William Christie and his ensemble continue their series of recordings of Charpentier's music with two deeply expressive works. The shorter but more arresting of them is Le reniement de St Pierre. Perhaps the work by Charpentier most often cited in history books it has, however, only twice before been recorded (Pathe Marconi DTX259 and Erato ASE5001—neither generally available in the UK). The other work, in ten sections, is the Meditations pour le Careme: five of these were recorded, also by Harmonia Mundi, many years ago (HM25 112—nla). None of the issues has stood well the passage of time, so it is all the more welcome to have performances of such excellence as those by Les Arts Florissants.
Le reniement de St Pierre was described by Sebastian de Brossard as ''une histoire ou un oratorio a l'italienne''. It is scored for five 'dramatis personae', five-part chorus and continuo. Carissimi, once Charpentier's teacher, was clearly the model; H. Wiley Hitchcock, who has provided an interesting and helpful note, suggests that the work dates from the 1670s, whilst recognizing that it contains features of maturity pointing to a somewhat later period in the composer's life. The Latin text, sung here in a manner modelled on French spellings to be found in contemporary treatises on plainchant, is concerned with St Peter's denial of Christ. The compiler of the text draws upon all four of the Gospels employing narrative sections to introduce and link the brief episodes. Charpentier's response to the words is dramatic, often intensely so. There is an urgency about much of the music which, as anyone familiar with the piece will know, builds up to an impassioned and agonizing closing chorus. The searing, long-drawn-out anguished harmonic progressions, in the course of which Charpentier agonizingly strives to ascend a diatonic scale, are amongst the most profoundly pathetic and grief stricken utterances that I know in baroque music. Charpentier was masterly in the conveyance of this kind of effect, but nowhere else, perhaps, is either the sense of desolation or remorse quite so acute. None of this is lost on the voices of Les Arts Florissants. They provide a vivid and affecting account both of the text and the music, though I felt an occasional insecurity of pitch here and there.
The Meditations pour le Careme possess the same penitential character but never quite reach a comparable intensity of musical expression. They are, in effect, a sequence of Lenten motets scored for a three-strand vocal texture with basso continuo. Brossard, whose copies both of the Meditations and Le reniement de St Pierre are the only ones to have survived, names the organ as continuo instrument; that is what is used here—though it is mentioned neither on the sleeve nor in the booklet—along with a theorbo and bass viol. Charpentier's writing is often impassioned and almost invariably declamatory; the ninth Meditation affords a good example of these characteristics, whilst a notable degree of expressive tenderness is present elsewhere as, for example, in the captivating fifth Meditation. As Hitchcock points out in his note, a close scrutiny of the text is of great importance since Charpentier is frequently depicting details rather than merely reflecting a Lenten outlook.
In short, this is an issue of absorbing interest containing works of great subtlety and depth. The performances often reach the very high standards associated with this talented and committed ensemble, offering an account which explores the nuances of the music and brings to life in a vivid manner its dramatic content. My pressing was poor, and I found the acoustic a little too hollow and reverberant, especially in the Meditations.'