Pulcinella

Ophelie Gaillard has made recently a deep impression with the Suites for cello solo by Jean-Sebastian Bach. On this new recording, dedicated to the Cantor of Leipzig, she gathered her close team from the Pulcinella Ensemble and invited some of the most talented soloists: Sandrine Piau, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Christophe Dumaux. This programme gives a vision of the most beautiful cantatas written by Jean-Sebastian Bach in Leipzig from 1723 to 1750, interspersed with some of the masterpieces from the 'Schübler' Chorales and Orgelbüchlein. With a passion for Baroque music played on period instruments, Pulcinella is a group of virtuoso soloists, gathered in a chamber spirit around cellist Ophélie Gaillard.

Cellist Ophélie Gaillard and Pulcinella Orchestra focus on Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer and first virtuoso cellist in history. Born in the Tuscany, Boccherini then went to the Court of Prussa and Spain. His musical education looks like a journey around Europe, as it used to be.

After a double album dedicated to Boccherini and acclaimed by critics, Ophélie Gaillard and the Pulcinella Orchestra reveal the incredible sound palette of Vivaldi, one of the most brilliant venetian musicians. Drawing on the finest cello works of the composer, Ophélie Gaillard’s selection places great emphasis on the concerto, for one, two or even four performers. It also includes an exclusive reconstruction of the Concerto RV 788. The vocal interventions of Lucile Richardot and Delphine Galou light up the program like rays of sun through the clouds. The album alternates between moments of great emotion, sometimes even dolorous as in the Largo of the Concerto RV 416 and moments of passion and frenzy (in the concertos RV 419 or 409) that evoke the Summer from the Four Seasons. This music thus unveils all its mysteries in the interplay of lights and shadows, giving its name to this recording.

A portrait, on the tercentenary of the composer's birth, of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), probably the most gifted of the sons of Johann Sebastian Bach. Highly admired in his own century by Haydn, Gluck and Mozart, he stands out today as a brilliant and highly original composer. For CPE Bach, music had to be an expression of personal feelings and to achieve his aim, he revolutionised the established principles of form, harmony and rhythm.

Cellist Ophélie Gaillard and Pulcinella Orchestra focus on Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer and first virtuoso cellist in history. Born in the Tuscany, Boccherini then went to the Court of Prussa and Spain. His musical education looks like a journey around Europe, as it used to be. Long eclipsed by the violin, star of the string instruments, the cello slowly fit in the eighteenth century repertoire thanks to composers who played the instrument themselves. The now famous Suites of Johan Sebastian Bach are the first master pieces composed for the cello. Then Luigi Boccherini strengthened its place in the musical creation, thus becoming to cello what Vivaldi was to the violin one generation earlier.

In the 1730s, many composers tried their luck in London. Geminiani revolutionized instrumental writing with his famous treatise on interpretation and presented an amazing version of La Folia; his pupil Avison orchestrated concertos by Scarlatti, and Porpora ventured away from opera to rediscover the vocality of the cello with one of the most beautiful concertos of that period. Ophélie Gaillard and Pulcinella treat us to a frenzied and poetic night in London. They meet Vivaldi, Hasse, Scottish composer James Oswald and virtuoso cellist Giovanni Battista Cirri. Guest artists Sandrine Piau and Lucile Richardot take on magnificent vocal pieces by Geminiani and Handel.

After a double album dedicated to Boccherini and acclaimed by critics, Ophélie Gaillard and the Pulcinella Orchestra reveal the incredible sound palette of Vivaldi, one of the most brilliant venetian musicians.