Couperin, F: L'Apothéose de Lulli (Concert Instrumental sous le Titre d'Apothéose composé à la mémoire immortelle de l'incomparable Monsieur de Lully)

Recordings: 1962, Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London, UK, (Les Nations) & Kingsway Hall, London, UK, 1966 (Apothéose de Lully)

One of Couperin’s most important, varied and profound compositions, Apothéose de Lully is cast in a programmatic form. Each movement tells a section of the story of the acceptance of Lully into Parnassus, his meeting there with Corelli (the founding fathers of the rival French and Italian styles), and Apollo's persuading of them to bring about a reconciliation of the two styles for the sake of ‘la perfection de la Musique’. Originally indicated to be performed on two harpsichords, or even as a piece for chamber orchestra, Raymond Leppard has carefully devised the piece in such a way as he thinks it might have been played in a formal concert performance, drawing clues on instrumentation from contemporary operatic scores.

The companion piece on this CD, the first two ‘ordres’ of Les Nations is performed by one of the early pioneering Baroque ensembles, The Jacobean Ensemble (with Neville Marriner playing first violin) under Thurston Dart. Reviewing the recording in November 1962, Gramophone praised the recording for being ‘distinguished by the finesse of playing and a sense of style that is all too rare in modern recordings of 17th-century masterpieces. The elegance, grace, and charm of these suites for the standard trio-sonata group reach the listener with an air of easy authority, thanks to the expert handling of ornaments by these four players. The violins of Neville Marriner and Carl Pini blend as smoothly as one could wish, and Desmond Dupre’s gamba is skilfully balanced into the ensemble, whose mainstay and prop is the harpsichord realisation in the capable hands of Thurston Dart. The individual character of these pieces emerges vividly and naturally, and will surely give pleasure to all connoisseurs of French music.’

First release on CD.

Philippe Pierlot and his superb Ricercar Consort present tributes to both Corelli and Lully with the two Apothéoses by François Couperin, written in the memory of Arcangelo Corelli and Jean-Baptiste Lully respectively. Behind them is an aesthetic programme: they are a plea for the mixture of the Italian and the French style, the so-called goûts réunis. The ensemble consists of Marc Hantaï and Georges Barthel (transverse flutes), François Fernandez and Sophie Gent (violins), Philippe Pierlot (viola da gamba), Eduardo Egüez (theorbo and guitar) and François Guerrier (harpsichord). Both pieces are given lively and expressive interpretations: Couperin's Apothéoses are in the tradition of the tombeau, and therefore the Tombeau de Monsieur de Lully by Jean-Féry Rebel fits well into the programme and is performed in between the two pieces by Couperin.

Launching Ambronay Editions' 'Jeunes Ensembles' collection, Concert chez la Reine opens a window on the French Enlightenment. Les Ombres, directed by Margaux Blanchard and Sylvain Sartre, contrast masterworks by Couperin le Grand with music from Colin de Blamont, master of the Kings chamber music to Louis XV, realised from manuscripts in the Bibliothèque nationale.

The Court of the Sun King is a 10CD set celebrating both the glories of the French Baroque and the glories of the Erato catalogue. For over half a century Erato has led the way in bringing this period of music out of libraries to the wider world of listeners. Many of their classic recordings from the 1960s and 70s, featuring French musicians and ensembles such as Jean-François Paillard, Louis Martini and Marie-Claire Alain, are now brought together for the first time. From grand sacred works by Charpentier to vivid theatrical pieces by Lully to intimate sonatas by Boismortier, The Court of the Sun King takes in the gamut of musical life in this period of exceptional cultural richness.