Grands motets

Thursday 26 November 2009 7.30pm
Barbican Hall
Grands motets
Amel Brahim-Djelloul soprano
Emmanuelle de Negri soprano
Toby Spence tenor
Cyril Auvity tenor
Marc Mauillon baritone
Alain Buet baritone
Les Arts Florissants
William Christie conductor
Desmarest Usquequo Domine
Campra Exaudiat te Dominus
Interval
Julien Mignot/Virgin Classics
Rameau Deus noster refugium
Lully Te Deum
These concerts are part of a series of programmes
between London and Paris co-produced by the Barbican
Centre, the Salle Pleyel and the Cité de la Musique on the
occasion of the 30th anniversary of Les Arts Florissants.
introduction
Les Arts Florissants at 30
What a difference a generation makes. In the past 30 years, the world of Baroque music-making has been transformed.
Musicians had for a while been acquiring the skills of playing old instruments and rediscovering former playing styles, but it
was only during the 1970s that these made a major impact on the wider public. Of course there had been pioneers before
this: a whole generation of enthusiasts and researchers had explored old repertory, and Arnold Dolmetsch had played his
clavichord in candlelit London drawing rooms to the delight of George Bernard Shaw and Percy Grainger. But this was
essentially an esoteric activity – until a new generation of players and conductors launched themselves into the re-creation of
Baroque ensembles in the 1970s.
William Christie’s achievement with his French group Les Arts Florissants from 1979 onwards has been an outstanding part of
this revival, for it grew out of a repertory that many had thought inaccessible – the distant world of the French Baroque, with
its rich and dense texts, its complex ornamentation and rhetoric, and its unfamiliar emotional language. What Christie and
his young ensemble achieved in spectacular fashion was to show how, when performed with penetrating understanding and
vivid communication, this music could be made as available and exciting as any on offer. From Charpentier (who gave the
ensemble its name) and Lully through to Rameau, Les Arts Florissants lit up this music and brought it to life with unparalleled
success.
Christie’s ensemble has moved from the French Baroque into Handel and Purcell, Monteverdi and Landi, and beyond that to
Haydn and Mozart. It has gained a huge following for its fresh insights into Haydn’s The Creation and Monteverdi’s Vespers,
and its staged operas here at the Barbican – the fantastical, video-dominated production of Rameau’s Les Paladins and Luc
Bondy’s severely intense staging of Handel’s Hercules – have been among the highlights of our output.
So it is appropriate that this anniversary season celebrates the historic achievement of Les Arts Florissants with opera
(Purcell’s immortal Dido and Aeneas), oratorio (Handel’s rarely performed Susanna) and the French choral motets that the
group has made its own. And it is also entirely typical of its work with younger artists that for two of these anniversary
concerts, William Christie hands the baton on to directors of the next generation, Jonathan Cohen and Paul Agnew. Like the
great music of the past, Les Arts Florissants will continue to reinvent itself as it looks towards the next 30 years.
Nicholas Kenyon
Managing Director
2
programme note
Henry Desmarest (1661–1741) Usquequo Domine (1708)
André Campra (1660–1744) Exaudiat te Dominus (?1703)
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764) Deus noster refugium (c1714)
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–87) Te Deum (1677)
versets and when they are composed with a continual
In the staunchly Roman Catholic court of Louis XIV the rivalry
change in mind.
between Church and State was a subtle balancing act in
which the ideas of throne and godhead resided in close
Sébastian de Brossard, the composer of many motets and
proximity. In 1682 Louis opened a new royal chapel at
the author of a music dictionary published in 1703, observed
Versailles that was large enough to accommodate 80
of the genre:
musicians for particularly sumptuous compositions, such as
It is written for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and even more Voices or
grands motets. The prototype of the grand motet was
soloists, often with Instruments, and almost always with at
already in place by that time. In 1665 we find the Abbé Perrin,
least a Basse-continue … At present, the term embraces all
who prepared texts for many motets, describing the musical
pieces set to Latin words, no matter on what subject, such
make-up of the ‘low Masses’ that the king was partial to
as praises of the Saints, Elevations, etc. One even
attending:
composes entire Psalms in the form of a motet.
