Glorious music brilliantly played and vividly recorded, this recording of suites from three of Jean-Philippe Rameau's operas by
Roy Goodman and the
European Union Baroque Orchestra is as fine a disc of French Baroque orchestral music as has ever been issued. The wit and élan that
Goodman and his
Orchestra bring to Rameau is infectious. The listener finds himself smiling at Pigmalion's Les différence caractéres de la danse and laughing at Platée's Air pour des fous gais et de fous trietes. Even better is the color and power they bring to Dardanus' Chaconne, making the listener appreciate the greatness of Rameau as a composer. Made up of superb period instrument players from across Europe, the
Orchestra's style is unified by the expert conducting of
Roy Goodman. While
Goodman started out as a boy soprano, he has matured into a conductor as at home in Bach as Berwald and, apparently, Rameau, who sounds here like a composer equal to any in Europe at the time. Well worth hearing for Rameau's fans as well as for listeners who don't know a note of his music, this disc is another triumph for
Goodman. Naxos' sound is crisp, detailed, and very present.