Lully: Atys

A "Traditional" Production?
How can there be a 'traditional' or 'authentic' staging when there is obviously no 'tradition'? French baroque opera was extinct for centuries, more extinct than the mastodon, until musicologist-performers like Bill Christie and Alan Curtis recovered its DNA from amber. This Atys is lavishly, expensively costumed - thanks to unique patronage of one very rich man - and gorgeously set, though not as extravagantly as the records imply for its 17th C premiere under the eyes of Louis XIV. The dance movements, as prominent in French Baroque as the singing, are impressively graceful and visually satisfying, but there would have been three or four times as many dancers "back then", and the singers might have exited to allow them scope. The dance steps executed in this production -- and "steps" is the key word, since upper bodies are largely immobilized in such costumes -- are historically informed; yes, there are verbal sources and there are scholars like Angene Feves who have explicated...

A Dream Come True!
In the early 1970s I had the privilege to attend a two semester course under Prof. Philip Gosset at the University of Chicago on the History of Opera. One of the great rewards of that study was a begining appreciation of Baroque Opera. Among the gems discovered was an introduction to the music and style of Jean-Baptiste Lully. Only a few bits and pieces were available at the time on recordings of Luly's music, but Dr. Gosset would play excerpts and sometimes sing (?) from the operatic scores. We came to appreciate the subtle modulations to keys distant from the original and the ease with which he could return. Compared to what was being done in Italian opera at the Venetian school, this music was much more refined and subtle of expression. We also noted that sections, arias, recitatives and divertissement all moved effortlessly in a single flowing line rather than be broken into set pieces. Of course the Frech Opera style as invented by Lully (who was Italian by birth) in addition to...

A 'second attempt' by Bill Christie in deluxe manner.
What was operatic productions like before the avante garde minimalists set in? This reprised 1987 production of Lully's grand opera 'Atys' is another good example.
In the last DVD we have more than an hour's informative material about the production itself. The sets and costumes are ultra-elaborate, and the results are truly glamorous, befits totally the courtly premiere of this work before Louis XIV.
It is a real marvel to see Rivenq reprising the role of the human monarch Celenus. He was much younger in 1987, and the voice much lighter, but in this 2011 performance, his performance is even more refined.
I agree that Bernard Richter in the title role is a real find. Perhaps the best lyrical Swiss tenor since Ernest Haefliger, he must be circumspect with his choice of roles, given the very fine and light-textured timbre that he owns.
The two female roles are also wonderfully performed, with D'Oustrac effectively portraying a goddess Cybele that is awesome and...

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