… there are ordinarily three [motets], one grand, one petit
for the Elevation, and a Domine salvum fac Regem. I have Indeed, Psalms were the most common sources for motet
texts in the French Baroque, set in part or in full, and ‘the
made the grands of such a length that they take up a
quarter of an hour … and they may be worked in from the several varied and different musical sections’ were typically
linked together, either by way of connective attaccas or
beginning of the Mass to the Elevation. Those of the
through the elision of musical material from one section to
Elevation are smaller works and can be performed up to
the next. Comments from the period clarify that petits motets
the Post-Communion where the Domine begins.
involved a modest gathering of one-to-a-part solo singers
He also supplied a useful description of a motet from a
while grands motets were more extravagant pieces that
librettist’s point of view:
included choirs in which the separate parts were handled by
… the Motet is a piece in which several varied and different sections of singers. So it is that the four works performed
tonight display a dizzying variety of textures built up from an
musical sections are linked together. …The variety of the
orchestra, a basso continuo assemblage, a petit choeur of
piece will be even greater and the composition easier for
the Composer when there is a variation in the stanzas and several solo singers, and a more massive grand choeur.
3
programme note
Two of the composers represented here – Lully and Campra
– worked within the sphere of Louis XIV, while the other two –
Desmarest and Rameau – reflected the influence of Versailles
music-making from a distance, at least at the time of these
compositions. Henry Desmarest (unlike Lully) had a talent for
not being in the right place at the right time. Appointed to a
minor musical post at court, he showed promise as an opera
composer; but that proved a dead-end when Lully’s royal
privilege of 1672 prevented anyone else from writing operas.
Desmarest’s real undoing came in 1696, though, when he fell
in love with a pupil of his whose father – a well-placed noble
bureaucrat – opposed their union. They eloped, and the
father-in-law had him tried for kidnapping and condemned
to death in absentia. Unable to return to his homeland,
Desmarest obtained positions in Spain and then Lorraine.
Not until after Louis XIV’s death was he allowed back into
France, but he met with little professional success and
returned to Lunéville, where he found the court in decline and
produced very few works in his old age.
For all his lack of success, Desmarest was a fine composer,
one drawn towards minor keys and dark timbres. These are
perfectly suited to the despairing opening stanzas of his
grand motet Usquequo Domine (Psalm 12 or 13, depending
on your Bible), composed in Lunéville in 1708, but Desmarest
also proves expert in reflecting the Psalmist’s transition to an
optimistic conclusion.
André Campra held positions in southern France – Aix,
Toulon, Arles and Montpellier – before acceding to the post
of Maître de Musique at Notre Dame de Paris in 1694. Three
4
years later his opera-ballet L’Europe galante scored a hit. At
first Campra tried to obscure his authorship, since the idea of
a church musician writing an opera seemed scandalous to
some, but he soon saw where his future lay and in 1700 he
resigned from Notre Dame to develop his career as a stage
composer. By 1720 he had started writing sacred music
again, and when he died, at the advanced age of 84, he left
a voluminous legacy of both sacred and secular works.
Exaudiat te Dominus, a setting of Psalm 19 (or 20), was not
published in Campra’s lifetime and, in fact, was long
mistakenly attributed to another composer. Trumpets and
timpani lend an especially brilliant air to this grand motet,
which may have been the work of Campra’s that was
performed at Les Invalides to celebrate the king’s recovery
from an illness in March 1703.
INTERVAL
Jean-Philippe Rameau heads the roster of French theatre
composers of the late Baroque thanks to the stream of stage
works that poured from his pen between 1733 and 1760.
Anyone watching Rameau’s career develop would have
found this a surprising achievement for a composer who
showed no particular aptitude for the stage in the first
decades of his career. In fact, Rameau celebrated his 50th
birthday a week before the premiere of his first large-scale
stage work, the opera Hippolyte et Aricie. Born into a family
of musicians, he became an expert organist and for two
decades, from 1702, occupied posts as a church organist in
programme note
Avignon, Clermont (two separate stints), Dijon and Lyon.
