Les Arts Florissants
Language available : englishFrance's Les Arts Florissants were a pioneering ensemble when they were formed in 1979, unearthing Baroque works from France and beyond and performing them in historically authentic style. The group's influence has hardly diminished over their four decades of existence; they have spawned numerous operatic careers and have established a successful training program, Le Jardin des Voix. Les Arts Florissants were founded by the American harpsichordist William Christie, who had left the U.S. because of his opposition to the Vietnam War. A scholar as well as a musician, Christie largely created the group's repertory on his own; the works of French Baroque theatrical and choral composers like Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Jean-Philippe Rameau were only sparsely known to audiences when Christie began his work, but he edited new scores for performance, often delving into the collection of Paris' Bibliothèque Nationale. By 1985, Les Arts Florissants were mounting productions of French operas like Rameau's Anacréon and Charpentier's Actéon, sumptuous French court works that required full-scale authentic performances to come alive. In 1987, the group received the first of several Grand Prix de la Critique awards for their production of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Atys, which subsequently toured Europe and New York. Les Arts Florissants attracted the attention of major French recording companies almost immediately, signing with Harmonia Mundi and releasing a recording of works by the almost unknown composer Etienne Moulinié in 1980. That was the beginning of a partnership with Harmonia Mundi that by the late 2010s had grown to encompass almost 50 albums. Les Arts Florissants have recorded choral music with their own Les Arts Florissants choir, often focusing on the French grand motet repertory, and they have performed and recorded Italian and English operatic works. At the center of their repertory, however, is French opera, a field in which they have reigned supreme and have worked with France's top stage directors and choreographers. The stability of the Les Arts sound has been partly due to the long-term leadership of Christie, who turned over some duties to Scottish-born tenor and conductor Paul Agnew in the late 2000s but has remained active and vital in his involvement with the group. Over time the group's repertory has expanded forward in time somewhat to include the music of Mozart, but unlike other early music groups they have not attempted contemporary works. In 2002, Christie founded Le Jardin des Voix ("The Garden of Voices"), which soon became one of Europe's top enterprises for the training of young talent in the historical-performance field. Les Arts Florissants did not slacken their pace in the 2010s, releasing several albums a year. In 2019, under Christie, the group released Si vous vouliez un jour: Airs sérieux et à boire, Vol. 2, on Harmonia Mundi.
© James Manheim /TiVo Read more
France's Les Arts Florissants were a pioneering ensemble when they were formed in 1979, unearthing Baroque works from France and beyond and performing them in historically authentic style. The group's influence has hardly diminished over their four decades of existence; they have spawned numerous operatic careers and have established a successful training program, Le Jardin des Voix.
Les Arts Florissants were founded by the American harpsichordist William Christie, who had left the U.S. because of his opposition to the Vietnam War. A scholar as well as a musician, Christie largely created the group's repertory on his own; the works of French Baroque theatrical and choral composers like Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Jean-Philippe Rameau were only sparsely known to audiences when Christie began his work, but he edited new scores for performance, often delving into the collection of Paris' Bibliothèque Nationale. By 1985, Les Arts Florissants were mounting productions of French operas like Rameau's Anacréon and Charpentier's Actéon, sumptuous French court works that required full-scale authentic performances to come alive. In 1987, the group received the first of several Grand Prix de la Critique awards for their production of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Atys, which subsequently toured Europe and New York.
Les Arts Florissants attracted the attention of major French recording companies almost immediately, signing with Harmonia Mundi and releasing a recording of works by the almost unknown composer Etienne Moulinié in 1980. That was the beginning of a partnership with Harmonia Mundi that by the late 2010s had grown to encompass almost 50 albums. Les Arts Florissants have recorded choral music with their own Les Arts Florissants choir, often focusing on the French grand motet repertory, and they have performed and recorded Italian and English operatic works. At the center of their repertory, however, is French opera, a field in which they have reigned supreme and have worked with France's top stage directors and choreographers. The stability of the Les Arts sound has been partly due to the long-term leadership of Christie, who turned over some duties to Scottish-born tenor and conductor Paul Agnew in the late 2000s but has remained active and vital in his involvement with the group.
