Montéclair: Jephté Tassis Christoyannis, Chantal Santon, Judith van Wanroij, Thomas Dolie, Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra & Gyorgy Vashegyi

• Michel Pignolet de Montéclair (1667 - 1737): Ouverture:
• 1 Jephté, Prologue: Ouverture 03:28
• Jephté, Prologue Scene 1:
• 2 Jephté, Prologue Scene 1: Beaux lieux, où notre gloire éclate 01:33
• 3 Jephté, Prologue Scene 1: Vous, qu’avec Apollon en ces lieux on adore 00:47
• Jephté, Prologue Scene 2:
• 4 Jephté, Prologue Scene 2: Premier et deuxième rigaudon 01:02
• 5 Jephté, Prologue Scene 2: Riez sans cesse 00:31
• 6 Jephté, Prologue Scene 2: Canarie 00:59
• 7 Jephté, Prologue Scene 2: Premier et deuxième menuet 01:38
• 8 Jephté, Prologue Scene 2: Dans ces beaux lieux, on ne respire 01:34
• 9 Jephté, Prologue Scene 2: De quels nouveaux concerts 01:30
• Jephté, Prologue Scene 3:
• 10 Jephté, Prologue Scene 3: Symphonie pour la descente de la vérité et des vertus qui l’accompagnent 00:34
• 11 Jephté, Prologue Scene 3: Fantômes séduisants, enfants de l’imposture 00:52
• Jephté, Prologue Scene 4:
• 12 Jephté, Prologue Scene 4: Troupe immortelle comme moi 00:56
• 13 Jephté, Prologue Scene 4: Retirez du tombeau, le malheureux Jephté 00:39
• 14 Jephté, Prologue, Scene 4: Triomphez, vérité constante 00:45
• 15 Jephté, Prologue Scene 4: Un roi qui me chérit 00:58
• 16 Jephté, Prologue Scene 4: Qu’il triomphe par moi 01:23
• 17 Jephté, Prologue Scene 4: L’ouverture pour entracte 01:49
• Jephté, Act I Scene 1:
• 18 Jephté, Act I Scene 1: Rivages du Jourdain, où le ciel m’a fait naître 02:01
• 19 Jephté, Act I Scene 1: Mais, quel affreux spectacle 00:52
• Jephté, Act I Scene 2:
• 20 Jephté, Act I Scene 2: Seigneur, notre mortelle crainte 02:34
• Jephté, Act I Scene 3:
• 21 Jephté, Act I Scene 3: Jephté, tout Israël 00:10
• 22 Jephté, Act I Scene 3: Dieu descend jusqu’à moi 00:33
• 23 Jephté, Act I Scene 3: Il fait bien plus pour vous 00:56
• 24 Jephté, Act I Scene 3: Viens, répands le trouble et l’effroi 00:58
• Jephté, Act I Scene 4:
• 25 Jephté, Act I Scene 4: Marche des guerriers 00:54
• 26 Jephté, Act I Scene 4: Guerriers, l’arche terrible à vos yeux va paraître 00:35
• 27 Jephté, Act I Scene 4: Ô gloire, ô force d’Israël 01:03
• 28 Jephté, Act I Scene 4: Ennemis du maître suprême 02:17
• 29 Jephté, Act I Scene 4: Bruit de trompettes 00:10
• 30 Jephté, Act I Scene 4: Mais la sainte trompette sonne 01:18
• Jephté, Act I Scene 5:
• 31 Jephté, Act I Scene 5: Premier air des guerriers 01:00
• 32 Jephté, Act I Scene 5: Deuxième air des guerriers 00:33
• 33 Jephté, Act I Scene 5 Troisième air des guerriers 00:48
• 34 Jephté, Act I Scene 5: Un doux espoir vous est permis 00:32
• 35 Jephté, Act I Scene 5: Viens, répands le trouble et l’effroi 00:40
• Jephté, Act I Scene 6:
• 36 Jephté, Act I Scene 6: Seigneur, nos ennemis menacent nos rivages 00:38
• Jephté, Act I Scene 7:
• 37 Jephté, Act I Scene 7: Qu’ai-je entendu ? Tout fuit ! 02:03
• 38 Jephté, Act I Scene 7: Que vois-je ? quel heureux présage ! 01:33
• 39 Jephté, Act I Scene 7: Marche des guerriers 01:02
• Jephté, Act II:
• 40 Jephté, Act II: Prélude 00:25
