Perhaps no piece of music evokes more pungently our image of the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV, than the well-loved Prelude to Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Te Deum. Yet, though Louis may at some time have heard this setting of the canticle, it was not in fact written for the court at all but, in all probability, for one of the Paris churches with which Charpentier was at one time associated.
Readers familiar with Marc Minkowski’s previous recordings will know that his bias towards swift tempos, together with his lively dramatic sense, generates a high degree of interest. This is certainly the briskest performance of the Te Deum that I have ever heard, and much of it is both exciting and emotionally exhilarating. Nowhere is this more so than in the final chorus which, with its scintillating trumpets, crackling timpani and bright, incisive choral singing, cannot fail to enthral an audience. There is, however, a price to pay for all this dispatch – the sequence of movements leaves one almost breathless at times – and it is that the grandeur and nobility of the music is somewhat diminished. Though a faithful reflection of today’s pace of life, it is also, perhaps, peculiarly a product of it. The excitement of Minkowski’s version is undeniable, but both Ivor Bolton and William Christie capture better the ‘occasional’ measure and spaciousness of the piece.
Providing the greatest contrast imaginable with the Te Deum is an intimate, beguilingly expressive interlude for muted strings from Charpentier’s dramatic motet for Christmas, Canticum in nativitatem Domini (H416). This is played with finesse and affection by the strings of Les Musiciens du Louvre. The third work on the disc is, after the Te Deum, or its Prelude, at least, the best known of Charpentier’s works. His enchanting Midnight Mass for Christmas is based on French Christmas carols. Once again, Minkowski sets a brisk pace, emphasizing the jubilant aspect of Yuletide, rather than the contemplative one. But this is, nevertheless, an effective performance, whose soft colours radiate warmth and whose rhythmic vitality is infectious. In spite of some reservations about the Te Deum I found the disc stimulating and, in the main, satisfying. Recorded sound is well above average. A pleasing issue.
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