Naxos: 8554295

"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