Baroque Nouveau - Rameau: Pieces de Clavecin en Concerts (2009)

If you like your Rameau big, strong, and in your face, this disc of the French Baroque composer's Piéces de clavecin en concerts performed by Baroque Nouveau recorded and released by Reference Recordings will be the disc for you. Sixteen movements from five of the composer's concerts are included here: dances such as the Second Concert's Minuet and the Third Concert's "Tambourin," character pieces such as the Fifth Concert's "La Cupis" and the Fourth Concert's "L'Indiscrète," and musical portraits like the Fifth's "La Forqueray" and "La Marais." Whatever its type, every movement here receives an extremely powerful performance from the West Coast-based Baroque Nouveau. Each player -- harpsichordist Charles Sherman, violinist Anthony Martin, flutist Stephen Schultz, and viola da gambaist Josh Lee -- is a highly individualistic soloist as well as an assertive ensemble player, and the performances here are intensely expressive, muscularly rhythmic, and virtuosic. This approach may or may not be to every Rameau fan's taste. Those who recall with fondness the classic 1971 Teldec recordings by Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Brüggen, Sigiswald Kuijken, and Wieland Kuijken may find Baroque Nouveau's style a bit too brash and brawny. Similarly, Reference Recording's incredibly clean and immediate sound may seem like too much of a good thing in comparison to Telefunken's cool, clear but evocative stereo sound. Still, the effectiveness of both the performance and the sound here cannot be denied, and those who enjoy French Baroque chamber music may well enjoy this disc.