Concert Spirituel Chorus
Le Concert Spirituel traces not its ancestry, but rather its spirit, back to the famed French concert series of the 18th century, offering performances of Baroque music, including opera, on historically appropriate instruments.
Le Concert Spirituel was founded in 1987 by harpsichordist and choral conductor Hervé Niquet, who remains its director. Le Concert Spirituel has naturally focused on French music, but has also performed Italian, English, and other works. Its initial impetus was Niquet's desire to perform and record works from the neglected grand motet repertory. In association with the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, it has focused on performance in situ of the music of French composers of the 17th century from Charpentier to Lully. But it has also given many performances elsewhere, from the Salle Pleyel and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, London's Barbican Centre and Royal Albert Hall (for the BBC Proms), the Luxemburg Philharmonie, BOZAR in Brussels, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, the Theater an der Wien, the Tokyo Opera, and the Shanghai Concert Hall.
After its debut in 1989 with a recording of the Requiem of Jean Gilles, Le Concert Spirituel recorded for Adda, Virgin, and Naxos, for which it issued cycles of grands motets and other large-scale sacred works by Lully and Charpentier. The latter cycle continued on Glossa, for which Le Concert Spirituel has mostly recorded since a 2001 recording of the Charpentier Te Deum. It has also recorded operas for Glossa, including Boismortier's Daphnis et Chloé, Destouches' Callirhoé, Marais' Sémélé, and Grétry's Andromaque. The group has also emphasized the continuity of the French heritage by performing and recording music composed for the French Prix de Rome competition by Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Gustave Charpentier, and others. It has mounted large-scale productions in collaboration with directors and choreographers including Gilles and Corinne Benizio (Shirley et Dino), Karol Armitage, Georges Lavaudant, and Joachim Schloemer, and it has presented full-size performances of Striggio's Mass for 40 and 60 Voices and Handel's Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Discography
12 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
Grands Motets (volume 1)
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jun 7, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Le Prince: Missa Macula non est in te
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Concert Spirituel Orchestra, Hervé Niquet
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Glossa on Apr 2, 2013
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Grand Motets, Vol. 3
Classical - Released by Naxos on May 17, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Benevolo: Missa Azzolina / Magnificat / Dixit Dominus
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on May 23, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grands Motets, vol. 2
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jan 31, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Charpentier : Messe des Morts
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on Nov 3, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Motets - Litanies a la Vierge
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jan 17, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vespres à la Vierge
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jul 27, 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paolo Lorenzani : Motets
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on Nov 24, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Te Deum / Messe, H 1 / Canticum Zachariae
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jan 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Messe et Magnificat pour orgue et chœur
Hervé Niquet, Concert Spirituel Chorus
Classical - Released by Naxos on Apr 26, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Triomphe d'Iris
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jan 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo