“From Suetonius to Camus, Caligula has constantly inspired historians, poets and playwrights, to the point of becoming a myth: that of madness steeped in cruelty…Caligula raves, Caligula is crazed, but his gaze is that of the visionary, his derangement of the senses is an opening towards the fantastical. Now it is precisely that fantastical (and also comical) dimension that is inscribed in the fable set to music Giovanni Pagliardi in Venice in 1672, which Vincent Dumestre brings back to life here. But above all, this portrait of Caligula as a hero of the impossible, a showman of wonders, has been rounded off with an idea that suddenly seems self-evident: Caligula, and all the characters around him, could only be “wooden actors”, puppets. The traditional Palermitan pupo – used in the famous puppet shows – is manipulated in full view of the audience by means of iron rods fixed to the head of the wooden character and one of the arms of the pupo, especially for the fight scenes, while the other arm is connected by a thread. The specific genius of the pupi is not mimetic, as in Venice, but poetic. Or, even better: epic. There is only one surviving representative of this popular art backed up by learned culture: Mimmo Cuticchio. Born in 1948, he learnt his skills from his father Giacomo, through practical experience of performances both itinerant, going from village to village, and local, in Palermo.” (Alexandra Rübner and Vincent Dumestre)

14 distinct titles introduce this exciting new series uniting the finest Alpha and ZZT Baroque recordings. Discover - or rediscover - universally known works as well as world premiere recordings of rarities. Newly conducted artist interviews allow for fresh perspectives on their recordings. All releases, digipak in format with trilingual booklets, feature photographs by great (Magnum Cooperative) contemporary artists adorning the covers and a strong 'queen of colors' scheme, bringing to mind gods, kings, warriors, the devil, life, violence and death... Themes omnipresent in Baroque art!

The Symphonies for the king's soupers are emblematic of Versailles and of the greatest king in the world. What other Prince would assemble the 24 king's violins and the winds of his royal �curie for his meal? With the luxury of an opera orchestra, here we have Louis XIV at his table with music every day. From the chapel to the apartments, the whole ch�teau resounded with Lalande's music. His Majesty prayed, ate, laughed and wept with it. Vincent Dumestre has passionately resurrected this royal, gastronomical and therefore opulent music.

Works of Lorenzo Allegri (1573-1648) and Giovanni Battista Buonamente (d. 1642)] intersperse the music of Monteverdi coeval Domenico Belli d. 1627), a mysterious figure with a capricious personality who left behind some rather startling music. Formed in 1998, Le Poème Harmonique, led by their artistic director Vincent Dumestre, center its artistic activity around 17th- early 18th century vocal and instrumental music, being often enriched by interaction with other artistic disciplines in performance.

This recording provides an opportunity to discover a forgotten Baroque operatic treasure: a zarzuela, the key dramatic and musical genre of the Spanish Golden Age. Sumptuous choruses, poignant arias, and folksongs blend in a rich and spectacular narrative, whose music was falsely attributed to Antonio Literes before Sebastián Durón (1660-1716) was acknowledged as its composer in 2009! Another peculiarity of the work is that it is sung by seven sopranos, who are even given the roles of Apollo, Neptune and the monster Triton. Only the part of an old man, the seer Proteus, is assigned to a tenor. Ana Quintans in the title role, Isabelle Druet, Anthea Pichanick, Caroline Meng, and Cyril Auvity are among the cast of this colorful zarzuela, whose modern stage premiere in 2019 enjoyed great success.