Ultra Vomit et le Pouvoir de la Puissance

More than 300 years after Antonio Vivaldi composed The Four Seasons , the most famous work in the history of music is still as lively and invigorating as ever. Now Le Concert de la Loge has recorded this Baroque treasure with its founder and director, the violinist Julien Chauvin, as soloist. For the occasion, the Château de Versailles has loaned him an exceptional instrument: a Neapolitan violin by Nicola Gagliano, adorned with fleur-de-lys and inlaid decorations. This instrument, which was played by Yehudi Menuhin in the 1970s, comes from the ‘collection de Madame Adélaïde’, named after one of Louis XV’s daughters. It has not left the Château for almost a century and is in a perfect state of preservation. The main work is complemented by Vivaldi’s no less celebrated ‘La Follia’ and an aria that is now famous in its own right, ‘Sovvente il sole’ from Andromeda liberata , the score of which was discovered in Venice in 2002. It is performed here by the countertenor Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian.

With Forgotten Arias countertenor Philippe Jaroussky pays tribute to composers of the late Baroque era and to the great librettist of the age, Pietro Metasasio. All ten arias on the album, written between 1748 and 1770 by nine composers, are heard in world premiere recordings. Metasasio’s librettos were set by multiple composers – Vivaldi, Handel, Gluck and Mozart among them – resulting in hundreds of operas. The more familiar names on the multi-faceted programme of Forgotten Arias are Gluck, Johann Christian Bach, Jommelli, Hasse and Piccinni. Less well-known are Bernasconi, Ferrandini, Traetta and Valentini. Jaroussky’s partners on the album are the conductor Julien Chauvin and his orchestra Le Concert de la Loge. All in all, Forgotten Arias looks set to be highly memorable.

When the French court moved into the magnificent residence of Versailles on May 6, 1682, France was at the zenith of its power. The king, no longer a young man in his mid-forties by the standards of the time, was increasingly coming under the influence of Madame de Maintenon, who had risen from the position of governess to his illegitimate children to become the Sun King's maitresse and later wife. The pious lady brought the king back into the arms of the church, which was not without influence on the musical entertainment of his majesty. In addition to chamber music, which Louis always appreciated, sacred cantatas in French were now in demand for the court's devotions.

Gloire au Centre de musique baroque de Versailles qui nous a fait redécouvrir Henry Desmarest, l'un des plus étonnants compositeurs du règne de Louis XIV. À vingt ans à peine, il osa braver Lully sur son propre terrain, en montant un opéra et un divertissement à la cour du Roi-Soleil. Plus tard, avec son aîné Marc-Antoine Charpentier, il fut l'un des principaux acteurs du renouveau d'un opéra français en manque de vrais succès depuis la mort de Quinault et Lully. On croyait indûment tout savoir de ce maître de musique. C'était compter sans le talent de défricheur du label français K.617, qui a trouvé en Nouvelle-Orléans les traces d'un baroque français "exporté", estampillé du nom de Desmarest, entre autres.

In a stunning world premiere recording, music director and conductor Nicholas McGegan, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, and an international cast of French Baroque opera stars present Jean-Philippe Rameau’s original 1745 version of Le Temple de la Gloire, with libretto by Voltaire. Presented as a fully staged opera in April 2017, the three sold out performances enjoyed universal critical acclaim from some of the world’s leading publications. The original manuscript had not been performed since 1745 and is housed at U.C. Berkeley’s Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library. Originally written to honour King Louis XV and commemorate the Battle of Fontenoy, the version of this ballet héroïque that has been heard up until now is the second version which was substantially changed by Rameau to appease the King and Parisian tastes.