• Jephté, Act II Scene 1:
• 41 Jephté, Act II Scene 1: Seigneur, tous les moments sont chers 02:57
• Jephté, Act II Scene 2:
• 42 Jephté, Act II Scene 2: Je vois Ammon, évitons sa présence 03:42
• Jephté, Act II Scene 3:
• 43 Jephté, Act II Scene 3: Qu’ai-je entendu ! J’en ai frémi 00:38
• 44 Jephté, Act II Scene 3: Mes yeux, éteignez dans vos larmes 02:13
• Jephté, Act II Scene 4:
• 45 Jephté, Act II Scene 4: Ma fille, je succombe à ma frayeur mortelle 00:56
• 46 Jephté, Act II Scene 4: À peine, de ses voiles sombres 01:33
• 47 Jephté, Act II Scene 4: Ciel ! J’entends mon arrêt 00:45
• 48 Jephté, Act II Scene 4: Maître des vastes cieux, dieu vivant, dieu jaloux 01:02
• Jephté, Act II Scene 5:
• 49 Jephté, Act II Scene 5: Je vois Abdon, que vient-il m’annoncer ? 00:21
• 50 Jephté, Act II Scene 5: Bruit d’instruments 00:07
• 51 Jephté, Act II Scene 5: Quels doux concerts se font entendre ? 00:43
• Jephté, Act II Scene 6:
• 52 Jephté, Act II Scene 6: Marche au son des tambourins 00:42
• 53 Jephté, Act II Scene 6: Ô jour heureux ! ô jour que l’Éternel a fait ! 01:06
• 54 Jephté, Act II Scene 6: Air pour les habitants de Maspha 00:20
• 55 Jephté, Act II Scene 6: Notre crainte est bannie 01:19
• 56 Jephté, Act II Scene 6: Air 00:47
• 57 Jephté, Act II Scene 6: Tambourin (1) 00:25
• 58 Jephté, Act II Scene 6: Tout rit à nos voeux 00:26
• 59 Jephté, Act II Scene 6: Bruit de trompettes 00:06
• 60 Jephté, Act II Scene 6: Le vainqueur en ces lieux s’avance 00:23
• 61 Jephté, Act II Scene 6: Tambourin (2) 00:32
• Jephté, Act III:
• 62 Jephté, Act III: Prélude 00:30
• Jephté, Act III Scene 1:
• 63 Jephté, Act III Scene 1: Allez, retirez-vous 02:26
• Jephté, Act III Scene 2
• 64 Jephté, Act III Scene 2: Le ciel me rend enfin un époux glorieux 01:19
• Jephté, Act III Scene 3:
• 65 Jephté, Act III Scene 3: Quel trouble me saisit ! 02:48
• Jephté, Act III Scene 4:
• 66 Jephté, Act III Scene 4: Autant que je l’ai pu, j’ai gardé le silence 01:36
• 67 Jephté, Act III Scene 4: Aux yeux d’un dieu terrible 00:29
• 68 Jephté, Act III Scene 4: Non dieu n’accepte pas un vœu si téméraire 02:03
• 69 Jephté, Act III Scene 4: Je me suis imposé d’indispensables lois 00:26
• 70 Jephté, Act III Scene 4: Ne précipitez rien 00:21
• 71 Jephté, Act III Scene 4: Redoutable dieu des vengeances 01:02
• 72 Jephté, Act III Scene 4: Soutiens, dieu tout puissant, le zèle qui m’enflamme 00:38
• Jephté, Act III Scene 5:
• 73 Jephté, Act III Scene 5: Pompeux apprêts, lieux témoins de ma gloire 01:59
• 74 Jephté, Act III Scene 5: Équitable vengeur des crimes de la terre 00:37
• 75 Jephté, Act III Scene 5: Bruit de trompettes 00:10
• 76 Jephté, Act III Scene 5: Quel bruit ! Fuyons 00:15
• 77 Jephté, Act III Scene 5: Marche 00:46
• 78 Jephté, Act III Scene 5: Peuples, que le ciel a fait naître 00:19
• 79 Jephté, Act III Scene 5: Pour le vainqueur, signalez votre zèle 01:44
• 80 Jephté, Act III Scene 5: Chaconne 03:02
• 81 Jephté, Act III Scene 5: Que nos chants dans les airs retentissent 01:44
• 82 Jephté, Act III Scene 5: Jephté, si tu veux qu’on te craigne 01:08
• 83 Jephté, Act III Scene 5: Ah ! Du maître des rois 00:38
• Jephté, Act IV Scene 1:
• 84 Jephté, Act IV Scene 1: Ruisseaux, qui serpentez 02:06
• 85 Jephté, Act IV Scene 1: Le ciel me rend un père 00:34
• 86 Jephté, Act IV Scene 1: Prélude de musettes 00:21
• Jephté, Act IV Scene 2:
• 87 Jephté, Act IV Scene 2: Les habitants de ces belles retraites 00:32
• 88 Jephté, Act IV Scene 2: Marche des bergers 00:29
• Jephté, Act IV Scene 3:
• 89 Jephté, Act IV Scene 3: Nous vivons dans l’innocence 00:34
• 90 Jephté, Act IV Scene 3: Première et deuxième pastourelle 01:25
• 91 Jephté, Act IV Scene 3: Premier et deuxième menuet 00:31
• 92 Jephté, Act IV Scene 3: Que tout brille en ce boccage 01:27
• 93 Jephté, Act IV Scene 3: J’aime à voir vos soins empressés 00:52
• 94 Jephté, Act IV Scene 3: Que le ciel, que la terre et l’onde 01:20
• Jephté, Act IV Scene 4:
• 95 Jephté, Act IV Scene 4: Finissez vos chants d’allégresse 00:28
• Jephté, Act IV Scene 5:
• 96 Jephté, Act IV Scene 5: Quels malheurs ai-je à craindre encore ? 02:45
• 97 Jephté, Act IV Scene 5: Par le grand prêtre et par Jephté 01:41
• 98 Jephté, Act IV Scene 5: Par vos soupirs et par vos larmes 01:25
• 99 Jephté, Act IV Scene 5: Seigneur, tout mortel qui t’offense 01:04
• 100 Jephté, Act IV Scene 5: Dieu redoutable, exauce-nous 00:20
• Jephté, Act IV Scene 6:
• 101 Jephté, Act IV Scene 6: C’en est donc fait 00:33
• 102 Jephté, Act IV Scene 6: Malheureux un coeur qui se livre 01:48
• 103 Jephté, Act IV Scene 6: Symphonie triste 01:10
• Jephté, Act IV Scene 7:
• 104 Jephté, Act IV Scene 7: Le secours est tout prêt 04:11
• 105 Jephté, Act IV Scene 7: Apprends que, pour sentir une fatale flamme 00:35
• 106 Jephté, Act IV Scene 7: Ô vertu qui m’enchante 01:19
• Jephté, Act IV Scene 8:
• 107 Jephté, Act IV Scene 8: Entracte 00:25
• Jephté, Act V Scene 1:
• 108 Jephté, Act V Scene 1: Seigneur, un tendre père, à tes ordres soumis 01:33
• Jephté, Act V Scene 2:
• 109 Jephté, Act V Scene 2: Cessez de me retenir 04:21
• 110 Jephté, Act V Scene 2: Mes cris s’élèvent jusqu’à toi 00:55
• 111 Jephté, Act V Scene 2: Bruit de guerre 00:04
• 112 Jephté, Act V Scene 2: Quel bruit affreux ! 00:41
• Jephté, Act V Scene 4:
• 113 Jephté, Act V Scene 4: Qu’entreprends-tu ? 00:28
• 114 Jephté, Act V Scene 4: Esprit de feu, lance la foudre 00:43
• 115 Jephté, Act V Scene 4: Ciel ! ô Ciel ! Nous périssons tous 00:25
• 116 Jephté, Act V Scene 4: Favorable et terrible jour 00:55
• Jephté, Act V Scene 5:
• 117 Jephté, Act V Scene 5: Enfin, temple sacré, je puis te voir encore 01:07
• 118 Jephté, Act V Scene 5: Qu’entends-je ? 00:35
• 119 Jephté, Act V Scene 5: Ton redoutable bras, sous ton brûlant tonnerre 00:24
• 120 Jephté, Act V Scene 5: Quel reproche ! 00:32
• 121 Jephté, Act V Scene 5: Favorable et terrible jour 00:27
• 122 Jephté, Act V Scene 5: Je meurs 01:08
• 123 Jephté, Act V Scene 5: Quel funeste appareil ! 00:44
• 124 Jephté, Act V Scene 5: Moi ! Je serais assez barbare ! 00:24
• 125 Jephté, Act V Scene 5: Mais quel effroi de mon âme s’empare 00:40
• 126 Jephté, Act V Scene 5: Quel bonheur ! 01:16
• 127 Jephté, Act V Scene 5: Du plus beau de nos jours 04:37
• Total Runtime 02:21:30

Info for Montéclair: Jephté

In Jephté by Michel Pignolet de Montéclair, György Vashegyi directs - with style and energy - another riveting account of a neglected French Baroque opera. The work, based on the Biblical tale of a conquering general obliged, by a sacred vow, to sacrifice his own kin, became an immediate success in 1732, indeed a fixture in opera life in France, receiving over a hundred performances at the Opéra alone in the three decades following its première. Montéclair and his librettist Pellegrin were open to preparing revised versions of the opera and it is the third and conclusive edition which has been worked on by the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles and recorded by Vashegyi and his musicians.

The central and demanding role of Iphise here is taken by Chantal Santon Jeffery, who is joined by Tassis Christoyannis as the unfortunate but successful-in-war title character, Judith van Wanroij as the bewildered but resolute mother and Thomas Dolié as the relayer of divine messages, Phinée. There is an imaginative and individual flair to Montéclair’s music, nurtured by his extensive orchestral pit experience at the Paris Opéra - and Jephté is a work of his maturity. As well as the tautness of the third edition, the fruits of all this experience are to be heard here with the Orfeo Orchestra showing its paces in zesty airs, minuets, marches and a chaconne, but also with a musette- tinged pastoral celebration - this last also allows the Purcell Choir opportunities to excel; elsewhere, the choir is called on variously to represent warriors, Israelites, and companions of Iphise.

David Witczak, baritone
Adriána Kalafszky, soprano
Katia Velletaz, soprano
Judith van Wanroij, soprano
Tassis Christoyannis, baritone
Clément Debieuvre, tenor
Thomas Dolié, baritone
David Witzcak, baritone
Zachary Wilder, tenor
Chantal Santon Jeffery, soprano
Orfeo Orchestra
Purcell Choir
György Vashegyi, conductor

György Vashegyi
was born in Budapest in 1970 and started his musical studies as an instrumentalist: he played the violin, flauto dolce, the oboe (then the baroque oboe) and the harpsichord. At the age of 16 he gave his first concert as a conductor and at only 18 he became a student of conducting under Ervin Lukács at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, obtaining his diploma with distinction in 1993. He was a frequent participant in the conducting mastercourses of John Eliot Gardiner and Helmuth Rilling and, from 1994 to 1997, he was a student in the continuo master-class of John Toll at the Academy of Early Music, Dresden, where he also studied chamber music with Jaap ter Linden and Simon Standage. He played as a continuo-player in leading Hungarian chamber orchestras such as the Ferenc Liszt Chamber Orchestra and Concerto Armonico. In 1990 he founded the Purcell Choir in Budapest for a concert performance of Purcell's Dido & Aeneas, and one year later the Orfeo Orchestra (performing on period instruments), with which he performed the complete L'Orfeo by Monteverdi for the first time in Hungary. Since then the two ensembles have become the youngest of Hungary's leading early music groups: their main repertoire ranges from Gesualdo to Haydn and Mozart, but they also perform later compositions.

György Vashegyi graduated in Budapest with a concert performance of Mozart's Zauberflöte (1993). In 1991 he made his operatic début with Gluck's Orfeo (with Derek Lee Ragin in the title role) at the Budapest Chamber Opera, where he later conducted Il Ballo delle Ingrate and Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda by Monteverdi, and Zauberflöte once more. In 1994/95 he undertook successful tours with Orfeo by Gluck in France, Switzerland and Luxembourg. In his concerts (mostly in Budapest) he has conducted many important works of the 17-18th centuries which had never been performed in Hungary before: Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri, Purcell's The Fairy Queen, Blow's Venus & Adonis, Draghi's From harmony, Charpentier's In Nativitatem, Actéon and Messe pour M. Mauroy, Rameau's Pygmalion and Castor et Pollux, Solomon, Aci,Galetea e Polifemo, Funeral Anthem and Theodora by Handel, A Shakespeare Ode by Linley, Requiem by Kraus, etc. Nevertheless, he emphasises the research and performance of 18th century works by Hungarian composers which are still unknown internationally. (Since 1992 he has been teaching at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest.)

