Le Concert Spirituel

"The choir and instrumentalists of Le Concert Spiritual are on their usual lively form .... directed with stylistic assurance by Niquet" - Gramophone Editor's Choice

"Meredith Hall has the widest range to encompass and is excellent....absolutely enchanting particularly when played with such elan as they are here under the lively and stylish direction of Niquet... How can they come up with something like this at budget price? ... a splendid disc that brings to the catalog much the finest work of this composer I've so far encountered" - Fanfare

"Besides Boismortier's four Ballets de Village, this bargain disc includes the 17 dance movements of the Premiere serenade, Op 39, and the Cinquieme gentillesse, Op 45. For those who do not know the name, Joseph Bodin de Boismortier worked in the first half of the 18th-century in Perpignan, Sceaux and Paris. He compiled a dictionary of harmony and wrote teaching manuals for flute and viol. After his death, he was criticised for taking advantage of the fact that a simple style was in vogue. But good for him, ...it's beautifully written and orchestrated, and combines a simple rusticity with a certain earthy elegance uncompromised by the near omnipresence of the drones and sinewy melodies of a pair of hurdy-gurdies. Herve Niquet's ensemble Le Concert Spirituel plays with a light tread and the recording is excellent." - International Record Review (Jeremy Nicholas), June 2000

"The splendour of Lully's ceremonial sacred music for the 17th-century French court is magnificently captured on this first volume in a series of his Grand Motets...excellently focused but with a spaciousness that adds to the thrill of the choral and solo singing." - Geoffrey Norris, The Daily Telegraph, London, 11th September 1999

"The performances here are first-rate, with an accomplished and idiomatic crew of soloists, and fine work from the band and chorus. These are still the only available recordings of three of the four motets. A real buy from Naxos. Warmly recommended." - Fanfare (Tom Moore), Sept.-Oct., 2000

"Briefly, these are polished and persuasive performances that favor energy and propulsion over stateliness or bombast. They may sound more theatrical that churchly, but that seems entirely appropriate to the music." - American Record Guide (William J. Gatens), September-October, 2000

"Herve Niquet and his ensemble, Le Concert Spirituel, are generally agreed to rank among the very finest exponents of French Baroque music. It was therefore an inspired choice when Naxos engaged them to record a series exploring the sacred music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier. This new disc is a worthy successor to the three previous releases and, like them, contains a mixed programme of motets and other liturgical works. The connecting theme for this volume is devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, though the mood changes at the end with a festive Chant joyeux du temps de Paques.Niquet is an ideal interpreter of this repertory, and his thoroughly idiomatic performances allow the two soprano voices in particular to be heard to maximum effect." - International Record Review (Edward Corp), May 2000