Co-productors :

ENSEMBLE TM+, Maison de la musique de Nanterre.
Crédit photographique Retable d’Issenheim, Matthias Grünewald © DR

Sylvia Vadimova Mezzo-soprano
Jean-Pierre Arnaud Oboe, English Horn
Gilles Burgos, Anne-Cécile Cuniot Flutes
Eric du Faÿ, Christophe Struzynski French Horns
Nicolas Miribel Violin
Marc Desmons, Geneviève Strosser Violas
Florian Lauridon, David Simpson  Cellos
Anne Ricquebourg Harpe
Silvia Lenzi, Catherine Arnoux, Emmanuelle Guigues, Andreas Linos, Robin Pharo Viola da gamba
Marc Desmons Conducting

 

George Benjamin « Viola Viola »   for two violas

George Benjamin « Upon silence »  for mezzo-soprano and five viola da gamba

Henry Purcell « Fantaisies »  for five viola da gamba

Jonathan Harvey « Death of light, light of death »  for oboe, harp, violin, viola and cello

Henry Purcell « Fantaisie»  for five viola da gamba

Laurent Cuniot « Ombrae »   for oboe, English horn, 2 flutes, 2 French horns,  harp, violin, viola and 2 cellos

Henry Purcell « Fantaisie »  for five viola da gamba

 

Presentation:

A musical voyage, we’re invited to travel through ancient and modern England. The music of Purcell interlaced with the compositions of his contemporary colleagues is an enchanting parallel that makes us travel in time. The references are inextricable: The mezzo-soprano lines in Upon Silence are accompanied by a web of viola da gamba lines, remind of the musical lines of Purcell’s Fantasies. Laurent Cuniot’s work Ombrae is an incandescent homage to Purcell and it’s dedicated to Jonathan Harvey, whose piece Death of light, light of death reflects the heritage left by Purcell’s music to today’s British composers. Marc Desmon, the conductor, is also one of the two viola players in George Benjamin’s piece Viola, Viola, which opens the Voyage.