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A Baroque Odyssey

40 Years of Les Arts Florissants

,Barbican Hall
William Christie and Les Arts Florissants

Born out of a belief that Baroque music should make its audiences want to laugh, cry and dance, Les Arts Florissants celebrate their 40th birthday, powered by an unquenchably Gallic joie-de-vivre.

One of the world’s great early music ensembles, Les Arts Florissants celebrates its 40th anniversary in truly resplendent style with a lavish gala under founder-director William Christie and Associate Musical Director Paul Agnew. And if it’s hard to believe that they’ve been dazzling audiences for four decades now – well, Christie would be the first to agree that age is a state of mind.

Six singers who share Les Arts Florissants’ energy and imagination join them tonight for a sumptuous programme: music by Handel, Purcell, Charpentier, Rameau and Lully, played like the ink is still wet on the page. Because that’s what Les Arts Florissants do.

Tagged with: Classical music Barbican Presents 2019-20 Barbican Presents

This performance will end at approximately 9.45pm, including a 20 minute interval.

Programme

  • Handel   Sinfonia to Act III from Atalanta
  •   'Zadok the priest', Coronation Anthem HWV 258
  • Purcell   Overture and 'Welcome to all the pleasures' from Ode for St Cecilia's Day 1683
  •   'Tornami a vagheggiar' from Alcina
  •   'Ah! stigie larve, ah! scellerati spettri!' from Orlando
  •   'I'll to thee well trod stage anon and 'Or let the merry bells ring around' from L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato
  •   'Scherza infida' and 'Bramo aver mille vite' from Ariodante
  • Purcell   Prelude to Act II, 'Come all, come all ye songsters', Prelude, 'May the God of Wit inspire', 'Echo', 'Now join your warbling voices', 'Sing while we trip it', Fairies Dance and 'Now the night is chased away' from The Fairy Queen
  •   Passacaglia from King Arthur
  • Charpentier   'Que mes divins concerts' and 'Amour du ciel et de la terre' from Les Arts florissants
  • Honoré d'Ambruis   Le doux silence de nos bois
  • Lully   Prelude to Act III and 'Dormons, dormons tous' from Atys
  •   ‘Pour rendre à mon hymen tout l’Olympe propice’ from Les Fêtes d’Hébé
  • Rameau   ‘Ah! Qu’on daigne du moins’ and ‘Puisque Pluton est inflexible’ from Hippolyte at Aricie
  •   Overture, ‘Que ce séjour est agréable’, Air pour les fous gays, 'Formons les plus brillants concerts' and 'Aux langueurs d'Apollon' from Platée
  •   Entrée II, Les incas du Pérou’, Nouvelle Entrée, 'Les sauvages' and 'Forêts paisibles' from Les Indes galantes

Performers

  • Les Arts Florissants  
  • William Christie   director
  • Paul Agnew   director
  • Sandrine Piau   soprano
  • Lea Desandre   mezzo-soprano
  • Christophe Dumaux   countertenor
  • Marcel Beeckman   tenor
  • Marc Mauillon   baritone
  • Lisandro Abadie   bass

Download the programme

Download a copy of the programme here

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Barbican Hall

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