Marie Magistry / Sylvain Bergeron LA BERGÈRE

LA BERGÈRE

 

Les Arts Florissants / William Christie LAMBERT Airs de Cour

AIRS DE COUR

Sébastien Daucé / Ensemble Correspondances BALLET ROYAL DE LA NUIT

The celebrated Ballet Royal de la Nuit, danced by His Majesty Louis XIV at the age of fifteen, was performed early in 1653 on seven evenings in the Salle du Petit-Bourbon at the Louvre Palace. It enjoyed general success: the aristocracy, present in large numbers, the ambassadors of Europe, but also the bourgeois of the city of Paris acclaimed this lavish spectacle whose enchantments made a lasting impression. To make a lasting impression: that was precisely the grand project of Mazarin, who had just returned to power after the disturbances of the Fronde rebellion. Commissioned by the cardinal in person, this ballet project had been conceived at the highest levels of state as a promotional tool for royal power: the intention was to impose respect on the high-ranking personages of the kingdom, to impress the Parisians who were present, and to disseminate this message elsewhere in the world through the intermediary of the foreign representations. If today’s historians are in agreement that the Ballet Royal de la Nuit was one of the key spectacles of Louis XIV’s reign, it is because it was influential in numerous respects: political, institutional, aesthetic and musical. For the first time in the history of the genre, the libretto is unified and skilfully laid out in four veilles (the watches of the night) and a concluding grand ballet; all the levels of interpretation and all the arts move towards a single goal: the rising of the Sun.

Nils Mönkemeyer BAROQUE

Finally after all these years of reviews, I have a virtuosic viola album to review! The ‘King of Instruments’ (as it has been dubbed in certain circles), is often the considered the poor cousin to the violin but it has a beautifully resonant tone and this depth of sound makes it pleasing to the ears at all times. This beautiful collection of pieces from the Baroque era shows off the German virtuoso Nils Mönkemeyer’s technical and musical capabilities without ever making these difficult works sound even remotely challenging.

Many viola soloists can find it awkward to put together a full concert or album of works all originally written for viola so in the tradition of Bach himself, the J.S. Bach Cello Suite No. 5 has been rearranged for viola and theorbo. Now before you go running for the hills scared of what a theorbo is – it’s just a lovely sounding, though extremely complicated kind of guitar or lute.

The opening work is by the relatively unknown Robert de Visée (from the courts of French kings Louis XIV and XV), and is simply delightful! The three short movements start off with such French flair, that there is an interesting contrast to Bach’s now famous contrapuntal style (more than one melodic idea at the same time) which follows directly. Then another interlude of French Baroque, with some Michel Lambert (whose daughter went on to become the wife of the famous Jean-Baptiste Lully) before finishing with more Bach. Although Mönkemeyer has recorded a number of albums in the past, this is the first time that I have heard him perform and I will be searching through his back catalogue as I so enjoyed this lovely album. (Kate Rockstrom)