Decorated by Diapason (5 de Diapason) and Pizzicato (Five quavers).
Recommended by BBC Radio 3 (Building a Library), Gramophone, Partituren and Klassik Heute.
Jean-Féry Rebel (1666-1747)
Les Élémens
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Suite from Castor et Pollux
L’Orfeo Barockorchester
Michi Gaigg, direction
Jean-Féry Rebel
Les Élémens, Simphonie nouvelle (1737/38)
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Suite from Castor et Pollux, Tragédie en musique RCT 32 (1737)
(new edition ∙ cpo 2014)
(reviews of the 1st edition:)
“The Orfeo Baroque Orchestra give a vibrant performance of the Rameau. Gaigg is a decisive leader who encourages her colleagues to brandish their bows and clip the dotted notes with breathtaking panache […] percussionist Rogerio Gonçalves provides wonderful rhythmic counterpoint. […] strikingly idiosyncratic performances.”
Gramophone Magazine, February 2009“Numerous recordings of Rebel’s „Les Élémens“ have been made: the earliest was by the Orchestra of the ORTF directed by André Jarve in 1973, followed by Christopher Hogwood (1980), Marc Minkowski (1993), Reinhard Goebel (1995) […] Michi Gaigg and her L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra join the ranks of these with determination and animated tempos, revelling in the score’s harshness and sound metamorphoses. She puts clear accents, enjoys rests to the full, little by little creating an evolving universe from the chaos. Rebel’s highly differentiated instrumentation in the dance suite finds an ideal interpretation here: the well-balanced polarity of heaviness and lightness is very convincing in the first Loure, „La Terre et l’Eau“. A special feature of the orchestra is the surprising energy and a generous sound. Michi Gaigg nevertheless knows the art of extreme subtleties and the magic of colour. The orchestral excerpts from Rameau’s opera „Castor et Pollux“ (composed at the same time as Rebel’s work) thankfully prove to be of the same calibre.”
Diapason, Catherine Cessac, Sep/Oct 2008 – 5 de Diapason“Beware when you expect to hear some harmless Baroque music when listening to this CD the first time! Jean-Féry Rebel starts his ballet music with a diatonic cluster containing every single note of a d minor harmonic scale. And the L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra is not ashamed to let us hear its full impact. Rebel’s version of the creation of the elements originated 60 years before Haydn’s „Schöpfung“ and commences with „Le Cahos“[sic!]. The following movements of the Suite remain colourful und musically highly effective. Also in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux the young Austrian ensemble exudes enthusiasm and finesse“.
Partituren, Wolfgang Fuhrmann, September/October 2008
