Francois Couperin's Pieces de violes comes alive in this deeply expressive new recording by La Bellemont, revealing the viola da gamba at the height of it's emotional and rhetorical power. Written in 1728, these works are among Couperin's final publications and blend the refinement of the French Baroque with striking intimacy, elegance, and imagination. Through two contrasting suites - from the tender melancholy of the E minor Prelude and Sarabande to the radiant brilliance of the A major suite - the album explores a world of subtle emotion, poetic silence, and richly colored harmony, where every phrase speaks with the nuance of the human voice. Performed with exceptional sensitivity by La Bellemont, this recording highlights the ensemble's celebrated warmth, precision, and expressive depth. The musicians illuminate Couperin's unique ability to move beyond virtuosity in search of something more profound and human, - music that, in Couperin's own words, 'touches rather than surprises.' With it's refined interplay of viola da gamba, theorbo, baroque guitar and harpsichord, the album offers an immersive journey into one of the most beautiful and sophisticated sound worlds of the French Baroque.
For her new recording, entitled Or (light), cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton has devised a two-part narrative, "like freeze frames, like incursions into time": first, Couperin's Les leçons de ténèbres or the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah. Prophecies are the time before. Before destruction and tears: "We hear the song of the prophet lamenting, but the possibility that this will not happen still exists." Then comes "our time": "With his dramatic force, Vivaldi confronts us with our present. He says, 'This is now.'" Sonia has chosen several excerpts from operas as well as two violin concertos. She transcribed most of the pieces in this programme for solo cello or two cellos, two voices that she plays herself. She also imagined bridges to other lights, those of Mahut's percussion and Marius Atherton's electric guitar and MS20 synthesiser.
Herve Niquet likes to say that recording is a source of stress and sometimes tension: "None of that was the case here," he continues. He has been performing this Couperin/de Lalande programme with the female singers of Le Concert Spirituel for over ten years: "The seven singers know every nook and cranny of these highly complex scores. So it was time to record this testimony to ten years of work. (...) I like the parallel between the singers of Le Concert Spirituel and the nuns who sing these lamentations every year throughout their lives in their monastery."
For her new recording, entitled Or (light), cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton has devised a two-part narrative, "a series of freeze frames, like incursions into time": first, Couperin's Les leçons de ténèbres or the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah. Prophecies are created in the time before. Before destruction and tears: "We hear the prophet's song of lamentation, although the possibility that this might not come to pass still exists." Then comes "our time": "Vivaldi's dramatic power brings us face to face with the present. He says, 'It's here now.'" Sonia has chosen several excerpts from his operas and from two violin concertos. She transcribed most of the pieces in this programme for solo cello or two cellos, two voices that she plays herself. She also imagined bridges to other lights, those of Mahut's percussion and Marius Atherton's electric guitar and MS20 synthesiser.
In 2018, four friends studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London decided to form an ensemble they called Théodora. Mariamielle Lamagat (soprano), Louise Ayrton (baroque violin), Lucie Chabard (harpsichord) and Alice Trocellier (viola da gamba) explore French Baroque music and it's ramifications. For their first recording, part of Alpha Classics' "Baroque Stories" series, they decided to trace the French style in Germanic lands in the 18th century, where the dance forms, dotted rhythms, modulations and harmonies in vogue at the court of Louis XIV inspired composers to create numerous transcriptions, works and new instrumental practices. Johann Fischer and Johann Philipp Krieger make no secret of their admiration for Campra and Lully, whose music enjoyed considerable success across the Rhine. This programme features their magnificent "Duo de la paix et de la félicité" (Duet of Peace and Happiness), in a version preserved in Berlin, performed here with mezzo-soprano Adèle Charvet. Bach is, of course, included: he admired the French organ school, particularly Jacques Boyvin, whose superb Récit tendre, from the Second Livre d'Orgue (1700), Théodora has transcribed for violin, viola and basso continuo.