During this period of his life he produced a good deal of
sacred music, as well as secular cantatas and harpsichord
works. He also developed an interest in music theory, and in
1722 he moved to Paris apparently to oversee the publication
of his lengthy Traité de l’harmonie reduite à ses principes
naturels (‘Treatise on Harmony Reduced to its Natural
Principles’), the first of many influential, though controversial,
theoretical tracts he would author. (The young Hector Berlioz
tried to teach himself harmony from this book, but ended up
deciding, as he reported in his Memoirs, that ‘It is a treatise
on harmony for those who already know harmony’.)
Deus noster refugium, one of three extant grands motets by
Rameau, dates from about 1714, when it was most likely
unveiled not in a church but at a performance by the Lyon
Concert Society. Eleven verses from Psalm 46 (or 47) are
organised into three main sections, concluding in a grand
chorus. Among his contemporaries Rameau was peerless as
an orchestrator and a painter of musical pictures, as in the
passage of this grand motet where earthquakes reduce
mountains to the sea. Deus noster refugium is extravagant
in the evolving variety of its sound, which is drawn from a
four-part chorus, an orchestra of strings and oboes (plus
continuo), and no fewer than six vocal soloists.
The Florence-born Jean-Baptiste Lully rose from peasant
circumstances to become the dominant figure in French
music. His talent was supported by political savvy. He arrived
in France in 1646 to serve as the Italian-language tutor for
la Grande Mademoiselle, a cousin of Louis XIV who resided
in the Tuileries Palace. His skills as a dancer and musician
began to turn heads. In 1653 the king appointed him
Compositeur de la Musique Instrumentale, and in 1661,
when (following a regency) Louis took personal control of
the throne, he elevated his Compositeur to become
Surintendant de la Musique de la Chambre du Roy and
bestowed upon him French citizenship. That decade Lully
embarked on a series of stage collaborations with the
playwright Molière, and in 1672 he was granted a royal
privilege to direct the Académie Royale de Musique, for
which he wrote a superlative series of operas, including, most
notably, a number of tragédies-en-musique that, following
long somnolence, have earned new-found appreciation
from music-lovers through revivals during the past two
decades.
Sacred music was rather a sideline for Lully, but the relatively
small catalogue of such works he did produce is choice. His
Te Deum set a magnificent standard for the grand motet.
Lully wrote it for the baptismal ceremony of his own first son,
which took place on 9 September 1677; the king stood as
godfather for the infant, who, conveniently, was named
Louis. This work sadly played a role in Lully’s demise. While
conducting it in Paris in late 1686 he accidentally lowered his
conducting-staff (an unwieldy predecessor of the modern
baton) forcefully onto his foot; the wound turned gangrenous
and killed him three months later.
Programme note © James M. Keller
5
text and translation
Henry Desmarest
Usquequo Domine
Usquequo, Domine, oblivisceris me in finem?
Usquequo avertis faciem tuam a me?
How long wilt Thou forget me, O Lord? For ever?
How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?
Quamdiu ponam consilia in anima mea,
Dolore in corde meo per diem?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
Usquequo exaltabitur inimicus meus super me?
Respice, et exaudi me, Domine Deus meus.
How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and hear me, O Lord my God.
Illumina oculos meos, ne unquam obdormiam in morte;
Nequando dicat inimicus meus: praevalui adversus eum.
Lighten mine eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him.
Qui tribulant me exultabunt si motuos fuero;
Ego autem in misericordia tua speravi.
And those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved;
But I have trusted in Thy mercy.
Exultabit cor meum in salutari tuo.
Cantabo Domino in bona tribuit mihi;
Et psallam nomini Domini altissimi.
My heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation.
I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully
with me; yeah, I will sing to the name of the Lord most high.
André Campra
Exaudiat te Dominus
Exaudiat te Dominus in die tribulationis: protegat te nomen
Dei Jacob.
Mittat tibi auxilium de sancto et de Sion tueatur te.
Memor sit omnis sacrificii tui, et holocaustum tuum
pingue fiat.
Tribuat tibi secundum cor tuum, et omne consilium tuum
confirmet.
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the
name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you
support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices, and accept your burnt
offerings.
May he give you the desires of your heart, and make all your
plans succeed.
Laetabimur in salutari tuo et in nomine Dei nostri
magnificabimur.
Impleat Dominus omnes petitiones tuas; nunc cognovi
quoniam salvum fecit Dominus Christum suum.
