English Chamber Orchestra (Leppard) - Rameau "Le Temple De La Gloire" / Grétry "Suite of Ballet Music" (1967) 24-bit/96kHz

Raymond Leppard’s pioneering L’Oiseau-Lyre recordings of French Baroque music with the English Chamber Orchestra: the brilliant realisations of Rameau’s Temple de la Gloire suite have seldom been more strikingly performed. Le Temple de la Gloire was a theatrical entertainment to a text by Voltaire, written to celebrate a French victory and at the same time, of course, to glorify Louis XV.

Grétry was Belgian by birth but spent most of his working life in Paris. Since he wrote for the theatre, Grétry was used to making his work suit the ever-changing demands of each new production. So it is not surprising that the ‘interchangeability’ of this music makes for a very pleasing suite of balletic moments from his operas. Presto Classical

‘Performances are excellent … Leppard splendidly catches the sense of wilfulness and quirky brilliance which lends his music its special colour’ [Rameau] Gramophone

Track listing:

Jean Philippe Rameau: Suite of Instrumental Music from "Le Temple De La Gloire"

01. Passepied en Rondeau
02. Air vif pour les Héros
03. Air pour les Démons
04. Gavottes I and II en Musette
05. Air
06. Gavottes I and II
07. Loure
08. Air gai
09. Gigue

André Grétry: Suite of Ballet Music from The Operas

10. Ouverture (L'Epreuve Villageoise - 1784)
11. Chaconne (La Caravane du Caire - 1783)
12. Minuet (La Caravane du Caire)
13. Tambourin (La Caravane du Caire)
14. Ballet des Nymphes de Diane (Cephale et Procris - 1775)
15. Tambourin (Cephale et Procris)

The English Chamber Orchestra directed by Raymond Leppard (harpsichord)
Recorded at Kingsway Hall, London, 1966.

Technicals:

Knosti RCM.
Michell GyroDec full version.
Funk Firm FXR II Tonearm.
Audio Technica AT33PTG/II MC Cartridge.
Harman Kardon HK990 Integrated Amplifier.
Gold Interconnects. E-MU 0204 Audio Interface.
Recording, split and manual de-click with Adobe Audition 3.0.1
Click Repair 3.9.1
Vinyl transfer by son-of-albion, September 2013