There are moments in music when time seems to pause, and with Arcangelo Corelli's music, I have experienced that enchanted stillness-where each note is not just heard but felt deeply. His music, elegant and radiant, is the gentle whisper of a bygone era, yet it breathes timeless warmth and light. Corelli's art is a delicate conversation between violin and continuo, a living breath of harmony and counterpoint that dances with noble grace. Each phrase unfolds like a tender story, where voices seek, answer, and embrace one another-like cherished friends sharing secrets across the ages. It was through my mentor, Ryo Terakado, and his luminous recording of the Violin Sonatas, Op. 5 that I first stepped into this radiant world. Since then, Corelli's melodies have been a constant companion-like a soft glow in the twilight, a source of inspiration and solace. Corelli's influence extends far beyond my own story. His style shaped the musical language of generations-admired openly by Francois Couperin, absorbed deeply into the work of Jean-Marie Leclair, and echoed, even centuries later, by virtuosi such as Pablo Sarasate and Niccolo Paganini. His music is both spiritual and earthly-a beacon of simplicity and profound beauty. I am deeply grateful to Ryo Terakado for guiding me to this wellspring of grace, to Kaori Uemura and Francois Guerrier for their artistry, and to our magical producer Guido Tichelman and the Byucksan Corporation for nurturing this project. - Eun-Shik Kim
Baroque Beyond invites you on a sonic journey between Baroque tradition and modern expressiveness. Shorena Tsintsabadze combines historical piano works and arrangements with a contemporary perspective characterized by profound reflection and artistic virtuosity. In an era of great social and technological upheaval, reminiscent of the transition from the late Renaissance to the Baroque period, this album demonstrates how music can serve as a human anchor and an expression of inner strength. A captivating listening experience that connects past and present and raises questions about our humanity in the digital age.
Following her acclaimed debut Diaries, pianist Tiffany Poon returns with Nature, now available as a 2LP vinyl edition. This album that explores the evocative power of French music in capturing the beauty of the natural world - from the delicate shimmer of water to the quiet mysteries of the forest and the animals found within. Nature, which Tiffany recorded at legendary Provence recording studio Miraval Studios (Pink Floyd, Sade, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) with producer Damien Quintard, brings together works by French composers across centuries, united by an instinctual admiration for the world around them. Guided by intuition and deep personal connection, Tiffany's curated selection featuring pieces by Ravel, Debussy, Rameau and Daquin, moves beyond the structured rigor of Germanic tradition into the fluid, sensuous soundscapes of the French repertoire. Inspired by Rameau's belief that music is rooted in nature itself, she curates a program reflecting her love of animals, woods, and water - translating them into vivid musical expressions. Nature is a testament to music's ability to mirror the natural world, inviting listeners to embrace it's beauty with instinct and abandon.
Following her acclaimed debut Diaries, pianist Tiffany Poon returns with Nature, an album that explores the evocative power of French music in capturing the beauty of the natural world from the delicate shimmer of water to the quiet mysteries of the forest and the animals found within. Nature, which Tiffany recorded at legendary Provence recording studio Miraval Studios (Pink Floyd, Sade, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) with producer Damien Quintard, brings together works by French composers across centuries, united by an instinctual admiration for the world around them. Guided by intuition and deep personal connection, Tiffany's curated selection featuring pieces by Ravel, Debussy, Rameau and Daquin, moves beyond the structured rigor of Germanic tradition into the fluid, sensuous soundscapes of the French repertoire. Inspired by Rameau's belief that music is rooted in nature itself, she curates a program reflecting her love of animals, woods, and water - translating them into vivid musical expressions. Nature is a testament to music's ability to mirror the natural world, inviting listeners to embrace it's beauty with instinct and abandon.
Virtuoso extraordinaire Tatjana Vorobjova transports the listener to the sound world of the early 17th century with the celebrated 'Colmar-Ruckers' historic harpsichord built over 400 years ago. The programme traces the development of this instrument over the centuries with works by Froberger, d'Anglebert, Couperin, Buxtehude and Bach, providing a rich and vibrant portrait of this magnificent harpsichord.
This live recording immortalizes Christophe Rousset's performance at the Fundacion Juan March in Madrid on January 8, 2025, a featured event in the Earning a Living concert series. Francois Couperin's keyboard compositions illuminate the role of royal patronage as the modus vivendi for musicians of the Early Modern period. Couperin's treatise, L'Art de Toucher le Clavecin, is here interwoven with a selection of his Pieces de clavecin, giving rise to a portrait gallery in music, each inspired by anonymous figures who inhabited the French court. This set of pieces de caractere, whose allusive and encoded meanings remain largely enigmatic today, is presented in groupings by tonality, each offering a window into the refined world of Baroque palace life and it's intricate web of connections.