Exaudiet illum de caelo sancto suo in potentatibus salus
dexterae ejus.
Hi in curribus et hi in equis; nos autem in nomine Domini Dei
nostri invocabimus.
We shall rejoice in your salvation and we shall be praised in
the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests; now I know that the
Lord saves his anointed.
He answers him from his holy Heaven with the saving power
of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses; but we trust in the
name of the Lord our God.
6
text and translation
Ipsi obligati sunt, et ceciderunt,
nos autem surreximus et erecti sumus.
Domine salvum fac regem!
Et exaudi nos in die qua invocaverimus.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
O Lord, save the king!
Answer us when we call to you.
INTERVAL
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Deus noster refugium
Deus noster refugium et virtus,
Adjutor in tribulationibus quae invenerunt nos nimis.
Propterea non timebimus, dum turbabitur terra,
Et transferentur montes in cor maris.
Sonnuerunt et turbatae sunt aquae eorum.
Conturbati sunt montes in fortitudine ejus.
Fluminis impetus laetificat civitatem Dei,
Sanctificavit tabernaculum suum Altissimus.
Deus in medio ejus non commovebitur.
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved,
And though the mountains be carried into the heart of the
sea.
Though the waters rage and swell,
And though the mountains quake at the towering seas.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the dwelling of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; therefore shall she not be
removed.
Adjuvabit eam Deus mane diluculo.
Conturbatae sunt gentes et inclinata sunt regna.
Dedit vocem tuam: mota est terra.
Dominus virtutum nobiscum, susceptor noster deus Jacob.
God shall help her at the break of day.
The nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken.
But God lifts his voice and the earth shall melt away.
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our
stronghold.
Venite et videte opera Domini quae posuit prodigia super
terram,
Auferens bella usque ad finem terrae.
Arcum conteret et confriget arma, et scuta comburet igni.
Come and behold the works of the Lord, what destruction he
has wrought upon the earth.
He makes wars to cease in all the world.
He shatters the bow and snaps the spear and burns the
chariots in the fire.
’Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the
earth.’
‘Vacate, et videte quoniam ego suum Deus;
Exaltabor in gentibus, et exaltabor in terra.’
Dominus virtutum nobiscum,
Suceptor noster Deus Jacob.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Please turn page quietly
7
text and translation
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Te Deum
Te Deum laudamus:
Te Dominum confitemur.
We praise Thee, O God:
We acknowledge Thee to be Lord.
Te aeternum Patrem omnis terra veneratur.
Tibi omnes Angeli, tibi Caeli, et universae Potestates:
Thee, the Father everlasting, all the earth doth worship.
To Thee, all the Angels, the Heavens, and all the powers:
Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim incessabili voce proclamant:
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
To Thee the Cherubim and Seraphim cry without ceasing:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra majestatis gloriae tuae.
Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus,
Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus,
Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.
Full are the heavens and the earth of the majesty of Thy
glory.
Thee, the glorious choir of the Apostles,
Thee, the admirable company of the Prophets,
Thee, the white-robed army of Martyrs praise.
Te per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur Ecclesia.
Patrem immensae majestatis;
Venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium;
Sanctum quoque paraclitum spiritum.
Tu rex gloriae, Christe.
Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius.
Tu, ad liberandum suscepturus hominem,
Non horruisti Virginis uterum.
Thee, the Holy Church throughout the world doth confess.
The Father of incomparable Majesty;
Thine adorable, true, and only Son;
And the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete.
Thou, O Christ, art the King of Glory.
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
Thou, having taken upon Thee to deliver man,
Didst not disdain the Virgin’s womb.
Tu, devicto mortis aculeo,
Aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum.
Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris.
Judex crederis esse venturus.
Thou, having overcome the sting of death,
hast opened to believers the Kingdom of Heaven.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God the Father.
Thou, we believe, art the Judge to come.
Te ergo quaesumus, famulis tuis subveni,
Quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.
Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari.
We beseech Thee, therefore, to help Thy servants,
whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with Thy Saints in glory
everlasting.
8
text and translation
Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine, et benedic haereditati
tuae.
Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum.
Per singulos dies benedicimus te;
Et laudamus nomen tuum in saeculum et in saeculum saeculi.
O Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance.
Dignare, Domine, dies isto sine peccato nos custodire.
Miserere nostri, Domine, miserere nostri.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, this day, to keep us without sin.
Have mercy upon us; O Lord; have mercy upon us.
Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos, quemadmodum
speravimus in te.
Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us; as we have trusted in
Thee.
In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum.
In Thee, O Lord, have I trusted; let me not be confounded for
ever.
And govern them, and exalt them for ever.
Day by day we bless Thee;
And we praise Thy name for ever, yea, for ever and ever.
9
about the performers
About tonight’s performers
Pascal Gély
Monteverdi, Purcell, Handel, Mozart
and Haydn.
William Christie conductor
William Christie’s pioneering work as
harpsichordist, conductor, musicologist
and teacher has led to a renewed
interest in Baroque music in France.
Born in America, he studied at
Harvard and Yale Universities before
moving to France in 1971, where he
founded Les Arts Florissants eight
years later. With the ensemble he has
explored many neglected or forgotten
works, both sacred and secular. As well
as championing the French Baroque,
ranging from Charpentier to Rameau,
via Couperin, Mondonville, Campra
and Montéclair, he is acclaimed in
10
In the opera house, he has worked with
many renowned directors, including
Jean-Marie Villégier, Robert Carsen,
Alfredo Arias, Jorge Lavelli, Graham
Vick, Adrian Noble, Andrei Serban
and Luc Bondy. Last year Les Arts
Florissants began a collaboration with
the Teatro Real de Madrid, where the
ensemble will perform all the
Monteverdi operas over coming
seasons.
As a guest conductor William Christie
regularly appears at Glyndebourne
and with the Berlin Philharmonic
Orchestra, as well as conducting
Zurich Opera in works by Gluck,
Rameau and Handel, and the Opéra
National de Lyon in Così fan tutte and
The Marriage of Figaro.
He is also committed to the
professional development of young
artists, and many of the music directors
of today’s Baroque ensembles began
their careers with Les Arts Florissants.
In 2002 he created Le Jardin des Voix,
an academy for young singers in
Caen, whose first three seasons
generated considerable international
interest.
As a conductor and harpsichordist,
William Christie has made over 70
recordings, many of which have
received awards.
William Christie acquired French
nationality in 1995. He is an Officier
dans l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur
as well as Officier dans l’Ordre des
Arts et des Lettres. He was elected to
the Académie des Beaux-Arts in
November 2008.
A. Kessaisia
in London, Paris, Geneva, Madrid and
New York. She was then invited to sing
in Handel’s Messiah with the National
Symphony Orchestra of Washington.
She made her debut at the Aix-enProvence Festival in 2005 in the role of
Servilia in a new production of La
clemenza di Tito.
Amel Brahim-Djelloul soprano
Considered one of the most promising
singers of her generation, Amel
Brahim-Djelloul started her musical
studies with the violin. She studied
singing in Algiers and then at the Paris
Conservatoire, graduating in 2003.
Among her early roles were Dido
under Stephen Stubbs and Pamina
under Alain Altinoglu. She came to the
attention of René Jacobs, leading to
roles in L’incoronazione di Poppaea in
Berlin and Brussels.
Amel Brahim-Djelloul later took part in
William Christie’s Jardin des Voix,
appearing in leading musical centres
Since then her roles have included
Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro) at
the opera of Angers-Nantes and in
Lausanne, Despina (Così fan tutte) in
Nice, Adina (L’elisir d’amore) in
Avignon and the title-role in
Messager’s Véronique at the Paris
Châtelet. She has also performed in
L’incoronazione di Poppaea in
Geneva and in a new production of
Pelléas et Mélisande, conducted by
Bernard Haitink in Paris.
Amel Brahim-Djelloul appears
regularly in recitals with Claude Lavoix,
Anne le Bozec and Anne-Céline
Barrère.
Abdellah Lasri
about the performers
Emmanuelle de Negri soprano
The soprano Emmanuelle de Negri
initially studied cello, before entering
the Nîmes Conservatoire, where she
developed her singing, focusing
particularly on Mozart and Rossini.
This was followed by studies at the
Paris Conservatoire, working
simultaneously on bel canto and
Baroque repertoire where she won first
prize for her final recital. She recently
completed the conservatoire’s
postgraduate programme, studying
with Susan Manoff and Olivier Reboul.
