florissants
William Christie (conductor) & Andreas Homoki (direction)

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Scenography: Paul Zoller

Costumes: Gideon Davey

Lighting: Franck Evin

The rare biblical opera 'David and Jonathas' is like 'Médée', one of the major works of the French Baroque composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The opera has been in the repertoire of Les Arts Florissants since 1988 and was first presented in a stage production by William Christie at the Aix-en-Provence Festival 2012. This DVD release is a special event for all Baroque music lovers.

Written a year after the death of Lully, this lyric tragedy allows Charpentier to develop beyond the religious dimension, a story of male friendship and forbidden love between David and Jonathas. An excellent cast gathered around William Christie and Les Arts Florissants brings young singers to the title roles: Pascal Charbonneau, a tenor and a former student of the European Academy of Music, sings David. The role of Jonathas is given to a woman: soprano Ana Quintans.

The staging by Andreas Homoki (Director of the Zurich Opera since summer 2012) focuses on the psychological aspect of this forbidden love story, giving a moving reading of the drama.

Reviews

November 2013

Christie directs a fine ensemble performance with near-flawless instrumental playing and magnificent solo singing. The lead soloists are entirely convincing with Pascal Charbonneau, as David, negotiating his stratospheric tenor line superbly...Complementing these excellent soloists is a chorus which sings expertly while delivering sterling dramatic commitment

Early Music Review August 2013

This film is interesting on many levels; of course the singing and the playing are every bit as the singing and the playing are every bit as impressive, not to say intensely moving… this is a wonderful recording

September 2013

Last summer's Aix-en-Provence production by Andreas Homoki treats the sacred drama as an energetic secular theatre piece...Charbonneau sings David's softer sentimental music mellifluously...Christie supervises an authoritative performance.

July/August 2013

The performance's underlying musical integrity and flawless pacing stem above all from the conductor William Christie and the orchestral players of Les Arts Florissants...One expects superlative diction from the native speakers in this cast, but one also get it from Welsh bass-baritone Neal Davies (Saul), singing and acting here with harrowing intensity

April 2014

David is intensely played and sung by the Canadian tenor Pascal Charbonneau. His occasional strain is in keeping with the role, and his lament for Jonathas is quite a tear-jerker. Ana Quintans is the perfect match as Jonathas, looking like a mid-period Harry Potter and singing with an affecting artlessness. Kresimir Spicer’s powerful Joabel personifies compellingly the forces the title roles are up against. The large chorus is effectively directed, and Christie’s conducting brings an easy flow and sumptuous sound to music that hovers tantalizingly on the brink of expressive indulgence.

Offer,Charpentier, M-A: David et Jonathas

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