Calendar

Venetian Splendours

Gloria & Magnificat by Vivaldi

Famous virtuoso violinist, and the author of over 500 instrumental concertos, sacred choral works and over 40 operas, Vivaldi wrote a lot of master pieces for the Ospedale della Pietà, a religious institution where young orphan or abandoned girls received a musical education, among which the Gloria RV 589 is one of his most beloved ones.

"Vivaldi is simply overwhelming. To approach his music ... read more

Purcell's King Arthur

10 years anniversary!

A true baroque gem, signed by Henry Purcell, with a plot rich in twists and turns and colourful characters; King Arthur has met with continuing success since its first performance in 1690. 

The story tells of the confrontation between the Breton Christian King Arthur and the pagan King Oswald the Saxon. Assisted by two enchanters – Merlin on the side of good and Osmond on the side of evil – they fight... read more

Fauré's Requiem

Two visions of the sacred repertoire in France at the end of the 19^th century

"My requiem was composed for nothing....for pleasure, if I may say so...", it is in these terms that Gabriel Fauré referred to his Requiem, probably one of his best known and most played scores today. The idea of pleasure may seem incongruous in the context of a mass for the dead, but the musician saw it as a deliverance, almost a moment of happines... read more

The Magic Flute by W.-A. Mozart

Mozart in French

In 1791 at the Theater auf der Wieden, in a suburb of Vienna, Mozart gave the premiere of his Singspiel Die Zauberflöte. Emanuel Schikaneder's libretto, which also directs the production in his own theatre, aims to speak to a popular audience in his own language. Thanks to the dramatic and dreamlike qualities of the work, and Mozart's brilliant music, it has surpassed 100 performances in one year, and its suc... read more

God Save the King!

Heading for England with Handel's Coronation Anthems

The long tradition of musicians attached to princes or kings tends to prove that music was for a long time an essential element in establishing political power.Handel was no exception to the rule and the Coronations Anthems, composed for the coronation of George II, as well as the Dettingen Te Deum, which celebrates England's victory over the French army at Dettingen in 174... read more

Les Aventures du Baron de Münchhausen

Baroque lyrical comedy with music by Rameau, Boismortier, Campra, Montéclair...

"The Baron of Münchhausen, with his journey to the moon on a cannonball or his rising out of quicksand and his horse's lifting himself up by his hair, is part of the Germanic heritage, and has become a legendary figure like our Cyrano de Bergerac in France.
As a conductor, the Baron of Münchhausen gives me wings to recompose a lyrical "drama" aro... read more

Mass by Gounod and Saint-Saëns

Sacred Saint-Saëns, centenary of his death

With this program, Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel wish to highlight the rarely performed sacred works of 19th century French composers, whose operas are nowadays mostly known to the public.

Hervé Niquet has put together a program mixing traditional Gregorian antiphons and rare works by Gounod and Saint-Saëns, all marked by the same neo-classical approach.
Gounod's Messe Vo... read more

From Venice to Versailles

Gervais / Vivaldi

After the success of their world re-creation of Destouches' Sémiramis in 2018, Les Ombres and Le Concert Spirituel's choir continue their exploration of French never before performed repertoire in Ambronay. Charles-Hubert Gervais (1671-1744), superintendent and master of music at the Chapelle Royale under Louis XV, composed works for choir and orchestra strongly influenced by Italian music. Some of his great... read more

Molière & Lully's Le Mariage forcé

Comedy-ballet in three acts

Le Mariage forcé is the second comedy-ballet composed by Molière and his first real collaboration with Lully. The composition in successive "sketches" is still typical of the ballet de cour from which the comedy-ballet derives, and in this respect quite close to Les Fâcheux (1661).

By creating a subtle general movement alternating between acceleration and rest, Molière and Lully composed a work ... read more

Le Sicilien ou l'Amour peintre by Molière and Lully

Comédie ballet in one act

Le Sicilien owes its brevity to its place in the immense and sumptuous Ballet des Muses, of which it was only one of the fourteen "entries" - but the very last, and therefore the "highlight". In barely an hour, Molière and Lully outdid themselves. All the codes of courtly comedy are respected: the place of the love story in the gallant tone, the refinement of the modes of expression, and, of course, ... read more

Mozart and the Haydn brothers

Mozart's Messes brèves and works by the Haydn brothers

What could be more subtle than letting music transmit, without words, the ideas of the divine text?
The program of this concert invites us to experience this questioning, with Mozart's Masses breves KV 192 and KV 194, each adopting a different position. Haydn's Te Deum No.1 in C major and Mozart's Ave verum KV 618 seek synthesis. In this they respond to the ideal of bala... read more

Echo et Narcisse de Gluck

After five consecutive triumphs at the Paris Opera since 1774, which ensured his place as a reformer of French opera, Chevalier Gluck, also known as the Bohemian Juggler, was adored by the public and protected by Queen Marie-Antoinette. The new commission from the Royal Academy of Music was also his last work: Echo & Narcisse, based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, was premiered in Paris in 1779. With a style more akin to the pastoral t... read more

Mozart's Requiem

The ultimate masterpiece!

What is genius? Perhaps to write, in a single summer, three symphonies that will mark the history of music and will be played tirelessly long after their composition in 1788... The first opus of this dazzling trio, Mozart's Symphony No. 39, alternates between insouciance and gravity, and in it one encounters, like a vigorous spectre, a few motifs from the Don Giovanni composed shortly before. Three y... read more

Charpentier's Médée

This production is made possible by the generous support of Aline Foriel-Destezet.

After so many years of being prevented by Lully's operatic privilege from performing anything other than pastorals and religious music, Charpentier finally reached the opera stage at the age of 50. He had already won over the public with his Malade imaginaire, a comedy-ballet produced with Molière twenty years earlier. Médée was Charpentier's "... read more

Grétry's La Caravane du Caire

Opera-ballet in three acts to a libretto by Étienne Morel de Chédeville, first performed at the Théâtre royal de Fontainebleau in 1783.

Watch out masterpiece resurrected!

La Caravane du Caire was a triumph at its premiere in 1783, and continued to resonate through the ranks of Napoleon's army with the chorus "La Victoire est à nous!" Grétry's colourful piece, with its patriotic accents, is a true hymn to France: in the san... read more