Louis vi

Armand-Louis Couperin - François Couperin (‘le Grand’) was his father’s cousin - was regarded as one of the finest musicians of his time and his compositions, though little known today, provide us with precious evidence of the brilliance of the French harpsichord school and the skills of one of its most virtuosic representatives.This is the first ever recording of Armand-Louis Couperin’s sensuous and very original Pièces de clavecin, op. 1.Playing on a period instrument by Jean-Claude Goujon, now in the Musée de la Musique in Paris, Christophe Rousset brings out all the unique flavour of this music.

‘But what are we going to do with all these pleasures?’ A question sung tête-à-tête by the Princess and the Prince in Jacques Demy’s film Peau d’âne (Donkey Skin), and a more bothersome question for harpsichordists drawn to the age of Louis XV. What to do with all the pleasures that the composers of the time distributed so extravagantly, how to live today in this ‘kingdom of the pleasant’?

‘But what are we going to do with all these pleasures?’ A question sung tête-à-tête by the Princess and the Prince in Jacques Demy’s film Peau d’âne (Donkey Skin), and a more bothersome question for harpsichordists drawn to the age of Louis XV. What to do with all the pleasures that the composers of the time distributed so extravagantly, how to live today in this ‘kingdom of the pleasant’? The usual option is to stick to the most perfectionist of these masters (Couperin), the most ambitious (Rameau) or the most adventurous (Forqueray) in programmes focusing on one of them at time. But that means setting aside a whole swathe of the repertory, which Céline Frisch here restores to the limelight, following an original method. From Couperin’s Le Réveil-matin to Corrette’s Les Étoiles , she retraces a day at the court of Louis XV, making full use of the sound palette offered by an exceptional harpsichord, a replica by Andrea Restelli of an instrument by Goujon.

The colorful and inspired organ music of Louis Marchand!
Considered as one of the greatest composers of the Great Century in France, Louis Marchand leaves us a colorful music, very inspired, and of great audacity.

Louis Lane was the much-admired associate conductor of the legendary George Szell at the Cleveland Orchestra and took care of somewhat more remote repertoire and newer works.

Rinaldo Alessandrini is a major conductor and harpsichordist specializing in Italian Baroque music. After musical studies including serious research in Italian music from 1550 to 1750, Alessandrini embarked on his career as a harpsichordist, both as a soloist and as continuo player/leader of Concerto Italiano, a vocal and instrumental ensemble he founded. During the 1980s and 1990s Alessandrini and Concerto Italiano established themselves as the leading ensemble for Italian Baroque music from the music's home country.

New York Time Bestseller. Curtis Sittenfeld, author of American Wife and Prep, returns with a mesmerizing novel of family and identity, loyalty and deception, and the delicate line between truth and belief.
From an early age, Kate and her identical twin sister, Violet, knew that they were unlike everyone else. Kate and Vi were born with peculiar “senses”—innate psychic abilities concerning future events and other people’s secrets. Though Vi embraced her visions, Kate did her best to hide them.

The Columbia/RCA live package includes nearly 163 tracks of Pops' most popular songs along with many that are far less familiar; 75 tracks are being released for the first time. The set begins with 20 tracks from Armstrong's1947 concert at New York's Town Hall with his small group dubbed the All Stars: Jack Teagarden on trombone, clarinetist Peanuts Hucko, pianist Dick Cary, bassist Bob Haggart and two alternating drummers, George Wettling and "Big" Sid Catlett. Also included is Armstrong's 1947 Carnegie Hall concert, which sat improperly labeled in RCA's vaults for over half a century and is issued here for the very first time. Some 90 minutes of material was preserved—18 tracks, also featuring Teagarden, Cary and Catlett, but this time with Barney Bigard on clarinet, bassist Arvell Shaw and the vocalist Velma Middleton.

Martini devait connaître la gloire à la Cour de France et une véritable proximité avec les souverains : nommé Surintendant de la Musique du Roi en 1788, il triompha à Paris avec son opéra Sapho et intégra le Conservatoire en 1796 ! C'est alors que lui échut l'honneur de donner à Saint-Denis sa Messe des morts avec grand orchestre, le 21 janvier 1815, à l'occasion de la translation des dépouilles de Louis XVI et Marie-Antoinette dans la Basilique Royale. Ce Requiem spectaculaire pour trois voix solistes, orchestre fourni et choeur semble dater de 1811 et trouve les accents de la musique de l'Empire pour célébrer… la Monarchie ! Hervé Niquet donne à cette oeuvre si symbolique de l'histoire de France et de Versailles une résurrection, remettant Martini sous la lumière des derniers fastes monarchiques.