Rivales

French sopranos Véronique Gens and Sandrine Piau are friends rather than rivals, with longstanding connections to the period performance collective Les Arts Florissants. But for this recording they step into the shoes of two Parisian divas, famous at the time of the French Revolution, and whose rivalry is rather more probable. Exploring the divas’ repertoire, by composers like Grétry and Edelmann (whose career was cut short by the guillotine), they unearth some forgotten but fascinating music at the dawn of the Romantic era. Things open with a bang, as Piau’s lighter, more transparent voice tackles a thunderous aria by Monsigny. The darker coloring of Gens is irresistible in a yearning number from Gluck’s opera Alceste. And they join together explosively in a fireworks duet from J.C. Bach’s La Clemenza di Scipione. With chiseled playing from the Concert de la Loge, this is an entertainingly instructive passport to a lost world.