Boismortier: 6 Sonatas for 2 Pardessus de viole, Op. 63
First Hand Records
CD
$21.99Jul 04, 2025
This abum contains the premiere recording of 6 Sonatas, Op. 63, originally published in 1737 (edition published by Atelier Philidor in 2021). The compositions are exquisite and expressive and have not been heard since the mid- 18th century since the engraved score has only recently been discovered. They are quintessentially French in their general musical style, making extensive use of prescribed ornamentation. The pardessus de viole enjoyed a considerable vogue in France towards the middle of the 18th century. For too long the pardessus de viole, which has an almost indentical range to the violin, has been commonly regarded - even without being heard - as a kind of toy instrument. Now we know otherwise after experiencing how similar, except for it's different register, the pardessus instrument is to all the other members of it's family, including the familiar bass viol. The recent discovery of Boismortier's Op. 63 for two 6-string pardessus de viole is an exciting and important find and FHR are very happy to publish the first recording.
The Office of Tenebrae was extremely popular in France in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was tightly structured and also had a true theatrical dimension, notably through the use of light and the gradual extinguishing of a candle after each lesson. The three Lecons de Tenebres by Francois Couperin are a skilful blend of theatrical writing that expresses the extremely poignant text of the Lamentations of Jeremiah with haunting recitations of Hebrew letters (Aleph, Beth, Caph...). This music is often associated with the female voices of convents and abbeys although religious houses for men such as the Jesuit houses also celebrated the Tenebrae with music. Louis-Noel Bestion de Camboulas has chosen to record this programme with male voices, a choice that reveals unexpected new colours and textures in the music. The album also includes Lalande's Miserere, again with male voices: haute-contre, taille and basse.
This release features Ravel's works alongside pieces from composers who inspired him, including Chabrier, Haydn, Borodine, Couperin, and more. Marina Baranova seamlessly blends classical and neoclassical elements, creating a unique musical language that is distinctly her own. Each track invites you to appreciate the dialogue between these great composers, showcasing Baranova's exceptional talent and interpretative skills.
NEO - French Baroque Music and New Compositions brings together French Baroque music and modern compositions. The album includes works by Jean-Fery Rebel, Francois Couperin, and Marin Marais, along with new pieces by Calliope Tsoupaki, Willem Wander van Nieuwkerk, and Torben Klaes. Recorded in Burgundy, musicians Saskia Coolen, Patrick Ayrton, and Rainer Zipperling (viola da gamba) blend historical and modern styles.
A trumpet-tuba duo: what an unusual idea! At the height of the pandemic, the brothers Thomas and Romain Leleu came up with the notion of creating a unique ensemble. While virtuosity (whose Latin origin in the word virtus, at once 'strength' and 'virtue', should never be forgotten) was a given for the two musicians, who play with an astonishing rapport, they are even more fascinated by the search for the appropriate sound world for the newly minted pieces they perform. An opportunity to meet two illusionists.
Recorded in Willowhayne Records 10th anniversary year in 2022, St Albans Experience is the tenth in their Experience series. This recording showcases every facet of the magnificent Harrison & Harrison organ of St Albans Cathedral, in music from the Baroque era to contemporary works for the instrument. Central to this programme is Maurice Durufle's beautiful Prelude, Adagio et Choral Varie sur le Veni Creator, Op. 4. This recital includes several world premiere recordings, including Francis Pott's Laudes, Rhian Samuel's three-movement Ad Lucem, and two works by the late Peter Hurford - for twenty years Master of the Music at St Albans Cathedral, and the driving force behind this world-renowned instrument. Also included are works by Peter Dickinson and Anthony Gilbert, who passed away earlier in 2023, and to whose memory the recording is dedicated.
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.
Pierre Gallon and Matthieu Boutineau offer us an opportunity to rediscover Couperin's Concerts Royaux in a version for two harpsichords, a rare combination, yet one of which the composer to the Sun King was especially fond. Here is an interpretation at once brilliant and moving of these works full of tenderness, gaiety and invention, a veritable stylistic turning point between the twilight of the Grand Siecle and the dawn of the Enlightenment.
Admiration for the French composer, harpsichordist and organist, Louis Couperin continues to grow steadily today, but it was not so during his lifetime. The first important edition of his work in modern times, in its latest revision by Thurston Dart (used for this set), catalogues 129 pieces as authentic. Collectively, they help to place Couperin among the greatest composers of the 17th century alongside Frescobaldi, Chambonnieres, Froberger, and D’Anglebert.
Though he wrote religious works as well as chamber music, harpsichord music forms the lion’s share of Louis’s nephew François Couperin’s output: 235 pieces in all, most of them published in the four volumes (or Livres) of Pièces de Clavecin, divided into 27 ordres.
