Monday 19 May, 7.30pm
St. John’s, Smith Square
| Ensemble Pierre Robert |
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| Frédéric Desenclos |
director |
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| Ensemble Pierre Robert |
Frédéric Desenclos |
Peace Sacred, Peace Profane
| Brossard |
Canticum eucharistum pro pace
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| Lully |
Idylle sur la paix
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Two lavishly elegant celebrations of peace from the time of Louis XIV. Lully’s operatic Idylle was composed in 1685 to mark the ending of a recent war. The ‘Eucharistic prayer for peace’, celebrating the joining of Strasbourg to the kingdom of France, is the most substantial work by one of the great underrated figures of French music, Sébastien de Brossard. Ensemble Pierre Robert, making their second visit to the Festival, have rapidly made a name for themselves as distinguished and refined interpreters of the vocaland-instrumental music of the French Baroque.
‘The quality of the performances is what makes [Grand motets pour la Chapelle de Louis XIV] such a splendid disc – as beautifully executed as it is presented.’
Early Music Today
Tickets £25, £20, £15, £10
Stay for Labyrinto and save 20% (see below)
Special Offers
• A free glass of French or Italian wine with each top or second price ticket purchased before 1 April
• Buy 2 or more top or second price tickets before 1 April and get a free CD of Grand motets pour la Chapelle de Louis XIV
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Ensemble Pierre Robert (Monday 19 May) is being recorded by BBC Radio 3 for broadcast in Performance on 3 at 7pm on Thursday 22 May |
Monday 19 May, 10:00pm
St. John’s, Smith Square
| Céline Scheen |
soprano
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| Labyrinto |
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| Paolo Pandolfo |
bass viol & director |
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| Paolo Pandolfo |
Captaine Humes Poeticall Musicke
Tobias Hume was an early seventeenth-century mercenary who campaigned with the armies of Sweden and Russia, but when back home in England confessed to one ‘effeminate part of me’ – a love of music. His enthusiasm for the bass viol in particular was a vital factor in its development as an instrument not only fit for ensemble music but also capable of functioning as a soloist and as an accompanist to a singer, and it is in all three of these roles that it appears in this concert by the brilliant Italian viol consort Labyrinto. Hume’s vocal and instrumental music is set alongside songs by Dowland and a highly ornamented version of Caccini’s famous Amarilli mia bella – surely enough to prove Hume’s contention that the viol ‘shall with ease yeelde full various and as devicefull Musicke as the Lute’.
‘The playing of Pandolfo and his superb continuo team is excellent throughout this heady musical cocktail of beauty and danger … ’
The Independent on Sunday
Tickets £15, £12, £9, £6 |
