Olivier Fortin

The Abendmusiken were a legendary concert series organised by Buxtehude in Lübeck. Even Johann Sebastian Bach travelled a long way to attend these concerts of sacred and instrumental music and met the master Dietrich Buxtehude, the most famous organist in Europe. To mark the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, Vox Luminis and the Ensemble Masques have come together to perform a programme of cantatas (Gott hilf mir, denn das Wasser geht mir bis an die Seele, BuxWV 34 | Befiehl dem Engel, dass er komm, BuxWV 10 | Jesu, meine Freude, BuxWV 60 | Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr, BuxWV 41) and instrumental pieces (Sonatas BuxWV 255 and 261). The recording assembles leading specialists of this repertory, with the expert voices of Vox Luminis combining with the vitality of the instrumentalists of Ensemble Masques.

'The harpsichord is perfect in its compass, and brilliant in itself; but, as one can neither swell nor diminish its notes, I shall always be grateful to those who, through consummate art sustained by good taste, manage to make this instrument capable of expression.’ Why is it difficult to play the music of François Couperin when it seems so simple at first glance? By offering precious information on the interpretation of his music (and more generally on the interpretation of French music of his time) in his treatise L’Art de toucher le clavecin (The art of harpsichord playing), Couperin provides us with the necessary elements for today's performer, who seeks above all to respect the composer's intentions.

This collection of 17 Scarlatti harpsichord sonatas isn't systematically compiled, but includes the favorites of harpsichordist and scholar Skip Sempé, and it's a diverse and attractive selection. Citing the strong Spanish influences on Scarlatti's writing, Sempé describes "Duende" as a Spanish term that refers to the mysterious power of an event or activity to move a person into a state of sensory overload, or even transcendence.

Even by the supremely high production standards of Alpha recordings, this issue is especially splendid. Entitled Versailles, L'ile enchantée, it fully lives up to its name. As directed by Skip Sempé, the widely varied program features music written for Louis XIV's pleasure palace, performed by the Capriccio Stravagante Orchestra with mezzo soprano Guillemette Laurens and bass violist Jay Bernfeld. Each work is superbly selected, and every performance is absolutely idiomatic and wonderfully alive. There is wit and tenderness and elegance and, yes, nobility to their performances, which taken together form as much a portrait of the Sun King as the palace of Versailles itself.

Originaire d'une famille de musiciens lyonnais, Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764) fut, après avoir abandonné une carrière de danseur, un grand violoniste virtuose en même temps qu'un grand voyageur. De Versailles à Paris, de Londres à La Haye, il prodigua son art en jouant notamment ses Sonates pour violon seul ou ses Concertos. Sa fin fut tragique. Il mourut assassiné alors qu'il regagnait en pleine nuit son domicile."Parfaite synthèse des styles italien et français, son œuvre, précise Thomas Leconte, représente sans doute le véritable apogée des "goûts réunis" chers à François Couperin.

Seize auteurs aux styles variés osent une incursion dans la littérature érotique. …