I can recall only one record of chamber cantatas by Campra issued within the last 20 years so the simultaneous appearance of two recitals entirely devoted to this repertoire is as welcome as it is remarkable. Campra's life was a long and active one and he contributed to virtually every genre of vocal composition current in France between the 1680s and his death in 1744. He published three books of secular chamber cantatas during the first three decades of the eighteenth century, of which the first (1708) is the most fully represented in these new performances; only one of the six works contained in it is, in fact, omitted. Three more are taken from Campra's Book 2 (1714), but the third and last publication (1728) is not given an airing. Happily, only one work, Arion, is common to both programmes.
Campra adopted no set pattern in his chamber cantatas and we find examples here of movement patterns ranging from six to 11. His style is strongly French, both in declamation of text and in delicatesse of expression; that is not to say, however, that the Italian influence is absent but merely that one feels in the presence of a composer who wholeheartedly believed in the style of his native France. Campra's music is always charming and he is, on occasion, no mean melodist; there are many affecting scenes amongst these cantatas whose movements are scored for voice, either with one or two melody instruments and continuo or, just continuo alone.
Both performances bring out the myriad subtleties of this somewhat elusive reperoire. Jacqueline Nicolas has an attractive voice and is sensitive to text and music. Her intonation, though, is not entirely dependable and this tempered an enjoyment which was otherwise considerable. She lightly articulates her phrases and is well supported by an instrumental group consisting of violin, flute, bass viol and harpsichord; I particularly admired the violin playing. The work which most beguiled me here was Daphne whose first and last Ariettes—formally something of a catch-all phrase with Campra—are irresistibly attractive.
William Christie and his ensemble, with Jill Feldman, Dominique Visse and Jean-Francois Gardeil, at once strike a deeper note than is ever sounded in the more brittle performances of Jacqueline Nicolas and her colleagues. Jill Feldman is a passionate singer and is able to bring more drama to bear on her interpretations. Her performance of Arion, for example, is not only emotionally more highly charged than Jacqueline Nicolas's reading of the same work but also makes far more of contrasting affects; it is the difference, in a word, between a salon soiree and theatre. Here Feldman is sympathetically and often imaginatively supported by Christie's first-rate instrumental group.
I've always found Dominique Visse a most communicative singer and this certainly is so in the cantata La dispute de l'Amour et de l'Hymen. I can think of no one better able than he to do justice to wonderfully evocative lines such as ''A l'ombre d'un bois solitaire, sejour inaccessible aux ardeurs du soleil''. Visse admirably captures the easy grace of Campra's music and his concluding Ariette is pure enchantment.
Campra's skill in the art of the cantate francaise is perhaps at its best in the fine Les femmes for bass voice with two violins and continuo. The changing moods of a lover who reflects, pretty unfavourably, on woman's nature occure with rapidity and spontaneity. Some of the sections are so grief-laden that they would not be out of place in a tragedie-lyrique— ''Fils de la nuit et du silence'' is one of them—and Campra's instrumental writing is affecting, too. The remaining cantata is Enee et Didon, a dialogue for soprano, bass and continuo and not to be confused with Campra's other cantata Didon on the same subject. Jean-Francois Gardeil, has a pleasant sounding voice but technically he is the weakest of the three vocalists. Intonation is not irreproachable and there is a hint of huskiness and unsteadiness.
Here are two issues which introduce us to infrequently encountered repertoire by the major French composer between Lully and Rameau. If it is a choice between the two then the Harmonia Mundi recording is the one to go for. If you can run to both so much the better for, in spite of reservations, Jacqueline Nicolas has a fresh and charming approach to the music. Both recitals are well recorded, the Harmonia Mundi one, especially so. Both include full texts in French but the Harmonia Mundi presentation misleadingly numbers the cantatas without any reference to the three publications.'