Guedron - Le Consert Des Consorts / Le Poeme Harmonique

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It’s a long time since I had this much fun listening to a CD. There have been many anthologies of Airs de cour...there has even been the odd disc or two devoted to Pierrre Guédron‚ one of the foremost exponents of the genre in its early stages. But Le Poème Harmonique seem determined to give a new tweak to traditional interpretations...The ensemble are used to embellishment on a lavish scale (witness their recent recording of Cavalieri’s Lamentations)...These are Airs in the grand manner‚ with heart worn ostentatiously on sleeve. The lighter selections are treated differently but just as distinctively. Above all‚ they are all instantly memorable‚ especially when delivered as infectiously as here...As to practical details‚ the presence of a lute and other continuo instruments allows them to be very flexible in their scoring of songs (typically‚ shaping a song over several stanzas by having voices drop in and out). And they can also ham it up: the soprano’s way of interspersing titters of laughter among the notes (a response to the bass’s buffoonery in A Paris) sounds remarkably natural‚ and testifies to technical accomplishment of a rare order. From a technical standpoint‚ these really are superb performances. More importantly‚ they take the Air de cour places it’s never been. It all sounds absolutely plausible and‚ well‚ just wonderful. - GRAMOPHONE



Product Description:


  • Catalog Number: ALPHA019


  • UPC: 3760014190193


  • Label: Alpha


  • Composer: Anonymous, Charles Tessier, Claude Le Jeune, Du Bailly, Pierre Guédron, Robert Ballard


  • Conductor: Vincent Dumestre


  • Orchestra/Ensemble: Le Poème Harmonique