At his arrival in Venice in 1613, Monteverdi, ever the tireless worker, finally found a challenge that suited him: he would compose every day, both sacred and secular music, for the glory of God or his patrons. In the twilight of his life, he gathered his works into a corpus, intended to inspire musicians during the celebration of religious services. This recording is a musical testament to his carefully preserved life's work. Vincent Dumestre and Le Poeme Harmonique pay tribute to the brilliant composer who set the tone for all 17th-century sacred music.

Although the music of Robert de Visee has transcended the ages, many scholars are still trying to unravel the mysteries surrounding the composer's life. Among them, Thibaut Roussel - accompanied by Perrine Devillers, Mathilde Vialle and Myriam Rignol - delights hearts with his own interpretation of the rich music of the greatest theorbist of the 17th century. Interwoven with pieces by contemporary composers, Robert de Visee's exquisite arias transport the listener to the pomp and splendour of the evenings at the court of Louis XIV.

The young Louis XIII first came to Versailles in 1607, accompanying his father Henri IV on a hunting expedition. In 1623, he decided to have a hunting lodge built where he could spend the night: the most beautiful palace in the world was in the making... And what if, before entering his new home, the King had wanted it to be given a special lustre by a religious consecration? Jean-Baptiste Nicolas brings together the great Messe a double choeur by Forme, principal composer of La Chapelle Royale for Henri IV and then Louis XIII, Motets by Bouzignac and Du Caurroy, and a garland of fanfares where the trumpets compete in splendour with the soloists, the children of the Maitrise du CRR de Paris, the Choeur de l'Opera Royal and the Consort Musica Vera: jubilant!

Don Giovanni was commissioned by the Prague Opera immediately after the success of The Marriage of Figaro: Mozart and Da Ponte chose a subject that had just triumphed a few weeks earlier in Venice, Giuseppe Gazzaniga's Don Giovanni. Taking up the theme of The Deceiver of Seville, which had already been very popular in the theatre since the mid-seventeenth century, Da Ponte focused his work on the libertine character of Don Juan, no doubt inspired by his famous friend Casanova. The result is dazzling, never leaving the spectator the slightest respite between murders, scenes of seduction, cunning and fantastic apparitions: here is a grand spectacle served by extraordinary music, an absolute masterpiece, to which Prague gave an exceptional triumph. Marshall Pynkoski takes the characters here in a dramatic whirlwind dressed in Christian Lacroix's fantasies: Robert Gleadow finally takes on the role of Don Giovanni; and Gaetan Jarry makes the Orchestre de l'Opera Royal shine.

Le Retour des Dieux sur la Terre and Le Caprice d'erato are part of the tradition inherited from Louis XIV of occasional pieces that served to illustrate major events at Court: Composed four years apart, the first to celebrate the wedding of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska in 1725 and the second for the birth of their first son in 1729, these two divertissements are veritable little concert operas in which splendid grand narratives, triumphal overtures, surprising dances, solemn choruses and grandiose finales follow one another. Alexis Kossenko invites us here to savour the delights of these musical evenings, which gradually spread to all the salons of the 18th century, and where everything seems to invite us to celebrate!

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. Stephane Fuget, with his ensemble Les epopees, 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!

When one of the most illustrious sopranists of our time becomes a conductor, he chooses nothing less than Messiah! Franco Fagioli paints a fresco of Handel's masterpiece with a Latin exaltation, drawing this great English Baroque oratorio in the colours of the Mediterranean, together with the famous Barcelona choir and their Caravaggesque chiaroscuro, which gives the work a shimmer of moiré. The Orchestre de l'Opéra Royal provides the backdrop for the splendours revealed by the soloists, who take us on a journey of joy and sorrow through the life and Passion of Christ: "Behold, I tell you a Mystery … "

Vivaldi was already a renowned opera composer in Venice and throughout Italy, but he gained exceptional notoriety throughout Europe when the concerti constituting his Quattro Stagioni were published in Amsterdam. These theme concertos, which embraced the imagination of Arcimboldo, gained top billing in private and public concerts. But their composition for solo violin has impressive virtuosity and expression: Stefan Plewniak becomes both unchained and sensual in them, not giving the Orchestre de l'Opéra Royal any opportunity for respite in intensely sounding out these seasons that are so emblematic of Baroque Europe!

