Pierlot Ricercar Consort

This bargain box contains recordings made between 1988 and 1999 accompanied by extensive introductory material. Alongside five CDs devoted exclusively to Telemann, and almost every work for recorder that he composed, are one of music for French horn and another of music for the rarer instruments of the baroque flute family. Works by composers contemporary with the Hamburg Kapellmeister have also been included in this new selection of re-releases from the Ricercar back catalogue.

…in the Stabat mater… Nuria Rial's clean-toned singing in 'Vidit suum' has impressive control, clarity and profound expression. The two voices blend effectively in 'Quis est homo'. Some aspects are superbly judged: several ritornelli are perfectly weighted and the Ricercar Consort play with sensual warmth - a sensation encouraged by a larger body of strings than is used in some performances.

This collection of Marais’ music was published in 1692 as “Trio Pieces for flutes, violins and dessus de viole,” the dessus being the second smallest of the viola de gamba family. (There was a pardessus de viole.) The notes here call this music “a totally different side of Marin Marais’ work,” for he composed these dance movements not for himself but for his companions, Read more à bec, which are accompanied variously by guitar or theorbo and harpsichord. I think it’s amusing to think of the king, any king, being enticed to sleep by dances, especially by such vigorous, cheerful stomps as the Bransle de village , but then there was little about France’s monarchs that wasn’t strange, and that little innocent dance is as appealing as anything here.

Philippe Pierlot and his superb Ricercar Consort present tributes to both Corelli and Lully with the two Apothéoses by François Couperin, written in the memory of Arcangelo Corelli and Jean-Baptiste Lully respectively. Behind them is an aesthetic programme: they are a plea for the mixture of the Italian and the French style, the so-called goûts réunis.

Four years after the superb ‘Membra Jesu nostri’, the Ricercar Consort once again turns to Buxtehude.The majority of the cantatas in this recording are centred on Christ’s Passion and Resurrection. With the both dramatic and comforting sounds of his cantatas, Buxtehude succeeded in shifting the focus from human suffering to divine help, thus giving people a foretaste of heavenly harmony and perfection.

The Ricercar Consort is a Belgian instrumental ensemble founded in 1980 together with the Ricercar record label of Jérôme Lejeune.
The founding members were violinist François Fernandez, organist Bernard Foccroulle, and viola da gamba player fr:Philippe Pierlot. The initial repertoire was focussed on the German Baroque, and the Consort was closely identified with the series Deutsche Barock Kantaten. In recordings and concerts the Consort was joined by baroque specialist singers including; Greta de Reyghere, Agnès Mellon, countertenors Henri Ledroit, James Bowman tenor Guy de Mey and bass Max van Egmond, as well as the cornett player Jean Tubéry.

Buxtehude - Membra Jesu Nostri - Ricercar Consort, Philippe Pierlot (2019) {Mirare MIR444}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44kHz - Official Digital Download (qobuz.com) -> 420 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 191 Mb
Full Artwork (jpg+pdf) -> 47 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2019 Mirare | MIR444
Classical / Baroque / Sacred / Cantata

In 1680, Dietrich Buxtehude sent his friend Gustav Düben the score of Membra Jesu nostri. In this perfectly balanced work, he addresses the senses directly, immersing us in the sufferings of Christ: we feel the hammer blows, the heart that stops beating… Through the genius of his music Buxtehude succeeds in moving us, enlightening us and instructing us in the profound meaning of the text.