Les Agrémens
Les Agrémens is a popular Belgian chamber orchestra largely devoted to works from the Baroque and Classical periods. Members perform on period instruments even when the score calls for such antiquated and largely forgotten instruments as the crumhorn. The ensemble typically consists of around 20 members, though the number can range from 10 or so for smaller-scale works, on up to 30 or more for the larger ones, such as Classical-era symphonies and choral works. Les Agrémens has often performed with the Namur Chamber Choir, which might be viewed as a sort of sibling-ensemble, since both were founded by, and serve under aegis of the Center for Choral Singing of the French-speaking Community of Belgium and both are based in Namur, Belgium. Les Agrémens has thus performed many choral works, particularly from the Baroque period (Handel's Messiah, J.S. Bach's Christmas Cantatas, Charpentier's Te Deum, H. 416, and Pachelbel's Christ lag in Todesbanden, to name just a handful). In addition, it has regularly performed much orchestral music from the Classical period, including symphonies of Haydn, Gossec, Mozart, J.C. Bach, and many others. Les Agrémens' recordings are available from Ricecar and Armide France.
Founded in 1995, Les Agrémens was initially created to accompany the Namur Chamber Choir. While it still serves that purpose, it has taken on a separate musical life of its own, performing strictly instrumental concerts and appearing on non-vocal recordings. The ensemble's name derives from the music of Francois Couperin: the first book of Couperin's Pièces de clavecin contains a work entitled Les Agrémens (ornamentation) -- No. 19 of the Cinquieme Ordre.
The first concerts by Les Agrémens were played under the baton of veteran Luxemburg-born conductor Pierre Cao in December 1995 and featured works by Handel. Those initial performances, including one broadcast over Belgian television, drew highly favorable reaction from both critics and public alike.
By the turn of the century, Les Agrémens was drawing consistently positive notice across Europe. Guy Van Wass was appointed principal conductor in 2001 and soon made his first recording with the ensemble, an acclaimed Ricercar CD of three symphonies by Gossec and the B flat Clarinet Concerto by J.V. Stamitz. The ensemble has since grown in stature as critical plaudits accrue and demand for recordings grows. Among the ensemble's later recordings is a 2009 Ricecar CD containing Haydn's Symphonies No. 45 and No. 85 and the Symphony in D major by Joseph Martin Kraus.
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Similar artists
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Vivaldi: Vespro a San Marco
Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Les Agrémens, Leonardo García Alarcón
Classical - Released by Ambronay Éditions on 28 Apr 2010
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
La symphonie parisienne
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 21 Apr 2015
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Charpentier: Pour un reposoir, Noëls sur les instruments, Sonate à huit
Les Dominos, Les Agrémens, Florence Malgoire
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 1 Oct 2013
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Judas Maccabaeus
Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Les Agrémens, Leonardo García Alarcón
Classical - Released by Ambronay Éditions on 23 Mar 2010
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
André-Modeste Grétry : La caravane du Caire
Les Agrémens, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Guy Van Waas
Opera - Released by Ricercar on 25 Aug 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Drama
Leonardo García Alarcón, Les Agrémens, Choeur de Chambre de Namur
Classical - Released by Ambronay Éditions on 17 Apr 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry : Céphale et Procris
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 26 Aug 2010
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Le temple de la gloire
Les Agrémens, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Guy Van Waas
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 22 Oct 2015
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Charpentier: Te Deum - Messe pour plusieurs instruments
Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Les Agrémens, La Fenice, Jean Tubéry
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pachelbel: Christ lag in Todesbanden
Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Les Agrémens, Jean Tubéry
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 1 Aug 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
François Gossec : Thésée
Les Agrémens, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Guy Van Waas
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 30 Aug 2013
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Cantates de Noël
Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Les Agrémens, Jean Tubéry
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 1 Oct 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry : Airs & Ballets
Sophie Karthäuser, Les Agrémens, Guy Van Waas
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 1 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.C. Bach: Gloria (Ricercar in Eco)
Les Agrémens, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Wieland Kuijken
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 1 Jan 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rodolphe Kreutzer: La mort d'Abel
Les Agrémens, Guy Van Waas, Choeur de Chambre de Namur
Classical - Released by Bru Zane on 30 May 2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grétry, Gossec, Pieltain & Gresnick: Concertos et symphonies concertantes
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dauvergne: La Vénitienne
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 25 Sep 2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Joseph Haydn - Ludwig August Lebrun
Les Agrémens, Guy Van Waas, Benoît Laurent
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 1 Feb 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romantic Heroines from the Revolution to the Empire
Jennifer Borghi, Les Agrémens, Guy Van Waas
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 18 Sep 2015
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Gossec: Symphonies Oeuvre XII
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 1 Jan 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies œuvre VIII
Classical - Released by Ricercar on 13 Mar 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo