Les Arts Florissants
France's Les Arts Florissants was a pioneering ensemble when the group was 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 its four decades of existence; it has spawned numerous operatic careers and has established a successful training program, Le Jardin des Voix.
Les Arts Florissants was founded by the 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 its 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 mid-2020s, had grown to encompass well over 100 albums. Les Arts Florissants has recorded choral music with its own Les Arts Florissants Choir, often focusing on the French grand motet repertory, and it has performed and recorded Italian and English operatic works. At the center of its repertory, however, is French opera, a field in which it has reigned supreme, working with France's top stage directors and choreographers. The stability of the Les Arts Florissants sound has been partly due to the long-term leadership of Christie, who turned over some duties to 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, Les Arts Florissants has 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 its 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. Les Arts Florissants remained active throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, releasing 11 albums on Harmonia Mundi between 2021 and 2023 alone. Those included Schütz: Italian Madrigals in 2023.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Artistas semelhantes
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Handel: L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato
Classical - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 23 de jun. de 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
J. S. Bach: A Life in Music (Vol. 1). Arnstadt & Mühlhausen (1703-1708), Early Cantatas
Les Arts Florissants, Benjamin Alard
Cantatas (sacred) - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 5 de abr. de 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schütz: Italian Madrigals
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
Art Songs, Mélodies & Lieder - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 6 de out. de 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: The Great Venetian Mass
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew, Sophie Karthäuser, Lucile Richardot
Masses, Passions, Requiems - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 24 de jun. de 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gesualdo: Tenebræ Responsoria, Feria Quinta
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
Sacred Vocal Music - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 10 de mar. de 2023
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Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri quinto & sesto
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
Art Songs, Mélodies & Lieder - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 10 de mar. de 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Paris Symphonies - Violin Concerto No. 1 (Live)
Les Arts Florissants, Théotime Langlois de Swarte, William Christie
Symphonies - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 15 de set. de 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Les Indes galantes
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Opera - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 14 de out. de 1991
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Charpentier: Un Oratorio de Noël
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Classical - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 10 de set. de 1983
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
M.A. Charpentier: Actéon & Intermèdes nouveaux du Mariage forcé
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Classical - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 1 de jun. de 1987
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Charpentier: Te Deum, H.146, Litanies de la Vierge & Missa "Assumpta est Maria"
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Classical - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 27 de abr. de 1989
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Messiah
Les Arts Florissants and William Christie
Classical - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 22 de ago. de 1994
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monteverdi : L'incoronazione di Poppea (Live)
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Classical - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 30 de ago. de 2019
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J.S. Bach : Mass in B Minor (Live in Paris) (Live)
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Masses, Passions, Requiems - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 9 de mar. de 2018
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Platée (Live)
Opera - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 15 de out. de 2021
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Charpentier: Le Malade imaginaire
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Opera - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 8 de out. de 1990
A discografia ideal da QobuzQualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Music for Queen Caroline
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Classical - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 1 de dez. de 2014
4F de TéléramaChoc de Classica24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell Edition Volume 1 : Dido & Aeneas, King Arthur & The Fairy Queen
Classical - Lançado por Warner Classics International em 4 de mai. de 1995
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gesualdo : Madrigali, Libri primo & secondo
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
Classical - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 25 de out. de 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Arias
Danielle de Niese, Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Classical - Lançado por Decca Music Group Ltd. em 1 de jan. de 2007
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Duetti (Bononcini, Conti, Porpora, Marcello, Scarlatti, etc.)
Les Arts Florissants, Max Emanuel Cencic, Philippe Jaroussky, William Christie
Classical - Lançado por Warner Classics em 4 de nov. de 2011
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo