Album
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Amiot: Messe des Jésuites de PékinMusique des Lumières XVIII-21 Ensemble
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Naïve's Amiot: Mass of the Jesuits in Beijing is a repackaging of Jean-Christophe Frisch's 1998 Astrée release of the same name, which was the follow-up to his groundbreaking album Baroque Concert at the Forbidden City; before its release, hardly anyone was aware that Baroque music was even heard in eighteenth century China. This disc, with the vocal parts performed jointly by the Ensemble Meihua Fleur de Prunius and the Chœur du Cantre Catholique Chinois de Paris under François Picard and the instrumental ones by the confusingly named Musique des Lumières XVIII-21, has some basic problems with identification that are amplified by the new package. It isn't much of a repackaging, actually; a cardboard slipcover is merely placed over the original Astrée album, its handsome portrait of eighteenth century Jesuit priest Joseph-Marie Amiot replaced by the squared off ear and eye of a Jesuit in a conceptual and ludicrously unappealing image. The way the title is laid out, it makes it appear as though Amiot composed the work identified as Messe des Jésuites de Pekin, which he didn't; it was published a century earlier for Jesuit use by Charles d'Ambleville. Amiot's work as represented here is taken from manuscript canticles written for use in Chinese Catholic services and d'Ambleville's music is used to envelop these pieces within a liturgical context. Along the way, a number of additional pieces by Simon Boyleau and Téodorico Pédrini are added to help break up the program. Frisch admits that in a typical Jesuit service in China it is unlikely that all of these pieces would have been used in a single service, though it does provide some additional music in this rare genre that proves enjoyable anyway. The confusion, though, is notable as since the initial appearance of this disc, several early music groups have taken up the Messe des Jésuites de Pekin and it is uniformly performed under d'Ambleville's name, not Amiot's.Now that this complexity is out of the way, the program as a whole strikes one as a hodgepodge, but the singing of the Chœur du Cantre Catholique Chinois de Paris is beautiful and the handling of traditional Chinese instruments very tasteful and idiomatic. As an experience at the most basic level, Mass of the Jesuits in Beijing is a remarkable thing, as Chinese singing and instruments collide with Baroque trio sonatas and d'Ambleville's deliberately arcane Latin mass movements. These were written overall to avoid complexity and, although stated in a recognizably Baroque polyphonic style, convey elements of plainness and purity that possess the qualities of innocence. The listener's interest will hold up well through most of the disc, although it gets a little bogged down in the final brace of canticles as a more limited application of the traditional instruments is applied—in this sense, Baroque Concert at the Forbidden City is a more successful outing. Nevertheless, Naïve's Amiot: Mass of the Jesuits in Beijing is still a first-rate entry into a very little explored area of Baroque repertoire, and it is good to have it restored to the active catalog—just throw the ugly slipcover away and keep what's inside and you should be good to go.
© Uncle Dave Lewis , Rovi
Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.