Like the better-known Jacques Duphly and Claude Balbastre, Armand-Louis Couperin belongs to the last generation of French harpsichord composers. The modesty and success which profited Armand-Louis handsomely during his lifetime rather dimmed the light of his creative legacy. He published little during his own lifetime. One of only a few opuses, the magnificent volume of Pièces de clavecin deserves consideration alongside the viol fantazias of Purcell and the Lachrymae of Dowland, examples of lateness in music, where the fruit has ripened beyond high summer, yet there is much of interest in these pieces, beyond their historical value at the end of a distinguished family line.
Armand-Louis’s son, Gervais-François Couperin, studied with his father then replaced him at the Sainte-Chapelle organ. His keyboard compositions reveal a profound understanding of the delicate nuances and expressive capabilities of the harpsichord, characterized by elegance, refinement and meticulous attention to ornamentation. Yet Gervais-François was also a virtuoso on the new instrument of his day, the fortepiano, and this set features his music performed on that keyboard of greatly expanded expressivity.
REVIEW:
Brilliant Classics’ Couperin Dynasty collection usefully gathers together François’s four dazzling books of harpsichord pieces (Michael Borgstede), Massimo Berghella playing harpsichord suites by Louis (historically the first important member of the Couperin family), harpsichord pieces by Armand-Louis (cousin of François) played by Yago Mahugo and catchy, vivacious fortepiano music by Gervais-François (a son of Armand-Louis and a contemporary of Beethoven) adeptly performed by Simone Pierini. The range of music on offer stretches from Gervais-François’s feisty variations to François’s majestic Passacaille, one of the finest masterpieces in the genre. It’s a musical feast to relish, more varied than you might expect. Excellent sound, too, and informative notes by Michael Borgstede, Peter Quantrill, Brigida Cristallo and Massimo Berghella.
Cellist Sophie Shao is a winner of the Avery Fisher Career Grant. She has been described by The New York Times as "eloquent and powerful." This is a beautiful program of great works from the past and the present, from Couperin to Chopin to Adès.
Couperin: Concerts Royaux / Cohen-Akënine, Les Folies françoises
Château de Versailles Spectacles
CD
$20.99Sep 22, 2023
Louis XIV enjoyed holding private concerts for himself, performed by the musicians in his service. In 1714, François Couperin composed an ensemble of short pieces for this very purpose, brought together in four Concerts, each one a marvel of the King’s Chamber Music. By turns dancing or mysterious, the pieces by Couperin, who presided over the harpsichord during these musical moments in the twilight years of the Sun King’s reign, form a veritable compendium of Grand Siècle music. They dazzle like never before at the hands of Patrick Cohën-Akenine and his Folies Françoises…
The yamato word for mirror, kagami, can be read as “kami (divinity) surrounding ga (self)”: if you look in a mirror, what you see is your own self surrounded by divinity. Kaori Uemura has called her tale Kagami, because she believes that music reflects the inner depths of the self in the same way as a mirror. Mirrors were used in art as a reflection of what is, and as an allegory of truth and wisdom, a means of knowing yourself as you are. This recording is also a tribute to the Baroque composers who saw music not only as a mirror of divine creation, but equally as a means of expressing human emotions through musical figures which could produce specific affects.
“Blue stands for a particularly intimate mood,” says renowned Spanish guitarist Pablo Sainz-Villegas. And correspondingly his latest album is titled The Blue Album, which will be released by Sony Classical on 9 June 2023. “Blue symbolizes a mysterious intermediary realm: one thinks of the moment when the sun rises and night slowly withdraws,” Pablo Sainz-Villegas goes on to explain. These are exceptional moments, moments between silence and waking, between heaven and earth, between light and darkness. These are also the moments that spirit us away from the hectic routine of our everyday lives and that create an atmosphere of reverie and relaxation, allowing us time to slow down. All of this is reflected in Pablo Sainz-Villegas’s new programme. Few composers have captured this mood so unmistakably in their music as the French composer Erik Satie, who is represented here by selections from his Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes. Debussy’s “Clair de lune” and “La fille aux cheveux de lin” are almost magical in their expressiveness: this is music that is filled with calm and with the power to enchant.