He works primarily with his own ensembles but also gives concerts with other early music groups (Concerto Armonico, Capella Savaria and Musica Aeterna) as well as with modern symphony orchestras (National Philharmonic Orchestra, Hungarian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, MATÁV Hungarian Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Concert Orchestra, Sinfonietta Hungarica, Cluj Philharmonic Orchestra, Pécs Symphony Orchestra, Szolnok Philharmonic Orchestra, Miskolc Symphony Orchestra, 'Ernõ Dohnányi' Youth Symphony Orchestra, etc.) and chamber orchestras (Prague Chamber Orchestra, Budapest Strings and Erdõdy Chamber Orchestra) as a guest conductor. He has worked together with internationally renowned artists such as Derek Lee Ragin, David Cordier, Simon Standage, Malcolm Bilson, Sergiu Luca, Miklós Perényi, John Toll and Nigel North. In December 1998 he conducted the Romanian premiere of Mozarts Idomeneo at the State Hungarian Opera of Cluj, and in May 1999 and 2000 in Budapest the concert world premiere of Levente Gyöngyösi's The Stork Caliph. He made his début at the Hungarian State Opera of Budapest (with the Orfeo Orchestra) in August 2000 with Haydn's L'infedeltà delusa; this was the first opera performance with period instruments in the history of the Hungarian State Opera. Since 2001 he has conducted regularly at the State Opera: mainly Mozart operas which were in the repertoire (Entführung, Figaro, Così and La Clemenza di Tito), and in October 2003 he also conducted Verdi's Don Carlos (with Paolo Gavanelli). In 2004 he conducted the Prague Chamber Orchestra in Würzburg (at the - Mozart Fest -) and Kloster Eberbach (in the -Rheingau Festival-).

The Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra have been performing continuously since their foundation in Budapest. The chief conductor and artistic director of both ensembles is György Vashegyi, but they have also given concerts with guest conductors such as Nicholas McGegan and Howard Williams. The choir consists of 20-45 young soloists; the orchestra plays - on period instruments - with 15-45 members, and has undertaken successful tours in Austria (Vienna/Salzburg, -Toujours Mozart- 2004, 2005), Germany (Dresden, "Festspiele" 1993), France (Paris, "Festival d'Art Sacré" 1995, "Festival Périgord-Noir" 2001, etc.), Belgium (Namur, Europalia 1999), Switzerland, Luxembourg, Italy, Israel (Rishon LeZion Spring Festival 2001) and South America. The Hungarian recording company HUNGAROTON has produced several recordings on CD with the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra, including works by Istvánffy, Kraus, Charpentier, Tunder and Tartini. The two ensembles performed the following compositions on period instruments for the first time in Hungary: Mozart's Requiem (November 1998), Così fan tutte (August 1999 - the first historic stage performance of the opera in Hungary), Brahms's A German Requiem (November 1998) and the St. Matthew Passion by Bach (April 2000). Since the founding of the Haydn Festival by the Hungarian Haydn Society (1998) they have regularly given concerts in the Esterházy Palace at Fertőd, featuring first performances of important compositions (masses and other church music, symphonies and concertos) by Joseph Haydn on period instruments in Hungary. In 2002 they embarked on a 6-year project to perform the first 80 of Haydn's symphonies at Fertőd, employing the unusually small ensemble which Haydn used for these symphonies.

The PURCELL Choir
was founded in 1990 in Budapest by György Vashegyi for the performance of Purcell's Baroque opera Dido & Aeneas. Few suspected at the time that the group was to become the most respected choir in Hungary fifteen years later. All the choir members are excellent professional singers, musicians and instrumentalists, and some of them are also members of other choirs and orchestras. The core repertoire of the Purcell Choir ranges from works by Gesualdo to Mozart, but they also perform pieces by later composers. The Purcell Choir is a regular performer at Haydn Festivals in Hungary, where it was conducted in 2004 by Nicholas McGegan, with the Capella Savaria Ensemble.

The PURCELL Choir and the ORFEO Orchestra are closely connected as performing partners, and together they have taken part in a large number of TV, CD and concert recordings in Hungary.

The ORFEO Orchestra
was founded in Budapest in 1991 by György Vashegyi, receiving its name from Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, following the first full performance of the opera in Hungary. The orchestra consists of professional musicians with Hungarian and international experience as either orchestra members or instrumental soloists. The Orfeo is the most authentic exponent of classical compositions in Hungary and has given many first performances on period instruments under the baton of György Vashegyi. Between 2002 and 2007 are being performed Haydn's first 80 symphonies as part of Mr. Vashegyi's own concert series (venue: Esterházy Palace), enabling these to be heard there for the first time since the 18th century with the same number of players, on period instruments, as Haydn himself used to perform them.

The names of the ORFEO Orchestra and the PURCELL Choir have now become inseparably linked to that of Mr. Vashegyi, who can rightly be described as the outstanding exponent of classical and early music compositions and the person who has revitalized these works in Hungary.

Booklet for Montéclair: Jephté