Les Arts Florissants

Founded with the eminent harpsichordist William Christie in 1979, Les Arts Florissants is among the world’s most acclaimed ensembles carrying out Baroque and Classical vocal and instrumental music. The group was called following a one-act opera by French Baroque composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier. A fantastic musician and scholar, Christie immersed himself within the French Baroque, rediscovering several overlooked masterpieces within the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, editing, and carrying out works by several important French composers, including Charpentier, Campra, Couperin, and Rameau. Furthermore to rediscovering, editing, and generating many neglected French functions, Christie and his ensemble also have performed much regular, and less popular, Baroque repertoire, especially music for the stage, including functions by British and Italian composers. In 1983, Les Arts Florissants created Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Monteverdi’s Ballo delle ingrate. 2 yrs later on, the group performed Rameau’s Anacréon and Charpentier’s Take actionéon. Like a central physique from the French Baroque, Charpentier, a flexible and profound composer, in addition to Molière’s collaborator, drawn Christie’s curiosity, and Les Arts Florissants created many of this composer’s overlooked functions. In 1987, the ensemble received the Grand Prix de la Critique for the creation of Lully’s Atys, which work was offered great achievement in Madrid, Florence, and NY. The group received another Grand Prix de la Critique, in 1989, because of its production from the Fairy Queen by Purcell. Molière’s Le Malade imaginaire, with incidental music by Charpentier, was stated in 1990. 3 years later on, Les Arts Florissants performed Charpentier’s Médée. In 1996, the ensemble offered an extremely acclaimed creation of Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie. Featured for the 2000-2001 period were functions by Rameau (Les Indes galantes and Zoroastre), Charpentier, Couperin, Brossard, Cesti, and Handel. The intensive discography of Les Arts Florissants contains a lot more than 40 discs for the Harmonia Mundi label. Since 1994, nevertheless, the group provides recorded solely for Erato/Warner Classics. Its award-winning recordings consist of Purcell’s Ruler Arthur and Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie, which both received the Grammophone Award, Early Opera category, and Rameau’s grands motets, which received the Grammophone Award, Baroque Vocal category. The group famous 30 years through the 2009-2010 period and in addition welcomed associate conductors Paul Agnew and Jonathan Cohen. Various other critically acclaimed recordings consist of Handel’s Alcina, Acis and Galatea, and Orlando; Mozart’s Mass in C minimal and Requiem; Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas; Charpentier’s Les Plaisirs de Versailles, La descente d’Orphée aux Enfers, and Médée; Monteverdi’s Vespro della beata vergine; Rameau’s Les Fêtes d’Hébé; Mondonville’s grands motets; Landi’s Sant’Alessio; and Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres. Dvd movie efforst consist of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Lully’s Armide.