Jul Mental D’or et de Platine

Ton Koopman, great Dutch organist and harpsichordist sublimating the baroque scene for five decades, here delivers us an overview of the Great Organ (Robert Cliquot/ Julien Tribuot, 1710) of the Royal Chapel of Versailles, inaugurating our collection "L'Вge d'Or de l'Orgue Franзais" (the Golden Age of French Organ). An anthology of the possibilities of this purely "French style" instrument, here are the two great Suites of Clйrambaut, published the same year as the inauguration of the instrument, majestic pieces of Louis and Franзois Couperin, masters of colors, of Daquin's Christmas Music full of sap, and even a Bach Choral! A Master Organist makes a resounding tribute to the symbolic instrument wanted for his Chapel by Louis XIV.

A child wonder who stirred the admiration of the Court, Dandrieu was a virtuoso harpsichordist but above all, organist of the Royal Chapel of Versailles from 1721. He left a corpus of work of a rare inventiveness tracing out the Chapel's most dazzling musical moments under the reign of Louis XV. Here are Magnificats, pieces for Christmas and some splendid hallmark scores that offer snapshots of the liturgical art of the King's Organist at the height of the French baroque. Dandrieu writes for organ the equal of the harpsichord masterpieces of his time. Jean-Baptiste Robin, organist of the Royal Chapel of Versailles, makes the Great Organ ring with majesty, thanks to a decade of close familiarity with this historic instrument.

A contemporary of Mozart, Johann Christoph Vogel also died at an early age. Forward looking in approach, this composer of a tormented disposition, sought to extend the operatic revolution undertaken by Gluck in the 1770s. First performed in 1786 at the Opéra de Paris, 'La Toison d’or' reveals that search for an expressive art which demanded an all-embracing involvement from the performers and supplied the music with a sometimes unbearable intensity for audiences of the time.

This is a beautiful, thoughtfully compiled disc. It chronologically charts the life of Jean de La Fontaine, that 17th-century master of the fable, through his own words and through music that sets his text, or that he simply admired. There’s one particular coup: the inclusion of identifiable extracts from the opera by Charpentier that sets a text by La Fontaine. Alas, the whole work did not survive, probably for reasons to do with Lully’s royally granted privilege, but the booklet notes make an excellent case for the association with the opera of the few pieces recorded here.

En 2019, les organisateurs – depuis toujours placés sous la direction artistique de René Martin, le fondateur de ce festival – ont choisi la continuité thématique. Après s’être tournés « Vers un monde nouveau » en 2018, ce sont en effet les « Carnets de voyage » qu’ils ont choisi de proposer au public de cette nouvelle édition.

LES HURLEMENTS D'LEO Un album de très grande classe pour un retour tonitruant Une tournée hallucinante, les Hurlements d'Léo seront sans conteste le groupe scène de l'année 2011 Bordel de Luxe , c'est la réponse du groupe au découragement ambiant, la même volonté de prendre le monde à bras le corps, de taper du poing sur la table en rappelant des choses essentielles.