On stage Emmanuelle de Negri has
sung Barbarina (The Marriage of
Figaro), Cupid (Offenbach’s Orpheus
11
about the performers
Among the conductors with whom she
has worked are Alain Altinoglu,
Gilbert Bezzina, William Christie,
Stéphane Denève, Vincent Dumestre,
Laurence Equilbey, Gabriel Garrido,
Philippe Hui, Alessandro de Marchi,
Zsolt Nagy, Hervé Niquet, Emmanuel
Olivier and Jean-Yves Ossonce.
Emmanuelle de Negri has also
collaborated with prominent stage
directors, including Benoît Bénichou,
Gilles Bouillon, Vincent Boussard,
Claude Buchwald, François de
12
Carpentries, Emmanuelle Cordoliani,
Pierre Kuentz, Jacques Osinsky, Jeanne
Roth and Edouard Signolet.
Mitch Jenkins
in the Underworld), Yniold (Pelléas et
Mélisande), Tonina (Salieri’s Prima la
musica poi le parole), Elena (Cavalli’s
Ercole amante), Serpetta (Mozart’s
La finta giardiniera), Oberto (Handel’s
Alcina), Miles (The Turn of the Screw),
First Grace (Belli’s Orfeo dolente),
Clorinda (La Cenerentola), Jeunesse
(Destouches’s Le carnaval et la folie),
Cleofide (Handel’s Poro), Despina
(Così fan tutte), Agnese (Pasquini’s
Il martirio di Sant’Agnese), Shepherd
Boy (Tosca) and Leona (Offenbach’s
La belle Hélène).
Toby Spence tenor
An honours graduate and choral
scholar from New College, Oxford,
Toby Spence studied at the Opera
School of the Guildhall School of
Music & Drama.
On the concert platform, he has sung
with the Cleveland Orchestra under
Christoph von Dohnányi, the Berlin
Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle,
the San Francisco Symphony under
Michael Tilson Thomas, the Rotterdam
Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev,
Les Musiciens du Louvre under Marc
Minkowski, the London Symphony
Orchestra under Rattle and Sir Colin
Davis, the Accademia Nazionale di
Santa Cecilia under Antonio Pappano
and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth
Century under Frans Brüggen. He has
recorded widely for many labels.
Toby Spence made his operatic début
as Idamante (Idomeneo) for Welsh
National Opera, and has since sung
the role with Scottish Opera and the
Bavarian State Opera. He has also
appeared at opera houses in Munich,
Brussels, Geneva, Hamburg, Madrid,
San Francisco, Santa Fe and Vienna,
among others, and at the Aix-enProvence and Edinburgh festivals.
He has established close links with
English National Opera, the Opéra de
Paris and the Royal Opera, Covent
Garden. For the Opéra de Paris his
appearances include Billy Budd, Les
Boréades, William Tell, Alcina, Die
Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Handel’s
L’Allegro, il penseroso ed il moderato,
about the performers
Katya Kabanova, and The Rake’s
Progress. With English National Opera
his roles include Fenton, Ferrando,
Tamino, Paris (La belle Hélène) and the
title-role in Candide. For the Royal
Opera he has sung the Simpleton
(Boris Godunov), Ferdinand, Count
Almaviva, Kudryash (Katya Kabanová)
and Ramiro (La Cenerentola).
Future engagements include Tom
Rakewell for the Royal Opera House,
Henry Morosus in the new production
of Strauss’s Die schweigsame Frau for
the Bavarian State Opera, his first
Faust for ENO and his debut at the
Metropolitan Opera, as Laertes
(Hamlet).
Cyril Auvity tenor
Cyril Auvity read Physics at Lille
University and studied singing at
Lille Conservatory, winning the
international singing competition in
Clermont Ferrand in 1999. He came
to the attention of William Christie,
performing Telemaco (Monteverdi’s
Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria) with him
at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and
throughout Europe and the USA.