Over time the group's repertory has expanded forward in time somewhat to include the music of Mozart, but unlike other early music groups they have not attempted contemporary works. In 2002, Christie founded Le Jardin des Voix ("The Garden of Voices"), which soon became one of Europe's top enterprises for the training of young talent in the historical-performance field. Les Arts Florissants did not slacken their pace in the 2010s, releasing several albums a year. In 2019, under Christie, the group released Si vous vouliez un jour: Airs sérieux et à boire, Vol. 2, on Harmonia Mundi.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Vivaldi: The Great Venetian Mass
Les Arts Florissants
Missen, passies, requiems - Released by harmonia mundi on 24 jun. 2022
A puzzling paradox: although Vivaldi devoted over 30 years to composing for the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, no complete musical setting of any lit ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Platée (Live)
Les Arts Florissants
Opera - Released by harmonia mundi on 15 okt. 2021
A marsh nymph thinks she is so irresistible that Jupiter himself will take an interest in her... Brimming with exceptional dramatic and musical verve, ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Charpentier: Te Deum, H.146, Litanies de la Vierge & Missa "Assumpta est Maria"
Les Arts Florissants
Klassiek - Released by harmonia mundi on 27 apr. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Charpentier: Un Oratorio de Noël
Les Arts Florissants
Klassiek - Released by harmonia mundi on 10 sep. 1983
The Qobuz Ideal Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Messiah
Les Arts Florissants
Klassiek - Released by harmonia mundi on 22 aug. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Les Indes galantes
Les Arts Florissants
Opera - Released by harmonia mundi on 14 okt. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lully: Atys
Les Arts Florissants
Opera - Released by harmonia mundi on 28 feb. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lamentazione (Scarlatti, Leo, Legrenzi, Lotti, Caldara)
Les Arts Florissants
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 19 sep. 2011
Hi-Res AudioGramophone Editor's ChoiceHere's a beautiful collection of Baroque choral music from a repertory that's been somewhat neglected, perhaps because its most substantial representa ...
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Les 1001 voyages de Claudio Monteverdi
Les Arts Florissants
Kinderen - Released by LittleVillage on 17 feb. 2017
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monteverdi: Madrigali Vol. 3, Venezia (Live)
Les Arts Florissants
Opera - Released by harmonia mundi on 17 feb. 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Charpentier: Les arts florissants
Les Arts Florissants
Opera - Released by harmonia mundi on 5 jan. 1982
The Qobuz Ideal Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo, SV 318 (Live)
Les Arts Florissants
Opera - Released by Dynamic on 21 mei 2021
In May 2008, William Christie returned to his first love, with this flamboyant production of Orfeo directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi. This was the first pa ...
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell Edition Volume 1 : Dido & Aeneas, King Arthur & The Fairy Queen
Les Arts Florissants
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics International on 4 mei 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Castor & Pollux
Les Arts Florissants
Klassiek - Released by harmonia mundi on 8 mrt. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
De Lalande: Grands Motets
Les Arts Florissants
Kamermuziek - Released by harmonia mundi on 18 mrt. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Charpentier: Le Malade imaginaire
Les Arts Florissants
Opera - Released by harmonia mundi on 8 okt. 1990
The Qobuz Ideal Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monteverdi: Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
Les Arts Florissants
Klassiek - Released by harmonia mundi on 7 jun. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri terzo & quarto
Les Arts Florissants
Liederen - Released by harmonia mundi on 5 feb. 2021
The facts of Carlo Gesualdo's life are perhaps as well known as his music: he caught his wife and her lover in the act, brutally murdered them both, f ...
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gesualdo: Madrigals
Les Arts Florissants
Klassiek - Released by harmonia mundi on 17 mrt. 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lully: Petits Motets
Les Arts Florissants
Religieuze vocale muziek - Released by harmonia mundi on 24 dec. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Charpentier: Le Reniement de saint Pierre & Méditations pour le Carême
Les Arts Florissants
Religieuze vocale muziek - Released by harmonia mundi on 1 jan. 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo