Francoeur: Royal Table Music - Baroque & Classical Masterpieces for Dining, Events & Elegant Gatherings

François Francoeur (1698-1787) isn't as popular today as his colleague and near-contemporary Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), although he was in his lifetime. His dates make him principally a musician of the age of Louis the 15th. A skilled violinist, trained by his father Joseph, he began his musical career at the early age of 15, when he was hired by the Orchestra of the Royal Academy (the Paris Opera), before being appointed, 14 years later, in 1727, musician of the King's Chamber. In 1744 he succeeded Colin de Blamont as superintendent of the King's Chamber Music, a post a retained until 1776, although he practically ceased composing 20 years earlier. One of the distinctive characteristics of Francoeur was his longstanding collaboration with fellow composer François Rebel (also a "son of", here of Jean-Ferry), which produced a string of highly successful operas between 1726 and 1747. From 1757 on he shared a 10-year tenure with Rebel as co-director of the Paris Opera, during which he did his best to promote the operas of Rameau.The liner notes are very informative about the occasion and source of the Symphonies played here by Hugo Reyne and his period-instrument ensemble La Symphonie du Marais. In 1773, the 16 year-old Comte d'Artois - the grandson of Louis 15, brother of Louis 16 and much later, after the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period, King of France under the name of Charles 10, for a short five years before he was chased away by the 1830 Revolution - got married to Marie-Therèse of Savoy. It is for the festivities following the religious ceremony and the royal feasting in the evening, that Francoeur compiled and arranged in the form of four Suites the orchestral excerpts and dance movements from a number of previously composed operas, not only his own but, as was the custom of the times, those of a number of his colleagues, including Rebel and Rameau. All those pieces are collected in a manuscript, titled "French Concert, arranged by Mr Francoeur, superintendant of the King's Music", now kept at Bibliothèque nationale de France.From these, Reyne reconstructed three Suites made exclusively of the Francoeur compositions (except for one Menuet composed by Rebel, that segues directly in a Menuet II of Francoeur), to which he added, to complete his third reconstructed suite, in F, three Francoeur Dances in the same key but from another manuscript also kept at Bibliothèque nationale de France, a "Collection of Different Airs of Simphonies of Mr Francoeur".So what we have is a kind of reconstructed, (almost)-all Francoeur Tafelmusik following the glorious model of Delalande's Symphonies for the King's Suppers (also recorded complete by Reyne, Symphonies for the Royal Supper). The music is fine, maybe not as learned and lush as the orchestral suites from Rameau's operas but pointing to that direction, as regally grandiose, poetic, evocative, entertaining and exciting as Haendel's own orchestral suites, and including two great Chaconnes.The three suites were recorded in 1993, and this is the original issue, on the label Fnac Music. The recording was later reissued by Virgin, Francoeur - Symphonies pour le Festin Royal du Comte d'Artois / La Simphonie du Marais · Reyne (Virgin also reissued it on a twofer with another disc by Reyne of music of Philidor originally published by Fnac Music, Francoeur / Philidor: Festive and Ceremonial Music for Versailles). Compared to the later recording of a few of the same numbers by Daniel Cuiller and the Stradivaria ensemble (Francoeur / Rameau: Suites de Symphonies), Cuillier is generally (but not systematically) beefier, less solemn and more dynamic and exuberant. That said, the excerpts hardly overlap, since Cuiller's disc mates the Francoeur excerpts with some orchestral excerpts from Rameau's Indes Galantes, and includes (without clearly saying so) some of the pieces from composers other than Francoeur, namely Mondonville and a great Chaconne by Berton. Because of its completeness and quasi-all Francoeur selection, Reyne's recording remains first choice. Fans of Delalande's Concerts, Rameau's orchestral music and Haendel's Royal and Fireworks music, don't miss this, many pleasures in store.