Henri-Joseph Rigel - Jephté

Henri-Joseph Rigel (1741–1799)
Jephté, hiérodrame (1783)
00:00 Introduction (andante maestoso)
Scène 1
00:55 Ariette d'Aza et chœur
04:43 Ariette d'Aza (andante grazioso) et chœur des femmes
Scène 2
07:12 Aza et Azaël, Romance d'Azaël
10:59 Duo d'Aza et d'Azaël (allegretto)
14:16 Symphonie triomphale et lointaine avec chœur (allegretto)
Scène 3
16:32 Récitatif : Aza, Azaël et Jephté
20:39 Ariette de Jephté (andante)
25:19 Ariette d'Aza (maestoso)
27:58 Récit d'Azaël et cavatine de Jephté
30:06 Final

Jephté: Alain Buet (basse-taille)
Aza (fille de Jephté): Isabelle Poulenard (dessus)
Azaël (amant d'Aza): Philippe Do (haute-contre)
Chœur de femmes israëlites de la suite d'Aza, Chœur de Soldat de la suite de Jephté: Les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles
Orchestre des Folies Françoise (Director: Patrick Cohën-Akenine)

Henri-Joseph Rigel was a a German-born French composer of the Classical era. Born in Wertheim am Main in 1741, he likely received his first musical education from his father, Georg Caspar Riegel, musical intendant to the local prince. After having studied with Niccolò Jommelli and Franz Xaver Richter in Mannheim, he settled in Paris in 1767. There, he quickly acquired a reputation in musical circles and he gained great success with the symphonies and the oratorios he gave at the Concert Spirituel. One the greatest virtuosi of the fortepiano of his time in France, he became piano teacher of the newly-founded Paris Conservatory in 1795 and kept this position until his death in 1799.
Jephté is the last of the three surviving oratorios (out of the four he composed) he gave under the name "hiérodrame" (word that could be translated as "sacred drama"). Premiered in 1783 at the Concert de la Loge olympique, the first execution at the Concert Spirituel had a poor success. It was criticised for containing too many overlong bland passages of "galanteries" between the daughter of Jephtah and her lover. Rigel revised the work in consequence for the second execution by cuting the incriminated passages, allowing the work to gain the success its exceptional dramatic power deserved.