Ensemble Battistin The Perfection of Music Masterpieces of The French Baroque

The music of the French Baroque has always been a tougher sell than the flashy Italian or the faith-embodying German, and when French Baroque sacred music is recorded it's almost always in the weighty grand motet genre, redolent of French court splendor. These Leçons de Ténèbres, or Responsories for Holy Week, of Michel-Richard de Lalande are something else again: intimate pieces for soprano and a small ensemble.

The ensemble Les Arts Florissants, founded and for many years headed by American-French conductor William Christie, specializes in the music of the French Baroque. That might seem a poor fit with a greatest-hits collection like this one: surely anyone interested in the French Baroque will already have heard many of the selections included on this three-disc set, celebrating the group's 40th anniversary in 2019. Actually, though, the influence of Les Arts Florissants has been so fundamental that a survey of this kind is entirely appropriate. When Christie founded the ensemble in 1979, French Baroque music was a rare find on recordings. Les Arts Florissants has changed that completely, and Christie expanded the operation with an educational aspect that will keep the momentum going. The group contributed to the growing popularity of 17th century music outside of France, and the gorgeous Monteverdi recordings here (sample Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda) are the equal of any. The three discs in the package are divided into the categories of Music and Theater, Sacred Music, and Secular Music, the last covering chamber-sized groups.

A veteran of Jordi Savall's Hespèrion XX and XXI, gambaist Marianne Muller makes her Zig Zag Territories debut with this disc of music by the great French Baroque composer Marin Marais. The repertoire is daunting: the ingenious and evocative Le Labyrinthe, the 32 virtuoso variations on Les Folies d'Espagne, and the 12-movement Suite in E minor from Marais' Second Book of Pièces de viole. These are works that require not just virtuosity, stamina, intense expressivity, and soulful beauty of tone.

If you like your Rameau big, strong, and in your face, this disc of the French Baroque composer's Piéces de clavecin en concerts performed by Baroque Nouveau recorded and released by Reference Recordings will be the disc for you. Sixteen movements from five of the composer's concerts are included here: dances such as the Second Concert's Minuet and the Third Concert's "Tambourin," character pieces such as the Fifth Concert's "La Cupis" and the Fourth Concert's "L'Indiscrète," and musical portraits like the Fifth's "La Forqueray" and "La Marais." Whatever its type, every movement here receives an extremely powerful performance from the West Coast-based Baroque Nouveau.

This CD features the world premiere recording of Pisendel’s Concerto in G major for violin, horns, oboes, bassoon, strings and basso continuo. Johannes Pramsoler is the leader and artistic director of the International Baroque Players and is one of a new generation of violinists specialising in historical performance. The ensemble was formed in 2009, from two prestigious training schemes, the European Union Baroque Orchestra and the Britten-Pears Baroque Orchestra.

This CD features the world premiere recording of Pisendel’s Concerto in G major for violin, horns, oboes, bassoon, strings and basso continuo. Johannes Pramsoler is the leader and artistic director of the International Baroque Players and is one of a new generation of violinists specialising in historical performance. The ensemble was formed in 2009, from two prestigious training schemes, the European Union Baroque Orchestra and the Britten-Pears Baroque Orchestra.

This CD features the world premiere recording of Pisendel’s Concerto in G major for violin, horns, oboes, bassoon, strings and basso continuo. Johannes Pramsoler is the leader and artistic director of the International Baroque Players and is one of a new generation of violinists specialising in historical performance. The ensemble was formed in 2009, from two prestigious training schemes, the European Union Baroque Orchestra and the Britten-Pears Baroque Orchestra.