• Charlotte Mattax Moersch extends her series of recordings for Centaur with this new release. • Couperin wrote some of the finest harpsichord works of the 18th-Century; these works among them.

Classical Music

This is Volume 7 in Centaur's ongoing series of the complete keyboard works of Francois Couperin, performed on harpsichord by Mark Kroll. Mark Kroll has performed Couperin's works throughout his performing life, and it shows in these wonderful recordings. Mark Kroll has been acclaimed as one of the world's leading harpsichordists and fortepianists. During a career spanning more than fifty years, he has appeared as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician on four continents, winning critical praise for his expressive playing and virtuosity. He has played under the batons of conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Sir Colin Davis and Charles Dutoit, and served as harpsichordist for the Boston Symphony since 1979.

This is the third volume of Centaur's integral edition of the complete Pieces de Clavecin of Francois Couperin, performed on harpsichord by Mark Kroll, who has made a specialty of this literature. Mark Kroll has been acclaimed as one of the world’s leading harpsichordists and fortepianists. During a career spanning more than fifty years, he has performed on four continents, winning critical praise for his expressive playing and virtuosity. He has appeared with noted soloists and ensembles, played under the batons of conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle, James Levine, Kurt Masur and Charles Dutoit, and has served as harpsichordist for the Boston Symphony since 1979.

This is Volume 8 in Centaur's recording of the complete Pieces de Clavecin of Francois Couperin, performed on harpsichord by Mark Kroll. This cycle, gradually nearing its completion, will be a landmark in recordings of works by Couperin, one of the greatest French composers of the Baroque period. Mark Kroll has performed on four continents as a harpsichordist and fortepianist, in both solo recital and as a collaborative chamber musician. Highlights include an appearance as the official guest of the city of Barcelona; featured soloist in Germany’s Regensburg Early Music Festival, France’s Festival Ambronay and the Bordeaux Hummel Festival; performances and lectures in Beijing and Shanghai; two concerts for the Czech Republic’s Prague Spring Festival; and recitals at Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Foundation, Rome’s Conservatorio Santa Caecilia and Associazione Musicale Romana, Poland’s Dni Bachowski, and Slovenija’s Radovljica Festival.

This is Volume 10 in Centaur's complete traversal of the keyboard works of Francois Couperin, performed by Mark Kroll. This is a landmark edition of these complete works. Mark Kroll has made a specialty of Couperin throughout his long and distinguished career. Mark Kroll has performed on four continents as a harpsichordist and fortepianist, in both solo recital and as a collaborative chamber musician. Highlights include an appearance as the official guest of the city of Barcelona; featured soloist in Germany's Regensburg Early Music Festival, France's Festival Ambronay and the Bordeaux Hummel Festival; two concerts for the Czech Republic's Prague Spring Festival; and recitals at Lisbon's Gulbenkian Foundation, Rome's Conservatorio Santa Caecilia and Associazione Musicale Romana, Poland's Dni Bachowski, and Slovenija's Radovljica Festival.

The ensemble is composed by one or two recorders (or flutes), continuo, and other additional instruments with the common aim to focus on the repertoire of the flute (both soloist and in chamber formation) during the XVII and the XVIII Centuries. The musical philology and the original performing practice are essential for a real comprehension of the early and baroque music and it is the basis to put in touch this repertoire with the sensibility of nowadays, in a sort of ideal reconciliation between the spirit of “Les Anciens” and of “Les Modernes”. On this new release they present Couperin’s Les Concerts Royaux. The focus on the recorder in this interpretation sets this album aside from other recordings of this work.

If the cherished corpus of Pi�ces de Violes by Fran�ois Couperin Le Grand, the celebrated organist of the Chapelle Royale de Versailles, constitutes a major contribution to the viol repertoire in France at the beginning of the 18th century, this unique volume published in Paris in 1728 is also shrouded in mystery for any musician who might wish to immerse himself in these sumptuous pieces. Might they have been composed for an exceptional performer, Marin Marais or Antoine Forqueray, Couperin's colleagues at the Court of Louis XIV? Arranged in two suites of splendid pieces, blending Italian and French styles, they represent all the spirit and finesse of the music of the King's Chamber at it's apogee. Accompanied by the finest French musicians, Mathilde Vialle divinely plays her viol, in turn both devilish and sweet-toned, intense and acute, virtuoso and sensitive, and through such outstanding portraits of the human soul, brings the spirit of Versailles to life by exalting it

