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CD reviews
Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace ROYER (1703 - 1755): "Surprising Royer - Orchestral Suites"
Les Talens Lyriques
Dir: Christophe Rousset
rec: Dec 14 - 16, 2021, Paris, Notre-Dame du Liban
Aparté - AP298 (© 2023) (82'05")
Liner-notes: E/F
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores
Spotify
Almasis (ouverture; marche; air, mouvement de chaconne; air pour les esclaves; premier et second passepieds; premier et second tambourins)
Le Pouvoir de l'Amour (ouverture; Air pour les jeux et les plaisirs; ritournelle; mouvement de passacaille; ritournelle; rondeau; chaconne; entrée pour les habitants du Pactole; premier et deuxième menuets; premier et deuxième tambourins; ritournelle; marche pour le sacrifice; entrée pour les sauvages; air; première et deuxième gigues)
Pyrrhus (ritournelle; premier air des démons; deuxième air; deuxième air pour les Nymphes)
Zaïde, reine de Grenade (ouverture; première et deuxième bourrées; entrée; rondeau pour les Abencérages; air; menuet; entrée des chasseurs; air pour les Africains; air pour les chasseurs; prélude; air tendrement; air pour les Turcs, en rondeau; premier et deuxième menuets (with alternative versions); premier et deuxième tambourins (with alternative versions))
Jocelyn Daubigney, Stefanie Troffaes, transverse flute;
Gabriel Pidoux, Jon Olaberria, oboe;
Josep Casadella, Niels Coppalle, bassoon;
Jeroen Billiet, horn;
Russell Gilmour, trumpet;
Gilone Gaubert, Josépha Jégard, Bérengère Maillard, Yuki Koike, Jean-Marc Haddad, Charlotte Grattard, Myriam Mahnane, Giorgia Simbula, Josef Žák, Roldán Bernabé-Carrión, dessus de violon;
Stefano Marcocchi, Murielle Pfister, haute-contre de violon;
Marie Legendre, Maya Enokida, taille de violon;
Julien Hainsworth, Marjolaine Cambon, Gauthier Broutin, Pauline Lacambra, Nils de Dinechin, Pablo Garrido, cello;
Luděk Braný, Axel Bouchaux, double bass;
Marie van Rhijn, harpsichord;
Florie Fazio, timpani
Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer is almost exclusively known for his harpsichord pieces, published in 1746 as Premier Livre de pièces pour clavecin. It includes two transcriptions of instrumental movements from Zaïde, reine de Grenade, his best-known work for the stage. It is rather surprising that this work seems not to be available in a commercial recording. I have not able to find a live recording either, not even on Spotify. Other stage works have been recorded: his first opera, Pyrrhus, has been released by Alpha. Le Pouvoir de l'Amour has also been recorded, but is hard to find, and not available at the most common platforms, including Spotify. There is every reason to hope that this is going to change. The disc under review should inspire performers to turn to Royer's stage works, as the suites from some of them are of excellent quality.
Royer may be a minor figure in today's performance practice of early music, but he was a man of repute in his own time. In 1725 he made his first moves into the world of opera, when he contributed to an opéra comique. In 1730 he became maître de musique at the Paris opera, and that same year Pyrrhus was performed, originally intended to celebrate the birth of the Dauphin Louis-Ferdinand in September 1729, but actually performed at the occasion of the birth of the latter's brother Philippe, Duke d'Anjou. In 1733 Royer oversaw the production of Rameau's opera Hippolyte et Aricie. Lionel Sawkins, in his liner-notes, states that Rameau's operas are likely to have influenced Royer in the composition of his own music for the stage, and the suites performed here, seem to confirm that.
Whereas Pyrrhus enjoyed only seven performances, with Zaïde Royer established himself as a leading composer of operas. It became one of the most frequently-performed operas, and was still performed after Royer's death. It was closely connected to the monarchy, as Royer composed it for the wedding of the king's daughter, Louise-Elisabeth, to Felipe, Infante of Spain. This opera was, as Sawkins puts it, "a truly heroic tale linking France and Spain and illustrated by ballet and scenic effects." Apart from the story, the instrumental scoring earned much praise. It is colourful and differentiated, and the instruments are effectively used to depict dramatic situations. Like in Rameau's operas, the instrumental pieces are more than ballet - they are part of the story and illustrate particular scenes. In the overture the trumpet and timpani participate, and as one may expect the horn appears in the two pieces about the hunt, the entrée des chasseurs and the air pour les chasseurs. The latter is followed by an air tendrement, in which the transverse flutes play a leading role. The ensuing air pour les Turcs consists mainly of chords, largely played détaché. It lends the piece a certain crudeness, which undoubtedly was Royer's intention.
In 1743 Royer's third opera, Le Pouvoir de l'Amour, had its premiere. It was not as successful as Zaïde; it was performed only eleven times. That is not because the music was inferior to that in Zaïde, as the suite of instrumental movements performed here shows. Again, Royer makes clever use of instrumental colours. In the overture the oboes have short solos. In the second piece, from the 4th scene of the prologue, the high and low instruments are juxtaposed, respectively reflecting the jeux and the plaisirs this air aims at depicting. In the rondeau (track 6), the trumpet and timpani make their entrance. The ensuing chaconne is a quite dramatic piece, full of contrasts in dynamics and instrumental colours. The marche pour le sacrifice seems a kind of funeral march, played at a slow tempo. It is in strong contrast to the ensuing entrée pour les sauvages.
An opera Royer started to compose in 1744, Prométhée et Pandore, was probably never finished; the music is lost. In 1748 Royer wrote Almasis, an acte de ballet, from which here five pieces are included. Here we have a more 'traditional' chaconne, with a prominent role for the transverse flutes. The air pour les esclaves has the indication pesamment - ponderous, which is realised with the help of percussion.
The title of this disc is well-chosen: "Surprising Royer". Very few lovers of French music may have heard any of Royer's music for the stage. In our time he is completely overshadowed by his contemporary Rameau. His operas are rightly performed very often, but it is a shame that Royer's contributions to the genre of opera are nearly completely overlooked. This disc is an ear-opener: it can easily hold its ground in comparison with the instrumental music in Rameau's operas. If these suites are anything to go by, his operas are well worth being performed at full length.
The performances are outstanding: Christophe Rousset and his orchestra explore the qualities of Royer's music to the full. There are some lovely lyrical pieces, played with great subtlety. The dramatic items are performed with aplomb, and are getting just the right weight. It would have been helpful if the booklet had offered some information about the dramatic context of the various pieces. However, even without that, this disc can be thoroughly enjoyed, thanks to both Royer and Les Talens Lyriques.
Johan van Veen (© 2024)
Relevant links:
Les Talens Lyriques