Rebel

Violin Sonatas, Op 2 - B minor; D major Recueil de douse sonates a 11 et III parties - Le tombeau de Monsieur de Lully;

La Pallas; L'Apollon; La Brillante L'Assemblée des Honnestes Curieux (Alba Roca vn Baldomero Barciela bvio Ronaldo Lopes theo Chiao-Pin Kuo hpd) I Amandine Beyer vn Zig Zag Territoires ® ZZT051102 (56' • DDD) Impeccable playing shows Rebel is a cause worth taking up

For many people, if Jean-Fery Rebel is known as anything more than a name, it is for one chord - the spectacular dissonance which conjures primeval chaos at the opening of his ballet suite Les eiemens. Yet, as the members of L'Assemblée des Honnestes Curieux maintain here, he should perhaps be better remembered for his chamber works, which include some of the earliest duo and trio sonatas to be composed in France (they probably date from the 1690s), and which were noted in their day for successfully combining 'Italian genius and fire' with 'French wisdom and tenderness'.

It seems a reasonable claim, too: the sonatas on this disc - taken from sets Rebel published in 1712 and 1713— intermingle Ientement and gracieusernent movements of great Gallic sweetness and melodic refinement with vistes and gays whose violinistic flair and vigour call to mind the ever-influential Corelli. And if that 'Chaos' crush-chord suggests that Rebel had a taste for harmonic adventure, then that is backed up by these pieces, which contain a number of bold moves.

All of the works on this disc are available elsewhere, principally in recordings by Andrew Manze, Richard Egarr and Jaap ter Linden (eight 1713 duo sonatas on Harmonia Mundi - 4/99) and Ensemble Rebel (seven 1712 trio sonatas on DHM - 7/98), but this new release scores a hit by mixing works, and therefore textures, from both publications. That is not the only thing that makes the disc worth your money, however, for the performances are first-rate, with impeccable and vigorous ensemble-playing put at the service of rich and intelligent expression - note how when the achingly sad opening movement of Le tornbeau de Monsieur de Luily returns at the end the intensity is cranked up by leaving out the harpsichord. Well recorded, too, this disc is all pleasure. Lindsay Kemp