Bob van Asperen and AEOLUS have now realized the third volume of the Louis Couperin Edition. The valuable harpsichord from the Villa Medici in Rome has been recorded here for the first time in high resolution and with Surround-Sound technology. The Super Audio CD contains some of the wonderful harpsichord suites composed by Louis Couperin (an uncle of François Couperin), who lived in Paris in the 17th century. The album's title, 'Chaconne de Mr Couperin', refers to the genre of the chaconne, which is characteristic - together with the related genre of the passacaille - of Couperin's work. The thick booklet even provides the score of a recently discovered piece by Couperin. The Couperin Edition will be made up of four volumes of harpsichord alone, and additionally offer the composer's other preserved and seldom heard works.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Although the composers of the French baroque were remarkably prolific, they left US relatively little chamber music. Luckily, the few works extant are as well-written those by Vivaldi or Bach and they provide listeners a new perspective on music of the period. Francois Couperin, the finest composer at the court of Louis XIV, wrote several masterworks of chamber music, including the elegant and beautiful collection of sonatas entitled Les Nations, performed here by the ensemble Les Ombres. Couperin greatly admired Italian baroque composers such as Corelli, and his sonatas demonstrate his lifelong commitment to uniting, in his music, the best of both French and Italian musical conventions.

Classical Music

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."

Classical Music

With this disc London Baroque and BIS are continuing a very successful collaboration which has so far resulted in six releases. On this present disc London Baroque turn their eyes and ears to François Couperin, also known as 'le Grand'. But this CD also invokes two other Baroque giants, namely Corelli and Lully. The main works are the two Apothéoses, in which Couperin portrays the ascent to Parnassus of his two great predecessors. Apart from them being intended as compliments to the composers, one might see in the works - and especially in L'Apothéoses de Lulli - an attempt to advocate and create a fusion of the French style with the Italian, which during the early 17th century was all the rage in Paris. This is music with a history indeed - performed in the ever fresh manner of London Baroque.

Classical Music

COUPERIN, F. and L.: Clavecin des Couperin (Le)

Christmas Organ Music - Marchand, L. / Daquin, L.-C. / Dandr

Classical Music

Classical Music

Fran�ois Couperin (1689-1755) 'Couperin le Grand' was a master of the Baroque era, and this release offers us a fresh recording his chef-d'oeuvres: the harpsichord trios. Couperin was born into a musical family. He followed in his father's footsteps as organist at the Saint-Gervais Church in Paris, and before long his musical talent led him to the court of King Louis XIV. His appointment as court musician introduced him to a network of composers, with whom he regularly corresponded and shared ideas. Johann Sebastian Bach, for example, greatly admired his volumes of harpsichord music. L'Apoth�ose de Lully and L'Apoth�ose de Corelli open this set and are among the earliest examples of programme music. The former is dedicated to Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) who had defined the sound of French Baroque music, while L'Apoth�ose de Corelli pays homage to the Italian virtuoso, Antonio Corelli (1653-1713). The pieces depict the esteemed composers reaching the summit of Mount Parnassus. Then, guided by the God Apollo, they merge the French and Italian styles. Relations between Italy and France had soured following the Spanish War of Succession and the scramble to claim new territory, but Couperin's piece favors integration over individualism, as each composer's style compliments the other, raising the music to divine greatness. Les Nations follows in this vein, as it draws influence from both styles, featuring Corelli-inspired forms with alternating slow and quick tempos as opposed to the French-style suites of dances. It was dedicated to France, Spain, the German Empire and to Piedmont, part of the newly reformed Kingdom of Sardinia. In the wider context, Couperin's music is tinged with political ideology as he paints a picture of harmony flourishing from European unity. Couperin's pioneering music has inspired composers for generations; a century after his death, Johannes Brahms was programming Couperin's keyboard works on his concerts, and Maurice Ravel paid homage to the composer in Le tombeau de Couperin.

Classical Music

Classical Music

François Couperin, one of the most significant and important composers of French Baroque music, composed fourteen concertos between 1714 and 1724, known as "Concerts Royaux" and "Les Goûts-réunis, ou Nouveaux Concerts." The fantastic oboist Emanuel Abbühl has selected five of these for his new GENUIN CD. For his album, he takes advantage of the composer's decision to allow performers the freedom to choose whether the main voice should be played with harpsichord, oboe, violin, flute, or bassoon. Abbühl collaborates with fellow musicians David Tomàs (bassoon), Carla Sanfelix (Baroque cello), Miklós Spányi (harpsichord), and Benoît Fallai (theorbo), combining modern and historical instruments with the utmost respect for style, colors, and tempi: truly ear-opening!