Philidor:les Femmes Vengees

Description

Philidor, which had been wavering since the great success of Tom Jones a decade earlier. His opéra-comique, which foreshadows the plot of Mozart's Così fan tutte (Mozart had been in Paris during the first performances of Philidor's work), offers delicious opportunities for mock-indignation and repartee in its arias and ensembles. This recording presents the complete music. Opera Lafayette and Ryan Brown's recording of Philidor's Sancho Pança [8.660274] was hailed as a 'witty, authentic interpretation' by the American Record Guide. Is this the French Così fan tutte? No one knows for sure whether or not Mozart was present at the early performances of Philidor's Les Femmes vengées but it's a known fact that he was staying in Paris at the time and there are distinct mirror- reflections in his later work of this earlier comic work. All the music is here; though there are cuts in the spoken dialogue (the complete text with spoken dialogue is available on Naxos' website). This is high-class opéra-comique, essentially light- hearted, in the last quarter of the eighteenth-century. Important to note that Ryan Brown and his ensemble are world-leaders in the performance of Philidor's music.