Christophe Coin

A fascinating release featuring chamber music by the largely unknown Alexandre Pierre François Boëly played the award-winning and internationally acclaimed Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, directed by Christophe Coin and Quatuor Mosaïques.

French composer, Alexandre Pierre François Boëly’s (1785 - 1858) distaste for the mainstream musical life in Paris as the Romantic movement swept through Europe in the 19th Century, and his desire to write ‘serious’ music, proved to be his downfall and could ultimately be said to be the reason for Boëly being relatively unknown today. Boëly championed instead the great composers of the past that he greatly admired such as: Haydn, Frescobaldi, Couperin and Bach. In not adhering to the popular standards of composition expected in this period, music that was both patriotic and operatic, Boëly was dismissed from his position as organist at Saint Germain l'Auxerrois and died a simple piano teacher seven years later. Though his name is relatively unknown, Boëly is widely acknowledged as playing a big part in the development of French music during the 19th Century. Interestingly, near the end of his life, he acted as a mentor to César Franck and Camille Saint-Saëns – both of whom respected his greatly. He is best known for his chamber works.

The Ensemble Baroque de Limoges (EBL) was founded 1984 under conductor Jean-Michel Hasler with the aim of becoming the leader in the performance of 17th- and 18th-century music. In 1991 Christophe Coin was nominated as the new musical director. Since 1992 the EBL have been regular guests at major international events such as the Salzburg Mozartwoche, Leipzig Bachtage, Innsbruck Festwochen der Alten Musik, as well playing at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Bach festival in Milan, in Paris at the Cité de la Musique and Châtelet Theatre, and many other venues throughout France. 1995 Christophe Coin and EBL won the first prize at France's Music Awards Competition, Victoires de la Musique Classique, in the category of best instrumental ensemble, for their recording of all Bach's cello piccolo Cantatas.

Here we have four masterpieces from J.S. Bach's vast output of cantatas – four works in which the violoncellopiccolo plays an important part. The violoncello piccolo is played by Christophe Coin; it vies with the beauty, clarity and purity of the voices, including that of Andreas Scholl.