In 1986 Peter Holman set out a case for orchestrating François Couperin’s chamber music. He focused particular attention on the eighth concert of Les goûts­réünis (1724)‚ which Couperin indicated should be performed ‘dans le goût théatral’. Drawing parallels with the dissemination of Lully’s music (through published scores‚ partbooks and ‘airs detachez’)‚ he proposed that Couperin’s chamber music‚ cast in duo and trio textures‚ might represent extracts in short score of a lost stage work. These ideas came to the attention of Skip Sempé‚ who applied his considerable stylistic knowledge and skill to testing the theory in performance during a weekend devoted to Couperin at the château of Versailles last autumn. This CD records the result and also marks the début of Sempé’s Capriccio Stravagante Orchestra. Taking his cues from the prefaces and the internal evidence in Couperin’s printed collections‚ Sempé rearranged the order of the movements of the eighth concert‚ interleaving songs for one to three voices‚ to form a hypothetical opéra­ballet consisting of a prologue‚ five divertissements and a ‘retour’‚ giving each of the seven sections names resonant of paintings by Watteau and cantata texts by Rousseau (no actual dramatic work by Couperin survives). Then he composed the missing parties de remplissage (inner parts) in much the same way that Lully’s assistants prepared full scores and parts for each of his operas. While Sempé’s construction cannot be truly considered a ‘reconstruction’ it comes across as stylistically true‚ and it is undeniably entertaining. Sempé admits in the interview printed in the booklet that his orchestra is somewhat bottom­heavy (it is‚ especially in the first track)‚ but in fact continuo instruments emerge as the stars of the orchestra: the viol player Jay Bernfeld‚ the theorbists Mike Fentross and Radames Paz­Diaz and the harpsichordists‚ Sempé himself and Olivier Fortin (who shine in their arrangement of ‘L’Amphibie’)‚ particularly. For many listeners‚ this CD provides the first opportunity to hear secular songs (airs sérieux et à boire) by Couperin. Coached by Bernfeld (a founder member with Sempé of the original Capriccio Stravagante)‚ the sopranos Karina Gauvin‚ Sandrine Rondot and Isabelle Desrochers and the bass Vincent Lecornier deliver virtuoso performances of considerable dramatic impact‚ bringing to them ringing tone‚ superb declamation and delectable Couperinesque ornamentation (note Gauvin’s expressive and lithe performance of ‘Zephire modere en ces lieux’). The two canons for three sopranos are nothing short of relevatory‚ evoking comparisons with bawdy glees and madrigals‚ neither of which Couperin would have known; ‘Jean s’en alla comme il étant venu’ offers a characterful dialogue between a soprano and a bass. All we lack now for a theatre performance is plausible choreography for the peasants’ Loure in the first divertissement‚ the stately Sarabande (which interestingly begins and ends with solo harpsichord) of the second‚ which is repeated as ‘Le Retour’‚ and the animated ‘Air de Baccantes’ of the fourth. Caveats aside‚ this imaginative and stylish recording belongs on every early­music lover’s ‘must hear’ list.