Ciklon5 Versailles

In 1688, the Jesuit college Louis-le-Grand staged David et Jonathas, a lyrical tragedy written by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Intended for the school’s students and interspersed with the Latin tragedy Saul, it depicted the fratricidal friendship of David and Jonathas, at the mercy of an implacable fate and a cruel struggle for power.

Of all the performances of the Te Deum conducted during Lully's lifetime, history retains only the last, which sealed the composer's death in 1686: it was while beating time that, carried away by his zeal, he pierced his foot with the end of his cane… Ten years earlier, Lully composed this considerable score, for the christening of his own son, thus establishing an "official" genre for a century. Also intended to celebrate the great events of the reign, the grand motet Exaudiat Te Dominus is a dazzling glorification of the King, whose arms God has come to bear. Stéphane Fuget, with his ensemble Les Épopées, brings to a close this collection devoted to Lully's sumptuous Grands Motets, accompanied by the Pages et Chantres of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles: To the Glory of God and the King!

Le jeune Louis XIII vient pour la première fois à Versailles en 1607, accompagnant son père Henri IV à la chasse. Il décide en 1623 de s’y faire construire un relai de chasse pour y passer la nuit : le plus beau palais du monde est en devenir… Et si, avant d’entrer dans sa nouvelle demeure, le Roi avait voulu qu’on lui donne un lustre particulier par une consécration religieuse ? Jean-Baptiste Nicolas regroupe la grande Messe à double chœur de Formé, principal compositeur de La Chapelle Royale de Henri IV puis de Louis XIII, des Motets de Bouzignac et Du Caurroy, et une guirlande de fanfares où les trompettes rivalisent de splendeur avec les solistes, les enfants de la Maîtrise du CRR de Paris, le Chœur de l’Opéra Royal et le Consort Musica Vera : jubilatoire !

Michel-Richard Delalande is regarded as one of the great composers of the French Baroque, and so it is not surprising that our prizewinning Boston Early Music Ensemble has now turned to him. Along with his many sacred works, Delalande also wrote for the various court occasions that required secular music.

The Magnificat, written to celebrate Mary’s joy after the Annunciation, and the oldest Christmas Cantata by Bach (Weimar, 1713), overwhelming fresco of a Nativity, foundation of the world. With these masterful works, Johann Sebastian Bach opens up for us the gates of what is sacred as well as to our own relationship with spirituality. These pieces, amongst the most beautiful ever composed, are no doubt the best way possible to open the Christmas period. Led here by the very young but nonetheless inspired Valentin Tournet who conducts his ensemble La Chapelle Harmonique.

Enregistré de justesse avant le confinement de 2020, dans les Salles des croisades aménagées par Louis-Philippe dans le Château de Versailles vers 1845 pour rendre hommage à la noblesse après les soubresauts de la Révolution française et de la Terreur, l’album « La Grotte de Versailles » mêle la musique de Lully écrite pour le livret de Philippe Quinault à celle accompagnant une comédie particulièrement cruelle de Molière.

In 2015 our most recent Charpentier recording to date, La Descente dOrphée aux Enfers with young soloists and the Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble, received the Grammy Award for the »Best Opera Production« of the preceding year and Gramophones »Editors Choice.« Our new CD featuring two »mini-operas« by Charpentier again offers enthralling performances of this court music of charming dance character and elegance. In contrast to Charpentiers other operas, Les Plaisirs de Versailles is directly associated with Louis XIV.

A setlist like no other, a never-heard-before compilation of deeply moving musical pieces highlighting numerous aspects of war and peace. This is how the Wiener Philharmoniker, led by Franz Welser-Möst and supported by an all-star line-up, among them singular pianist Yuja Wang, tackled the highly anticipated concert in commemoration of the end of the 1st world war. 100 years after the first of the devastating humane catastrophes of the 20th century officially ended at Versailles, a group of inspired musicians gathered at the historic site for a concert that will live on in the memory of those who have seen or heard it.

Paolo Tognon Nato a Padova, diplomato in fagotto moderno al Conservatorio “C. Pollini” della stessa città, dopo molta attività in istituzioni cameristiche e sinfoniche italiane si è dedicato con passione alla riscoperta della prassi esecutiva e del repertorio antico dei fagotti storici, perfezionandosi con i migliori specialisti

Un inconnu vous dévoile les fastes de la Chapelle Royale de Louis XV : Charles-Hubert Gervais en fut le Maître de Chapelle dès 1723, et représente donc parfaitement la splendeur de la musique sacrée à la Cour de Versailles. Héritier des grandes fresques de Lully et Lalande, Gervais est avant tout un compositeur d’opéra, et son style dramatique fait vibrer ses Grands Motets de couleurs italiennes. Chez ce protégé du Régent Philippe d’Orléans dont il fut le musicien favori durant deux décennies, puissance d’évocation et pompe versaillaise prennent aussi pour parure le style galant. Servi comme un Roi par des interprètes magnifiques, voici Gervais tout à la gloire de Versailles !