Héloïse Gaillard, Stéphanie d’Oustrac and Ensemble Amarillis – Portraits de la Folie (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Having been relegated to a moral space of exclusion and fear in the Middle Ages, madness subsequently became a major social phenomenon: brought under control and personified as ‘Folly’ in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it provided scope for social and moral criticism, leading composers and librettists to give it a prominent place on the operatic stage. Here Stéphanie d’Oustrac and the Amarillis Ensemble present its multiple facets, from seduction to passionate love, from despair to joy, revealing the underlying truths of humanity in the Baroque era.

The Baroque period was characterised by dramatic, grandiose structures, in the fine arts as well as in music. An array of exuberant expression with curved, sinuous lines took over all the arts. This was the starting point for this recording by mezzo-soprano Stéphanie d’Oustrac and Héloïse Gaillard at the head of her ensemble Amarillis.

This “road movie” into the land of madness invites us to discover its different faces through some of the composers of the time. From the famous theme of the “Folies d’Espagne” used by Reinhard Keiser in his comic opera Jodelet to the Gavotte en rondeau from Carnaval et La Folie, a lyrical comedy by André Cardinal Destouches, there’s a whole itinerary that inscribes madness in her role as a seductress, charmed and triumphant in André Campra’s Fêtes vénitiennes, or of love madness through the character of Sémélé set to music by Destouches and Marin Marais, without forgetting a detour into perfidious Albion with Purcell and Eccles.

Love obviously comes with jealousy, one of the recurring themes of tragedy and consequently of opera. Instrumental music is not forgotten in this recording with a Concerto a 7 by Heinichen skillfully blending German, French and Italian influences in a European style ahead of its time. This programme invites us to discover a whole array of affects, which seem to have excluded the most terrible madness of all – that of war… – François Hudry

Tracklist:
1. Héloïse Gaillard – Der lächerliche Printz Jodelet: Sinfonia (02:14)
2. Héloïse Gaillard – Les Fêtes vénitiennes: Air de la Folie “Accourez hâtez-vous” (01:32)
3. Héloïse Gaillard – Sémélé: Ne cesse point de m’enflammer (02:35)
4. Héloïse Gaillard – Sémélé: Descendez cher amant (02:35)
5. Héloïse Gaillard – Sémélé: Aussitôt le bruit du tonnerre. Est-il un destin plus heureux (03:50)
6. Héloïse Gaillard – Concerto in G Major, S. 214: I. Vivace (02:40)
7. Héloïse Gaillard – Concerto in G Major, S. 214: II. Largo (01:52)
8. Héloïse Gaillard – Concerto in G Major, S. 214: III. Allegro (03:23)
9. Héloïse Gaillard – From silent shades and the Elysian groves, Z. 370 (04:39)
10. Héloïse Gaillard – Ground in F Minor (02:15)
11. Héloïse Gaillard – Don Quixote, Z. 578: From Rosie Bow’rs (06:07)
12. Héloïse Gaillard – Ah, crudel! nel pianto mio, HWV. 78: Sinfonia (07:58)
13. Héloïse Gaillard – Ah, crudel! nel pianto mio, HWV. 78: Adagio. Aria “Ah! crudel nel pianto moi” (04:40)
14. Héloïse Gaillard – Ah, crudel! nel pianto mio, HWV. 78: Recitativo “Non sdegnerai d’amar chi t’ama tanto” (00:43)
15. Héloïse Gaillard – Ah, crudel! nel pianto mio, HWV. 78: Aria “Di quel bel ch’il ti diede” (04:11)
16. Héloïse Gaillard – Ah, crudel! nel pianto mio, HWV. 78: Recitativo “Balena il cielo e il turbine che passa” (01:39)
17. Héloïse Gaillard – Ah, crudel! nel pianto mio, HWV. 78: Aria “Per trofei di mia costanza” (06:29)
18. Héloïse Gaillard – Suite No. 5, Pièces en trio pour les Flûtes, Violons & Dessus de Viole: Caprice in E Minor (03:02)
19. Héloïse Gaillard – Le Carnaval et la Folie: Air de la Folie “Abandonnons le soin du monde” (01:34)
20. Héloïse Gaillard – Les élémens: Air pour l’Amour. Rondeau (00:59)
21. Héloïse Gaillard – Le Carnaval et la Folie: Gavotte en rondeau. Air de la Folie “Souffrez que l’Amour vous lie” (02:10)