He has since worked regularly with
Christie, including in Charpentier’s
David et Jonathas and Il ritorno di
Ulisse in patria.
including Christophe Rousset, Hervé
Niquet, Gabriel Garrido, Paul
McCreesh and Emmanuelle Haïm. He
has also appeared at many
international opera houses and
festivals, in such repertoire as Lully’s
Medée and Persée, Charpentier’s
Actéon, Cavalli’s Gli strali d’amore,
Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and Dido
and Aeneas, Rameau’s Pygmalion,
Destouches’s Callirhoé, Gounod’s Le
medecin malgré lui and Mozart’s The
Magic Flute.
Among recent projects are: Aeneas
(Dido and Aeneas) and Don Ottavio
(Don Giovanni) in Montpellier,
Handel’s Partenope in Italy, under
Ottavio Dantone, Lully’s Thésée in
Paris and in Lille with Haïm and Basilio
(The Marriage of Figaro) in Lille.
Cyril Auvity’s discography includes
recordings for several major labels.
He has worked with many other
leading early-music conductors,
13
about the performers
Katia Feltrin
Così fan tutte, Poulenc’s Les mamelles
de Tirésias, Debussy’s Pelléas et
Melisande, Peter Eötvös’s Le balcon
and Pascal Dusapin’s Roméo
et Juliette.
Marc Mauillon baritone
The French baritone Marc Mauillon
performs a wide range of music, with a
particular emphasis on the Baroque.
He was a member of William Christie’s
Le Jardin des Voix in 2002 and
continues to perform regularly with
Les Arts Florissants, both live and on
record, including in Charpentier’s
Le jugement de Salomon, Lully’s
Armide, the current tour of Dido and
Aeneas and forthcoming concerts of
French grands motets in France and
here at the Barbican.
Other notable operatic performances
include Purcell’s King Arthur under
Hervé Niquet, The Magic Flute,
14
In the concert hall Marc Mauillon’s
repertoire ranges from Machaut via
Caccini, Moulinié and Monteverdi to
Mahler, Ravel and Korngold. He
frequently works with Jordi Savall and
such ensembles as Alla Francesca and
Doulce Mémoire.
His discography includes works by
Machaut, Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini
and sacred works by Charpentier.
This season Marc Mauillon sings in
Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges for
Opéra de Nancy and in Bernstein’s
Trouble in Tahiti, and will record and
perform on stage Monteverdi’s
Combattimento with Le Poème
Harmonique.
Alain Buet baritone
The French baritone Alain Buet made
his debut following studies in Caen and
at the Paris Conservatoire. He has
since worked with many leading
conductors, including William Christie,
Laurence Equilbey, Martin Gester,
Jacques Grimbert, Hervé Niquet,
Jean-Claude Malgoire and David
Stern and with instrumentalists such as
Patrick Cohën-Akenine, Marie-José
Delvincour, Claire Désert, Zhu XiaoMei, Laurent Stewart and Emmanuel
Strosser.
His repertoire ranges from the 16th to
the 20th centuries, encompassing both
sacred and secular music. He is
about the performers
regularly invited to leading
international festivals, including those
in Versailles, Leipzig, Amsterdam,
Cremona, Nantes, Fez, Innsbruck,
Parma and Istanbul, the Beethoven
Festival in Bonn and the Bach Festival
in Lausanne.
Under Malgoire he has sung in
Handel’s Agrippina, Mozart’s Bastien
und Bastienne and The Marriage of
Figaro and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi.
With Christie he has appeared in
Charpentier’s David et Jonathas and
Landi’s Il Sant’Alessio. In 1990 he
founded his own ensemble, Les
Musiciens du Paradis.
Alain Buet’s many recordings include
Lalande’s Grands motets under Martin
Gester, Charpentier’s Leçons de
ténèbres, Boismortier’s Daphnis et
Chloé and Desmarest’s Grand motets
under Malgoire, the Requiems of
Gossec and Mozart and Charpentier’s
Vespers under Olivier Schneebeli and
Handel’s Jephtha under David Stern.
Les Arts Florissants
The renowned vocal and instrumental
ensemble Les Arts Florissants was
founded in 1979 by William Christie,
and takes its name from an opera by
Marc-Antoine Charpentier.
