The 'Orpheus' myth was as important for the birth of opera in France as it had been in Italy. In 1684, Charpentier composed a work for three voices, 'Orph�e descendant aux Enfers'. With this piece, remarkable for its style and concision, he showed how well he had assimilated Carissimi's art. It is a dramatic scene, similar to the 'sacred histories' of the Roman master. The text, by an unknown author, narrates Orpheus' quest for his beloved in the Underworld. The hero's haute-contre gives him an elegiac timbre - this was the vocal register in which Charpentier, himself a singer, excelled. In 1687 he created his second illustration of the myth, 'La descente d'Orph�e aux enfers'. In its two acts can be discerned the outline of a possible complete opera - the manuscript has reached us shorn of the third act in which Orpheus would presumably have lost Eurydice before being devoured by the Maenads. While 'La descente d'Orph�e' has already been recorded several times, the 'Orph�e' of 1684 is a rarity and a magnificent discovery. In these two roles that might have been written for him, Reinoud van Mechelen is at the peak of his artistry, while his ensemble A Nocte Temporis and Lionel Meunier's group Vox Luminis blend in perfect symbiosis.
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