Lully / Marais / Rebel - Comédie Et Tragédie

Facts This is Volume 1 of Tempesta di Mare's two-disc project of late 17th c. French instrumental music. 'These 'Suites' contain some of the most tuneful, appealing and striking music of the period, this volume offering works by Lully, Marais, and Rebel. As a favored associate of King Louis XIV, Jean-Baptiste Lully was commissioned to compose a comedie-ballet for the visit of the Turkish ambassador in 1669. He composed music for Molière's play Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme; it's Turkish ceremony storyline occasioning music using colorful percussion and exotically flavored melodies. While Alcyone, a work of Lully pupil Marin Marais, is a tragic opera composed after Lully's death, Les elemens, by another Lully pupil, Jean-Fery Rebel, is a ballet, in which is portrayed each of the four elements during the chaotic, confusing creation of the world. Philadelphia's Tempesta di Mare was recently praised by Fanfare magazine for it's 'abundant energy, immaculate ensemble, impeccable intonation, and undeniable sense of purpose'.