"Imagine an evening at the Palais de Fontemblo - the smell of wax candles, sumptuous lace and velvet drapes, turquoise hairpins and passionate love stories. Our ensemble would also fit harmoniously into this setting, as even the strings, bows and tuning of the instruments are in keeping with 17th and 18th century standards.
Our programme features works by his compatriot Couperin, the heavyweight of the harpsichord repertoire and the originator of the triosonata form, alongside music by the French opera chorifier and music theorist Rameau, and works by masters who are less frequently heard today. These include Montéclair, the musical metre of the Prince of Vaudemont and highly revered teacher, and Mondonville, the violinist and protégé of the King's mistress, Madame de Pompadour, dazzled by fortune; also the delicately sensuous cello virtuoso Barriere, founder of the French cantata genre, and a protégé of St. Clerambault, organist of the Cathedral of St Sulpice, and Franquière, musician of the elite orchestra Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi and musical luminary of the court of Louis XV. Equally sophisticated is the enthusiastic family behind the historically informed performance of this programme full of discoveries - leading Latvian harpsichordist Ieva Saliete and versatile violinist Agnese Kanniņa, traversflautist Vita Rozēna-Gaļicka and baroque cellist Māra Botmane, tenor Ansis Bētiņš and soprano Dārta Liepiņa," say the musicians.
PROGRAMME
French Baroque Music
PARTICIPANTS
Dārta Liepiņa , soprano
Ansis Bētiņš, tenor
Vita Rozēna-Gaļicka, traversflute
Agnese Kanniņa, baroque violin
Māra Botmane, baroque cello
Ieva Saliete, harpsichord