Mozart was 22 when he travelled to Paris in 1778, accompanied by his mother. Although he did not achieve the success he had hoped for, his visit to Paris was a major turning point in his personal life and artistic development. Marked by the disillusionment that led him to despise the Parisian public and by the tragedy of losing his mother, his sonatas for pianoforte are tinged with an intense gravity, mirroring the inner turmoil experienced by the young prodigy. At the same time, the castrato Albanese charmed the capital with his Romances, which were popular with the public and from which Mozart drew some of his inspiration. Arnaud de Pasquale, at the keyboard of a superb replica of a 1749 Silbermann pianoforte, takes us back to the Paris of the 1770s, where musical practice was nothing but effervescent, and invites us, with grace and sensitivity, into the tormented intimacy of the genius.

Michael Praetorius was the most prolific German composer of his generation, making use of a beauty of sound and an abundance of instruments worthy of his contemporary Monteverdi. Here we have a festive Christmas Mass as might have been heard in a great Lutheran church in the North of Germany in around 1620. The congregation sang Lutheran Chorals which were part of the other music and which required the presence of the best performers in the city as a support to the children's and adult's choir creating an extraordinary musical communion. Spatialising this Christmas Morning Mass in the exceptional architecture of the Royal Chapel of Versailles, Paul McCreesh alternates these monumental pieces and the soloist's airs in a rich instrumental decoration, giving the work the popular and festive dimension of a brilliant fresco.

The Symphonies for the king's soupers are emblematic of Versailles and of the greatest king in the world. What other Prince would assemble the 24 king's violins and the winds of his royal �curie for his meal? With the luxury of an opera orchestra, here we have Louis XIV at his table with music every day. From the chapel to the apartments, the whole ch�teau resounded with Lalande's music. His Majesty prayed, ate, laughed and wept with it. Vincent Dumestre has passionately resurrected this royal, gastronomical and therefore opulent music.

Her exceptional stage presence, her remarkable virtuosity and musicianship have established her reputation beyond the border of her native Canada, where she tours and performs frequently as a soloist and chamber musician.

The first masterpiece of sacred music is undoubtedly the mythical Vespers of Monteverdi, first published in Venice in 1610. Quintessential of the great Italian polychoral style of writing, with its choirs, initially distributed throughout the entire volume of the Basilica San Marco for spectacular effects, the Vespers are here raised to the heavenly spheres by Raphael Pichon: every aspect of the Royal Chapel of Versailles (1710) is being put to use to magnify the music echoing from the Royal Tribune to that of the Great Organ. The Pygmalion choir and orchestra stands flawless, the soloists are overwhelming and the emotional power released by this interpretation set in space and light is stunning: its beauty seems never ending. The choral monumental piece by Monteverdi, which crystallizes the height of the baroque, meets the highest standards defended by Raphaël Pichon. To be more intimate with God than ever before...

The discovery of Rebel's (1666-1747) Dance Symphonies, a genre mixing dance and pantomime in which the narration is delivered by the dancer alone, was a defining moment in the passion of harpsichordist duo Loris Barrucand and Cl�ment Geoffroy. Rebel, the author of a single Lyric Tragedy, Ulysse (1703), and El�mens (1737) a suite of symphonies famed for it's initial Chaos, was first and foremost a composer of symphonies that were made to be danced. Among them is Les Caract�res de la Danse (1715), an uninterrupted succession of fourteen dances that enjoyed a dazzling success. Remaining faithful to his time, Rebel intended for them to be played "like a piece on the harpsichord". So why not two? The mastery of four virtuoso hands brings the two historic harpsichords of the Ch�teau de Versailles alive, playing them as a duet for the first time. The ten-year partnership of the two performers brings all the flamboyance of Boismortier's Ballet de Village to Ruckers' (1628) and Blanchet's (1746) harpsichords, while distilling the lightness of Belle Danse and the rebellious Characters of Ulysse.

Castrati were the first "stars" in the history of music. They often held the title role (and in Rome all the female roles in the operas), creating on the stage a real competition of virtuosity and emotion between the singers, with the audience as the referee with it's demands for an encore. What if three of the best singers of our time were also part of this Competition of Virtuosity? Here come Valer Sabadus (Arad, 1986), Filippo Mineccia (Florence, 1981), Samuel Mari�o (Caracas, 1993). Virtuoso arias, love duets and combative trios made the castrati triumph. Up to each and everyone to decide who is their winner!