Following acclaimed recordings devoted to English music for viol consort, notably that of Christopher Simpson (BIS-2153), Henry Purcell (BIS-2583) and William Byrd (BIS-2663), the Chelys Consort now presents a programme that explores the kind of music that might have been played in France in the 16th and 17th centuries. The works presented here include arrangements and fantasies on popular songs, dances and a suite, demonstrating the extreme versatility of the viola da gamba, which, alone or in a group, could adapt to all musical genres. Although the French golden age of said instrument was between the mid-17th and mid-18th centuries - represented here with works by Charpentier, Metru and Lully - the programme also gives prominence to earlier compositions, with dances and fantasies by Caroubel, Le Jeune, Moulinie, Du Caurroy, Louis Couperin and Du Mont. Finally, the programme also includes three pieces for solo guitar by Francois Campion, performed by guest musician James Akers. These pieces remind us that the baroque guitar, depicted foreshadowingly in paintings by Vermeer and Watteau, was to replace the lute as the most widespread domestic musical instrument. A programme that emphasises elegance, refined melancholy, beautiful sound and a subtle dialogue between the different instruments.

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!