Surprising Royer (Pancrace Royer: Orchestral Suites)

Description

Surprising Royer... Surprising Christophe Rousset! After two albums dedicated to the harpsichord pieces of Pancrace Royer, the conductor turns to the orchestral suites of the Savoyard composer. Drawn from four lyrical works by Royer and never recorded (except for a live Pyrrhus), these choreographic pieces reveal a new facet of the composer. We knew him to be brilliant and virtuosic on the harpsichord, but here he reveals himself to be lyrical and sophisticated. Throughout the dances, his unique sense of harmony and orchestral contrasts unfolds, along with a rhetoric of the unexpected that is almost whimsical. Nevertheless, some of his most well-known pieces are included, such as the famous Marche des Scythes, in their orchestral form. Let us bet that this recording will help rediscover this iconoclastic composer, whose very personal style and innate sense of dramatic action find, under the baton of Christophe Rousset, a striking depth and relief.