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Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew – Monteverdi: Madrigali Vol. 3, Venezia (Live) (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:14:42 minutes | 700 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi
Recorded at the Cité de la Musique during the complete cycle of Monteverdi madrigals mounted in partnership with the Philharmonie de Paris and the Théâtre de Caen, the last volume in our trilogy probably contains the best-loved gems of a composer who had become maestro di cappella at St Mark’s in Venice, and finally entered the priesthood. Alongside the great operas that have survived from this period, the final madrigals methodically explore the multiple possibilities offered by the rapidly developing practice of basso continuo and by an unprecedented exploitation of solo voices. And, in that respect, the celebrated Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda forms a spectacular finale to our Monteverdian adventure!
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Les Arts Florissants & Paul Agnew – Les Maîtres du Motet (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:07:03 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi
It’s thanks to a complete stroke of luck that several of Pierre Bouteiller’s rare works have been preserved for posterity, including this Messe à cinq voix. During a long journey from Paris to Strasbourg, Sébastien de Brossard – who was relying on the collegial hospitality of chapel masters at various churches along the route – found himself lodging with Bouteiller, who was working at Châlons-sur-Marne. The two musicians exchanged manuscripts, including thirteen motets and the Messe pour les défunts by Bouteiller, which have been found in Brossard’s private library. In order to bring these works by Brossard and Bouteiller to life, and to perform them in the manner that they were sung in their day, during funerals, Paul Agnew, leader of the Arts Florissants has chosen to insert plain-chant sections to mark different points along the cortège and the funeral rites. In the reconstruction offered in this recording, Brossard’s Miserere comes sandwiched between two organ pieces – the instrumental Kyrieby André Raison – which figures in the procession towards the tomb, and then the return to the church. The time of the Sun King is reconstructed with care, right down to the choice of acoustics (the Abbey of the Holy Trinity in Lessaye, Manche) and the selection of vocalists.
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Les Arts Florissants & William Christie – N’espérez plus, mes yeux… Airs sérieux et à boire, Vol. 3 (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:21:38 minutes | 1,40 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi
With this third volume of “Airs sérieux et à boire”, the ensemble Les Arts Florissants return to this genre whose refinement had marked the French musical landscape for over a hundred years. By turns gallant, earthy, or spiritual, these vocal miniatures, prized at the French court, ushered in a ground-breaking style which opened the door to an endless variety of interpretations. “One can hardly find enough praise for the individuality of these inspired performers, for their skill to make the music animate the words ( . . . ) as they display a joyful unity of purpose. A unique event!” (Opéra Magazine).
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Les Arts Florissants – Monteverdi: L’Orfeo, SV 318 (Live) (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:46:35 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Dynamic
Les Arts Florissants was founded by William Christie in 1979, and takes its name from an opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier which the group recorded in 1982. They specialise primarily in French baroque repertoire, and their advocacy of operas by Lully, Rameau and Charpentier was a driving force in the revival of interest in this area from the late 1980s onwards; key recordings include Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie and Les Fêtes d’Hébé, Handel’s Acis and Galatea, and Purcell’s King Arthur (which all won Gramophone Awards in the 1990s), Mozart’s Die Entführung aus de Serail (a Building a Library First Choice in 2014), and a series of Monteverdi’s Madrigals on the ensemble’s own label.
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Les Arts Florissants – Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri terzo & quarto (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:37:36 minutes | 985 MB | Genre:
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi
Following the acclaim which met their double-album set devoted to the first two books of Gesualdo’s madrigals (2020 Gramophone Award), Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants now focus on the composer’s Ferrara period. ‘The sheer inquisitive delight that these singers bring to Gesualdo’s extraordinary world indicates a very exciting series ahead.’ Gramophone
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Les Arts Florissants and William Christie – Le Jardin De Monsieur Rameau (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:21:01 minutes | 1,53 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Les Arts Florissants
In this new album, William Christie invites us to a wander in the vocal art of the 18th Century, at the time of Rameau and his contemporaries. These musical treasures, as with the famous gardens ‘à la française’, are closely linked to these times of splendour. The soloists come from the Jardin des Voix, the Arts Florissants’ Academy for young singers in which the most promising talents of the upcoming generation had the priviledge to work with the ensemble, before starting a worldwide tour of the most prestigious venues. This recording crowns their work.
Composer: Michel Monteclair, Antoine Dauvergne, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Nicolas Racot de Grandval, …
Performer: Emilie [Mezzo-Soprano (Vocal)] Renard, Daniela [Soprano (Vocal)] Skorka, Victor [Baritone (Vocal)] Sicard, Cyril [Bass (Vocal)] Costanzo, …
Conductor: William Christie
Les Arts Florissants & Paul Agnew – Gesualdo: Tenebræ Responsoria, Feria Quinta (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:16:12 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi
With their bold harmonies, their counterpoint of unequalled refinement and their raw emotion, the Tenebrae Responsories are the sacred counterpart to Gesualdo’s last two books of madrigals, published the same year (1611). Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants here prolong their critically acclaimed exploration of those six increasingly venomous collections. Their interpretation of the Responsories for Maundry Thursday subtly shifts towards the conscious dolorism of the late works of the Prince of Venosa.
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Les Arts Florissants & Paul Agnew – Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri quinto & sesto (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 02:18:27 minutes | 1,27 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi
Fully integrated with the musical line, the singers avoid melodrama through intimate, small gestures as if acting for screen, not stage.’ Gramophone Critics’ Choice 2021 Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants conclude their exploration of this fascinating corpus. Even more than in his first books, Gesualdo here displays incredible modernity, playing in inimitable fashion on dissonances and chromaticisms. Love and death, joys and sorrows embrace and clash amid ever bolder harmonies.
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William Christie, Les Arts Florissants – Händel: Music for Queen Caroline (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:12:15 minutes | 1,38 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Les Arts
Queen Caroline was an emblematic female figure of the 18th century: the wife of King George II of England, a woman of great beauty, a champion of science and the arts, Caroline d’Ansbach was also the friend and patroness of Handel. The latter was entrusted with the solemn music composed for the grand ceremonies that marked the reign – be it «The King shall rejoice», given for the King’s coronation, the «Queen Caroline» Te Deum written for her own ascension to the throne, or «The Ways of Zion do mourn» performed at her funeral. This recording brings together, for the first time, three works underlining the strong link between the monarch and his favourite composer. This performance by the complete forces of the choir and orchestra of Les Arts Florissants brings to life these scores which are both flamboyant and brimming over with humanity.
“Christie calibrates his performance perfectly – bringing swift movement to Handel’s rapidly set verses…but allowing plenty of spacious swagger and grandeur in the big choruses supported by trumpets…This is an ideal recording for those of us looking for a change from the enthusiastically full-throated and highly articulated Handel singing we get from many British choirs … fit for a queen.” –International Record Review
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Sophie Karthäuser, Lucile Richardot, Les Arts Florissants & Paul Agnew – Vivaldi: The Great Venetian Mass (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:08:07 minutes | 1,20 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi
A puzzling paradox: although Vivaldi devoted over 30 years to composing for the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, no complete musical setting of any liturgy by him has come down to us. By intercalating existing examples of his sacred music (such as the famous Gloria) and other works given a different text to suit their new liturgical function (Sanctus and Agnus Dei), the ensemble Les Arts Florissants now offers us a compelling reconstruction of a solemn Mass which the “Red-Haired Priest” might have written… for just such an assembly of exceptional soloists!
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