Name: Rameau: Cintegabelle, UGAB, Vol. 1 (L'univers de l'orgue - The World of Organ) by Yves Rechsteiner, Henri-charles Caget
Brand: Yves Rechsteiner
SKU: 3760014196508
Price: 9.9 USD
Availability: OnlineOnly
Rating: 3 (161 reviews)

ALBUM

Ugab, the name of a series of organ recordings on the Alpha label, is a Hebrew word from the Psalms thought to mean an instrument that was a forerunner of the organ. The aim of the series is to highlight a variety of the great organs of the world in repertoire for which they are especially well suited with an emphasis on their physical setting and to offer copious photographs of the organ and its setting to provide a visual as well as aural experience. This first installment features the organ of the church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Cintegabelle, in southern France. Judging from the recording, it's a magnificent instrument, with vast timbral variety, housed in a space with a clean but nicely reverberant acoustic. Yves Rechsteiner plays an eccentric but thoroughly engaging program: transcriptions he has made of music from the operas of Rameau, some including percussion and some requiring a third hand. The operas are appropriate material because they date from around the time the organ was built and consecrated in the mid-18th century. The brief pieces are mostly arrangements of dances from the operas, but also include airs, a chorus, and an overture. The music is largely sprightly, light-hearted, and elegant, and some of it, like the selections from the comedy Platée, is gleefully silly, but there are several contemplative airs that use the most delicate registrations. These selections don't represent the Baroque at its most profound, but they are unfailingly delightful, played with exceptional grace and style. Rechsteiner's arrangements (the theory and execution of which are discussed in great depth in the program notes) make inventive use of the array of the instrument's sonorous possibilities, and the album is notable for the colorful range of the registrations. Percussionist Henri-Charles Caget and "third hand" Vincent Bernhardt provide capable support on several tracks. The sound of Alpha's SACD, which can be played on conventional systems but was designed for optimal effect to be played in surround sound, is clear and spacious.

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Rameau: Cintegabelle, UGAB, Vol. 1 (L'univers de l'orgue - The World of Organ)

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1. Les Indes galantes, Prologue: Ouverture

2. Platée, Acte III, Scène 6: Musette en quatuor

3. Zoroastre, Acte II: Menuet en trio - Second menuet en duo

4. Platée, Acte I, Scène 6: Tambourin

5. Platée, Acte III, Scène 8: Choeur en rondeau

6. Zoroastre, Acte I: Air dans le goût de la romance

7. Hippolyte et Aricie, Acte III: Tambourins

8. Les Indes galantes, Quatrième entrée: Danse des sauvages, dans le goût du concerto

9. Les Boréades, Acte IV, Scène 4: Entrée

10. Platée, Acte II, Scène 5: Menuet dans le goût de la vièle

11. Les Indes galantes, Troisième entrée: Air vif pour Zéphir et les fleurs

12. Les Indes galantes, Troisième entrée: Tendre Amour, choeur de voix humaines

13. Dardanus, Acte III, Scène 3: Rigaudon

14. Dardanus, Acte III, Scène 1: Prélude

15. Hippolyte et Aricie, Acte III, Scène 1: Fuguette

16. Hippolyte et Aricie, Acte I, Scène 4: Tempête

17. Castor et Pollux, Acte I, Scène 3: Air "Tristes apprêts"

18. Zoroastre, Acte I: Sarabande en trio

19. Dardanus, Prologue: Air tendre sur les flûtes

20. Les Fêtes d'Hébé, Troisième Entrée, Scène 7: Tambourin en rondeau – Duo

21. Les Indes galantes, Troisième entrée: Gavottes

22. Les Indes galantes, Deuxième entrée: Tierce en taille - Air en récit - Trio - Duo

23. Les Indes galantes, Quatrième entrée: Chaconne

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