La Barre: Pièces pour la Flûte Traversière avec la Basse Continue (CD review)

The Opus Project. Navona Records NV6414.

By John J. Puccio

The French composer and flutist Michel de la Barre (c. 1675-1745) was one of those musicians who was famous and important at one point in history and then largely forgotten by everyone but classical music connoisseurs after his death. (I noted four recordings devoted to La Barre’s music currently available at Amazon, counting this one.)

La Barre was, according to Encyclopedia.com, a “significant French flutist and composer. He became a musician at the Académie Royale de Musique about 1700, where he was active until 1721. He also played in the Musettes et Hautbois de Poitou (1704–30) and in the royal chamber music. La Barre was held in high esteem as both a flutist and composer. His first book of solo suites for transverse flute and basso continuo was the earliest book ever published of solo pieces for the flute.”

The Opus Project is a small Montreal chamber music ensemble formed in 2020 by Christophe Gauthier and Joanna Marsden. Inspired by the beauty of early musical prints and manuscript sources, the Opus Project explores unsung treasures of the baroque chamber music repertoire by focusing deeply on one collection at a time. The players on the current album are Joanna Marsden, baroque flute; Christophe Gauthier, harpsichord; Margaret Little, viola da gamba; and Daniel Zuluaga, theorbo. Each of them is a virtuoso player, performing as soloists throughout the world, and together they play beautifully.

Unless, of course, you simply hate period instruments and/or historically informed performances, and apparently there are such folks even among music critics. I was noting one such critic just recently who pronounced all HIP performances and all period bands as “abominations.” Understand, I have no objection to anyone’s personal feelings about any kind of music, but such a blanket condemnation coming from a professional music critic seems irresponsible to me. It would be like a movie critic saying that all modern films made in black-and-white were abominations. Such a statement about HIP practices and period bands asserted with such a pompously authoritarian air is recklessly foolish in my opinion. It implies that only modern orchestras utilizing traditional nineteenth and twentieth-century performance standards are acceptable for playing classical music, and anyone daring to play music as the composer might have designed and on instruments he might recognize is wrong, which would be very shortsighted, indeed. Whatever, we are fortunate to have ensembles like The Opus Project, which reject the restrictions of tradition and attempt to play music as composers intended. The Opus Project perform with consummate ease and refinement and regale us with detailed and entertaining presentations. In other words, they do their job and do it well.

The job of The Opus Project is here to perform La Barre’s Premier Livre de Pieces pour la Flute Traversiere, avec la Basse Continue (“First Book of Pieces for the transverse flute, with the basso continuo”), which he wrote in Paris in 1702. It consists of five suites of from six to nine movements each. Because he based most of the movements on popular court dances of the time, the result is some sweetly attractive music, sweetly played.

A booklet note points out that the baroque flute differs from those that came before it by producing a deeper lower register, which Ms. Marsden employs to good effect. The flute sounds mellifluously smooth and honeyed. The melodies flow with an easy grace, always, of course, putting the flute in the lead. Then, too, for those listeners who in general resist the sound of a harpsichord, be assured it is never intrusive. And it’s always fun to hear a theorbo (a baroque, double-necked lute having an extra set of open bass strings). Whenever I have a chance to hear my local period band, the Philharmonia Baroque, I enjoy paying special attention to the theorbo player and this fascinating instrument. Anyway, all four members of The Opus Project blend wonderfully well together and produce some of the most dulcet tones you’re likely to hear from any small ensemble.

Although there is a degree of sameness about La Barre’s music, there is, nevertheless, enough variety to maintain one’s interest. The movements range from slow and stately to vigorous and lively, some even playful. Interestingly, the pace appears to pick up by the second suite, which is really quite charming. In fact, I found the suites becoming more endearing as they went along, as though La Barre were just getting the hang of things with practice, continuing to recognize how to gain his audience’s attention and keep it. He kept mine, with perhaps a big help from The Opus Project.

Producers Bob Lord and Noemy Gagnon-Lafrenais and engineer Philippe Bouvrette recorded the music at Eglise Saint-Augustin, Mirabel, Quebec, Canada in July 2021. The miking is moderately close, providing a detailed presentation. Yet it’s not so close as to exclude a pleasant hall resonance, which gives the performances a realistic sense of presence.

JJP