According to Pablo Sainz-Villegas, “this album brings together some of the most beautiful and most heartfelt melodies that have ever been written. All these pieces create a magical atmosphere, their colours create a mood, a mystery. The guitar whispers an invitation to the listener to explore and go to the most intimate part of your soul. It creates a moment to look inside and have a conversation with the essence of yourself. “ The repertory is correspondingly wide-ranging, extending, as it does, from the German and Italian Baroque – with music by Silvius Leopold Weiss and Domenico Scarlatti – to the present day with music by Philip Glass and Max Richter’s A Catalogue of Afternoons – which, as first single, is out today. Sainz-Villegas also undertakes a foray into the world of film music with the Cavatina from the classic film The Deer Hunter of 1978. And this release inevitably includes the international hit La Paloma, one of the most frequently performed and arranged pieces of the last 150 years. This Spanish work has come to embody the quintessential notion of longing.
Experience the captivating journey of Ek-stasis, presented by Divine Art Recordings. Delve into the world of myths reconstructed in music by celebrated composers from different cultures and times. This unique album features three world premiere recordings, bringing fresh and exciting music to the programme. Greek pianist and professor Zoe Samsarelou has expertly curated a selection of works that weave together an interconnected narrative, taking you on a journey through the myth of Dionysus. From the works of Couperin, Rameau, Dandrieu, and Daquin to the eminent Greek composers of the 20th and 21st centuries and the Late Romantics in between, each piece is thoughtfully selected and presented. The album is divided into themes of seduction, pathos, illusion, metamorphosis, transcendence, instinct, catharsis, mythos, paradox, and transition. This creates an immersive experience that guides the listener through the various stages of the myth and offers a musical perspective on the story. Accompanied by Zoe Samsarelou's insightful prose on the collection and notes on the Greek composers featured in the program, Ek-stasis is more than just a listening experience. It's a celebration of the Greek spirit that has influenced humanity for over 2,500 years, highlighting the creativity and ingenuity of these wonderful composers.
This latest MarchVivo release is a remastering of the concert given by Benjamin Alard at the Fundación Juan March on 1 February 2020 as part of a series entitled The Couperins at the harpsichord. The album focuses on the stylistic connections between different members of the most significant family in the history of the French Baroque: the Couperins. The harpsichord epitomized the intimacy and sophistication of salon music and, with the repertoire they composed for their instrument, the clavecinistes français helped forge a distinctive national style. This was renewed and enlivened by successive generations of the Couperin dynasty as they introduced innovative aspects of contemporary Italian style into their works, thereby creating an eloquent new idiom that was to have a lasting influence on the history of keyboard music.
When François Couperin published his Mass for the Convents in 1690, he had just turned 20, yet he had created the most exceptional collection of organ music to be written during the reign of Louis XIV. On the magnificent and historic Great Organ of the Royal Chapel of Versailles, over which Couperin presided from 1693 to 1730, the celebrated organist of Notre-Dame de Paris, Olivier Latry, performs a sumptuous version of this Organ Mass which, in a world premiere, is interlaced with captivating Chants sur le Livre, those sublime holy improvisations unique to French baroque music... for a moment of eternity.
Live from Prague Spring Festival - Prague Spring Internation
ArcoDiva
CD
$18.99Jul 01, 2022
ArcoDiva's newest release presents works for oboe performed by Martin Danek, a graduate of the prestigious Hanns Eisler University of Music in Berlin and winner of the 2019 Prague Spring International Competition. He says: "I've been living abroad for a long time, and playing in my own country is always something special", says Mr. Danek. "This is especially true in the case of Prague Spring, with it's festive atmosphere, which I remember from my childhood. The combinations of instruments and works on this program will be unusual, so it will be a unique experience for both the audience and the performers."
Couperin, Dornel, Forqueray, Rebel: Portraits: Les caractères français / {oh!}
DUX
CD
$21.99Feb 04, 2022
Artistic salons had begun thriving in Paris at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Their history started in the early seventeenth century with Madame de Rambouillet’s Chambre bleue, which offered its regulars a lively exchange of views on current events in politics, the arts and science, while also serving as a venue for conversations on “love, friendship, a sense of duty, reputation, virtue and taste.” Music was an inseparable element of salon life. It was performed by both high-caliber artists and amateurs, and was the subject of heated debates, controversies and polemics. A gradual return of life to Paris, and the fresh breath of freedom that characterized the final years of the reign of Louis XIV and the ensuing period of regency in particular had created an environment, in which French composers opened themselves up to the music of various nations. The present release features chamber works by Jean-Fery Rebel, Antoine Forqueray, Louis-Antoine Dornel, and Francois Couperin, performed by the {oh!} trio.
