Jean-Philippe Rameau: In Convertendo

Early religious work.

This is French baroque at its best level. Not only does the DVD contain a first class performance, it also has really interesting interviews with Maestro Christie and other specialists that discuss the relevance of the pieces. The soloists were generally good, although I would have preferred a different haute-contre soloist, as Jeffrey Thompson doesn't possess the performance skill one would expect at this level of performing, not being able to peacefully express the text without making strange faces.

The "In Convertendo" grand motets (5 stars) only last 30Min the rest of the DVD are simply interviews and promotions of other Rameau DVDs. Not a very good deal.

This DVD contains 2 separate titles.Part 1 consists of musical performances of Rameau's works, about 39 minutes in total. The first work is the grand motet "In Convertendo", which lasts about 24 minutes. The vocal soloists are Nicolas Rivenq, Sophie Daneman, Jeffrey Thompson and Olga Pitarch. The second work is a selection of 3 pieces from Pièces de Clavecin en concert (15 minutes total). The ensemble musicians are Béatrice Martin (harpsichord), Patrick Cohën-Akenine (violin), Nima Ben David (viola da gamba) and Serge Saitta (flute). The vocal soloists are mostly good, if not stellar. Les Arts Florissants directed by William Christie play superbly as one expects.Part 2 is a documentary "The Real Rameau" (58 minutes), directed by Reiner E. Moritz. It contains some biographical information about Jean-Philippe Rameau. The lion's share of the documentary appropriately goes to the interviews with William Christie and with Sylvie Bouissou,(*) two persons who probably have contributed more than anyone else to the revival of Jean-Philippe Rameau's music. Other interviewees include John Eliot Gardiner, Robert Carsen, Andrei Servan and Laurent Pelly. It's a good, honest documentary by a well-known director and producer, most definitely *not a promotion* as stated in another review. (It does quote some segments of the opera performances released in other Rameau DVDs.) For those who follow the Opus Arte Rameau DVD series, this name should be very familiar.Technically, The picture format is: 16:9. The Part 1 has both DTS Surround and LPCM Stereo sound tracks. Part 2 documentary offers only standard Dolby Digital Stereo. Subtitles are offered in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.This is not one of my top-drawer Rameau DVDs, but is nonetheless worth viewing. A keeper.Recommended for anyone who is interested in Rameau.-----------------(*) Dr. Sylvie Bouissou is an eminent musicologist and editor of Opera Omnia de Rameau. She has had a brilliant career: Bouissou won three first prizes at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, five(!) first prizes at the Conservatoire national de Région in Versailles. She got her doctorate in musicology from the Université Paris-IV-Sorbonne and a Habilitation from the Université Paris I, Sorbonne-Panthéon. After entering CNRS in 1988, she founded the Institut de recherche sur le patrimoine musical en France (Research Institute for Musical Heritage in France) in 1996 and served as its director until 2003.... In 1993, together with the French Ministry of Culture and the Francis and Mica Salabert Foundation, she founded Musica Gallica, a national collection of French musical heritage. She served as its secretary-general from 1993 to 2003, thereby taking part in the publication of more than one-hundred volumes. Not surprisingly, she is the author of many articles on (French) baroque music.

To be charitable, I shall start with saying that the performance of the Grand Motet In Convertendo is up the the usual standard of excellence one associates with William Christie. As a bonus comes a comprehensive - as far as a DVD in concerned - documentary, despite the silly chit-chat between two surplus-to-requirement Deus ex Machina characters. Otherwise - very poor general presentation - no reference to the vocal Soloists in the Motet - either in the booklet, or in the Biographies bonus on the DVD. If the Soloists are good enough for W Christie, they should be good enough for Opus Arte to say something about them. This is disrespect to the Artists, and disregard where the consumer [probably not The Consumer to this label] is concerned. Nor is there a mention of the source of the text, taken from the book Psalms. The three instrumental pieces would have been perfect on a CD, when one cannot notice that the performers do not seem to have much fun participating in the playing [for a model of sheer fun in playing - and how much it enhances the viewer's pleasure - see DVD of Argerich & the late Economou playing Mozart]. Thanks Christie et al, try harder - much harder - Opus Arte.

Procurez vous, si vous aimez le baroque, ce chef d'oeuvre instrumental et vocal dirigé par un très grand chef d'orchestre. Je suis hypnotisé par ces mélodies.C'est peut être grave.

Ok l'oeuvre est belle l'interprétation aussi, mais une durée beaucoup trop courte en limite l'intérêt.qualité son et image: très bonneduration; 25mn