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.

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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."

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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.

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

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