Rameau: Dardanus / Leppard, Von Stade, Soyer, Van Dam, Composer: Jean-Philippe Rameau, Performer: Monique Marandon, Christiane Eda-Pierre, Michael Devlin, Georges Gautier, Conductor: Raymond Leppard, Orchestra/Ensemble: Paris Opera Chorus, Paris Opera Orchestra. There is so much magnificent music in this improbable story and Leppard makes it tingle with life right from the outset. Vocal honors here go to Jose van Dam as the magician Ismenor-noble in tone, with a fine ringing high register, and most impressive in his invocation of the supernatural powers-and to Christiane Eda-Pierre as a radiant Venus. It is well worth having to wait until Act 4 for her appearance, but she fully comes into her own in the last act: her entry there is a lovely moment, and she has an unusually florid final air (quite different in character from the rest of the opera). I have yet to hear Frederica von Stade sing other than intelligently and expressively, but the tessitura of her role here sounds rather high for her, and in Act 1 her vibrato is more marked than usual. Georges Gautier copes valiantly with the taxing title-role, whose high-lying nature makes a certain whiteness of tone almost inescapable. Michael Devlin makes a bluff warrior-suitor, at his best in Act 3; but those who remember Souzay's recording with Leppard of the Act 4 air "Monstre affreux" (Philips SAL3468, 10/64- nla) will appreciate what more lies in the part. Dardanus remains all but unknown to the majority of opera-lovers; but let me urge them to sample it's riches. Two spots alone may suffice to sway them: the movingly beautiful prelude to Act 3, leading to Iphise's air "O jour affreux", and the remarkable opening to the prison scene of Act 4.
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