In 1692, Charpentier wrote the Te Deum that would make him famous into the 20th century. Played for the military victory of Steenkerque, most probably at the church of Saint-Louis-des-Jésuites, this masterpiece, which glorified the armies of Louis XIV, is a powerful fresco whose prelude opens with the martial rhythms of the timpani and trumpets, symbolising the Grand Siècle of the arts, but also Louis XIV's conquests. Valentin Tournet adds pieces to the programme whose pomp is matched by their quality and expressiveness: the De Profundis has an extraordinary solemnity, while the Marche de Triomphe sounds the trumpets for the king considered the greatest in the world.

This is a baroque dream: a performance of the sacred drama David and Jonathas, a masterpiece by Charpentier and one of the miracles of French opera, in the Royal Chapel of Versailles! In 1688, the Louis-le-Grand Jesuit school performed this vibrant version of the fateful, fusional love between David and Jonathas… and the inevitable confrontation between their armies. Their deep friendship – biblical love – leads to the death of Jonathas in the arms of the victorious David. The intense emotion exuded by this piece is amplified by the staging, sets and costumes, under the stirring direction of Gaétan Jarry: a sumptuous, dazzling baroque vision.

Médée, a tragedy in a prologue and five acts on a libretto by Thomas Corneille, was Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s first and last collaboration with the Académie Royale de Musique. The work was premiered on 4 December 1693, when Charpentier was exactly fifty years old and at the height of his career. Louis XIV attended the performance, proving that it was an eagerly awaited event. Yet this sombre drama, which disconcerted the public, was withdrawn after just ten performances, and not heard again until 1976. A specialist in the French repertory and a close associate of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, where he has followed all the advances in research and historically informed performance for thirty-five years, Hervé Niquet has endeavoured, in presenting this new Médée, scrupulously to apply all the scholarly findings available to us today.

Two Te Deums go head to head! The famous one by Marc-Antoine Charpentier and a completely new one by Henry Desmarets. Charpentier and Desmarets, remarkable composers of both sacred music and opera, shared a taste for Italian music and travel, but they also shared the disadvantage of having spent some time in Jean-Baptiste Lully's 'shadow'! Desmarets' life was somewhat tormented, between disgrace and exile; it was while he was superintendent of music at the Court of Lorraine that he composed two Te Deums, including the Te Deum"de Lyon". Written for the same ensemble as Charpentier's famous Te Deum, it uses trumpets and timpani for the grandiloquent sections. It is a true work of craftsmanship, notably in the variety of instrumentation, but also in its alternation of different vocal forces.

Ensemble Molière presents a luxuriant and varied selection of French Baroque music to accompany Louis XIV, the Sun King, in his daily life. What better way to wake up than to be serenaded by the Overture from Charpentier’s Les Arts Florissants? The King’s day continues with extracts from Lully’s Phaëton as the sun rises, a little Couperin as the royal household’s day unfolds, a Symphonie pour les soupers du Roy by Delalande to accompany supper, dance music from the Ballet Royal de la Nuit and a suite to accompany the setting sun from Marais’ Trios pour le coucher du Roy. Louis XIV chose to portray himself as the Sun, the manifestation of the god Apollo on earth and the ultimate power which gives life to all things. This album reimagines a day in the life of one of the most magnificent royals of the Baroque era.

Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Actéon is a pastorale or miniature opera based on Greek mythology. Staged in 1684, the story is about the hunter Actaeon who peeks at the bathing goddess Diana, turned into a red deer, pursued and killed by his own hounds. The music is continuously imaginative with rhythmic choral parts, elegant solos and dramatic flourishes.

Charpentier & BEMF Again at their Best. In 2015 our most recent Charpentier recording to date, La Descente d’Orphee 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 Gramophone’s “Editor’s Choice.” Our new album featuring two “mini-operas” by Charpentier again offers enthralling performances of this court music of charming dance character and elegance. In contrast to Charpentier’s other operas, Les Plaisirs de Versailles is directly associated with Louis XIV. The title of the manuscript score registers very clearly and unmistakably what is involved in this composition, and its equation of the “plaisirs,” the “pleasures,” with the king’s residence not only serves to reveal the subject but also the context: on the one hand, the work describes the pleasures that could be experienced in the royal palace; on the other hand, it itself is supposed to be one of these pleasures. Once again a beautiful and top-quality work from opera history is made available to listeners of the twenty-first century: “An important addition to the Charpentier discography” (Toccata).