Since the acclaimed production of Atys
by Lully at the Opéra Comique in Paris
in 1987, it has been in the field of opera
that Les Arts Florissants has found most
success. Notable productions include
works by Rameau (Les Indes galantes
in 1990 and 1999, Hippolyte et Aricie
in 1996, Les Boréades in 2003, Les
Paladins in 2004), Charpentier (Médée
in 1993 and 1994), Handel (Orlando in
1993, Acis and Galatea in 1996,
Semele in 1996, Alcina in 1999,
Hercules in 2004 and 2006), Purcell
(King Arthur in 1995, Dido and Aeneas
in 2006), Mozart (The Magic Flute in
1994, Die Entführung aus dem Serail
at the Opéra du Rhin in 1995) and
Monteverdi (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria
at Aix-en-Provence in 2000, revived in
2002, L’incoronazione di Poppaea in
2005, and L’Orfeo at the Teatro Real,
Madrid in 2008).
Les Arts Florissants has an equally high
profile in the concert hall, giving
concert performances of operas
(Zoroastre and Les fêtes d’Hébé by
Rameau, Idomenée by Campra,
Jephté by Montéclair and L’Orfeo by
Rossi), as well as secular chamber
works (Actéon, Les plaisirs de
Versailles and La descente d’Orphée
aux Enfers by Charpentier and Dido
and Aeneas by Purcell) and sacred
music (Grands motets by Rameau,
Mondonville and Desmarest) and
Handel oratorios.
The ensemble has an impressive
discography of over 70 CD recordings,
most recently Haydn’s The Creation. Its
most recent DVD is Il Sant’Alessio by
Stefano Landi, filmed at the Théâtre de
Caen, where, for the past 15 years, the
ensemble has been artist-in-residence.
Les Arts Florissants also tours widely
within France, and is a frequent
ambassador for French culture
abroad, regularly appearing at the
Brooklyn Academy, the Lincoln Center
in New York, the Barbican Centre and
the Vienna Festival.
Les Arts Florissants receive financial
support from the Ministry of Culture and
Communication, the City of Caen and the
Région Basse-Normandie. Their sponsor is
Imerys. Les Arts Florissants are artists in
residence at the Théâtre de Caen.
15
about the performers
Les Arts Florissants Orchestra
Musical Director
William Christie
Executive Manager
Luc Bouniol-Laffont
Violin I
Florence Malgoire leader
Jean-Paul Burgos
Myriam Gevers
Sophie Gevers-Demoures
Isabel Serrano
Violin II
Catherine Girard
Roberto Crisafulli
Valérie Mascia
Michèle Sauvé
Ruth Weber
Violin/Viola
Martha Moore
George Willms
Viola
Galina Zinchenko
Deirdre Dowling
Gabriel Grosbard
Simon Heyerick
Samantha Montgomery
Marcial Moreiras
Lucia Peralta
Cello
David Simpson
basso continuo
Elena Andreyev
Emmanuel Balssa
Ulrike Brütt
Brigitte Crépin
Damien Launay
Marion Middenway
Double Bass
Jonathan Cable
basso continuo
Michael Greenberg
Flute
Serge Saitta
Charles Zebley
Oboe
Pier Luigi Fabretti
Michel Henry
Bassoon
Rhoda-Mary Patrick
Claude Wassmer
Timpani
Marie-Ange Petit
Viola da gamba
Anne-Marie Lasla
basso continuo
Organ
Paolo Zanzu
basso continuo
Répétiteur
Florian Carré
Trumpet
Jean-François Madeuf
Gilles Rapin
Les Arts Florissants Choir
Soprano
Francesca Boncompagni
Ingeborg Dalheim
Anne-Emmanuelle Davy
Nicole Dubrovich
Emmanuelle Gal
Maud Gnidzaz
Brigitte Pelote
Isabelle Sauvageot
Virginie Thomas
16
High Tenor
Camillo Angarita
Jean-Xavier Combarieu
Marc Molomot
Bruno Renhold
Marcio Soares Holanda
Renaud Tripathi
Tenor
Thibaut Lenaerts
Nicolas Maire
Jean-Yves Ravoux
Maurizio Rossano
Michael Loughlin Smith
Bass
Virgile Ancely
Geoffroy Buffière
Fabrice Chomienne
Laurent Collobert
Baritone
Justin Bonnet
Christophe Gautier
Ludovic Provost
Marduk Serrano Lopez
Chorus Master
François Bazola

Download Report