Bubbling De Schuurman

Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre is one of the most remarkable female musical figures in history. Rarely has a woman composer garnered such esteem in her own time, and her success, rather than provoking resentment in the hearts of her contemporaries, inspired the utmost admiration. One has to give credit to the Grand Siècle, a unique period in this regard, for granting Élisabeth the respect she truly deserved. This recording features works seldom heard but nonetheless of exceptional quality, exemplifying two genres in which Jacquet de La Guerre excelled: the French cantata and the suite for harpsichord. In these, we can discover the intrinsic and timeless value of her artistry, regardless of the anecdotal aspects of the historical and social conditions in which they were created.

‘So Romantique !’ illustrates the ‘profoundly sentimental’ side of French opera from the 1830s to the 1900s, which gradually came to be judged overwrought and was condemned to partial oblivion. ‘I am convinced that this is because the principals of interpretation were lost’, says the tenor Cyrille Dubois. ‘I have therefore put together this programme, which gives pride of place to rarities while highlighting the theatrical character and the use of registers so emblematic of the French ténor de grâce , in the hope of restoring this precious French heritage to its former glory.’ The sleuthing skills of the Palazzetto Bru Zane have assembled these treasures by Bizet, Gounod, Saint-Saëns, Auber, Halévy, Donizetti, Thomas and Delibes, the less well-known Godard, Dubois and Silver, and the virtually unknown Luce-Varlet and Clapisson. With the Orchestre National de Lille conducted by Pierre Dumoussaud, the French tenor deploys the full range of his artistry, the impressive high notes, the luminous tone and the graceful phrasing that is ‘so Cyrille’!

The successful film Tous les matins du monde had the undisputed merit of bringing the world’s attention to the figure of Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe and to the viola da gamba in general, since Sainte-Colombe provided substantial contributions to the repertoire of this instrument. Still, the film’s plot was explicitly (and fully legitimately) grounded on a fictional work, a novel telling the history of Sainte-Colombe with references to what was, by then, known about him. Fortunately, a virtuous circle was ignited by the film, prompting new and meticulous research on his figure and effectively bringing to light some hard facts about his life.

Par l'Ensemble Vocal De Profundis, dir. Cristina García Banegas. L'œuvre de Francisco López Capillas constitue, sans aucun doute, le sommet du style polychoral baroque en Nouvelle-Espagne. Directement inspirée de Clément Janequin, sa « Missa de Batalla » fait s'opposer avec fracas les chœurs et les percussions. Elle est, ici, entourée des plus belles pages des compositeurs européens qui étaient ses contemporains, et que l'on chantait également dans les cathédrales de Puebla et de Mexico dont l'édification venait à peine de se terminer. Toute la somptuosité sonore de l'ancien et du Nouveau Monde.

A brilliant dancer before becoming “famous throughout Europe for his learned and elaborate sonatas, and for the elegance of his performance on the violin”, Jean-Marie Leclair is far more than the sum of his talents. His music is woven with the multiple threads of his life, carrying within it all the facets of his technical and musical explorations, his travels, his impressions, which have moulded man as much as musician.

This was Alicia de Larrocha’s finest account of Nights in the Gardens of Spain, fully capturing the Andalusian atmosphere of this evocative score. After all, it’s not a work about landscapes and flowers – it’s about love. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos does a superb job of drawing perfume and color out of an English orchestra.

The Four Seasons is a group of four violin concerti by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. They were written around 1716–1717 and published in 1725 in Amsterdam, together with eight additional concerti, as Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Contest Between Harmony and Invention).

Founded in 1906, Les Petits Chanteurs à la Croix des Bois (Little Singers of the Wooden Cross) are renowned as one of the world's most established children's choirs. Founded by Paul Berthier and Pierre Martin, two students on vacation at l'Abbeye de Tamie, the Paris-based traveling choir broke tradition with its lack of affiliation to a particular parish or cathedral. Directed by Father Fernand Maillet, they soon developed an international presence thanks to performances at the Vatican and an appearance in the 1945 film La Cage aux Rossignols, and continued to remain active throughout the 20th century, with singer/songwriter Matthieu Chédid, Les Prêtres' Charles Troesch, and Olympic rowing champion Adrien Hardy among some of their famous former members. By its centenary year, which was celebrated by a France2 show featuring duets with the likes of Tina Arena, Lara Fabian, and Nolwenn Leroy, the choir school had developed into a full-time educational institution, combining regular studies with a global touring schedule.