This is the third disc of cantatas by Clerambault to have been issued in the past year or so. Clerambault was a contemporary of Couperin le grand and the undisputed master of the cantate francaise. The form flourished during the first three decades or so of the eighteenth century and there were few French composers of note other than Couperin and Leclair who did not try their hand at it. Clerambault published five anthologies of cantatas between 1710 and 1726 amounting to 20 works in all. In addition there are some half dozen separate cantatas none of which are included in the present programme.
Isabelle Poulenard and Gilles Ragon have chosen four cantatas, Leandre et Hero and Pirame et Tisbe (Book II, 1713), L'Isle de Delos (Book III, 1716), and Apollon et Doris (Book IV, 1720). The first two of these are duplicated in the soprano Julianne Baird's Meridian recital and that of Les Arts Florissants (Harmonia Mundi) respectively, while the remaining two are new to the catalogue. Clerambault wrote Leandre et Hero and L'Isle de Delos for high voice with obbligato instruments, Pirame et Tisbe for the haute-contre register with obbligato flute and violin, and Apollon et Doris for the two vocal registers with violin and continuo. Both these singers are now very well versed in the specialized requirements of French baroque musical performance and they acquit themselves well. Each has an acute ear for detail and a lively sense of drama which effectively serve the important recitative element in these cantatas. In Pirame et Tisbe Ragon sounds less under strain than his compatriot, Jean-Paul Fouchecourt who sings the same work with Les Arts Florissants. Poulenard and Baird both give fine performances of Leandre et Hero though neither is ideally supported by the instrumental ensemble which, in both instances, sounds rough in texture. The remaining cantatas are both delightful and stylishly sung. Poulenard sings the opening air of L'Isle de Delos with great delicacy and finesse and the following ''Air de Musette'' is enchanting. Indeed this cantata is perhaps one of Clerambault's most engaging. Apollon et Doris is not quite as secure as the cantatas for solo voice. Ragon declaims well but the notes sometimes lie uncomfortably high for him and he is at times tonally insecure.
With a little more in the way of finesse, especially in the instrumental playing this might have been an outstanding recital. But it can be warmly commended for music and performance none the less. Adequate though undistinguished recorded sound.'