Long before Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, there were singer-songwriters who could enchant an audience with no more than a voice and a few strings. In England around 1600, their names were Dowland, Campion and Morely, and their lute songs were the pop ballads of the time: personal, poetic and disarmingly simple. What makes this music so powerful is its directness: a game of questions and answers between the voice and the instrument. Près de Votre Oreille unearths the most beautiful gems of this iconic repertoire. Master of melancholy John Dowland takes centre stage, flanked by lesser-known contemporaries. The warm sound of the viol and the elegant energy of the lute create a combination that sounds both intimate and rich: a velvet bed of sound for the voice to sink into. AMUZ becomes a room in Elizabethan London for the evening, where people listen breathlessly to music that swells their hearts.
Program
Songs and instrumental works by A. Ferrabosco II, R. Jones, T. Ford, M. Cavendish, J. Dowland, P. Rosseter, T. Campion
Performers
Anaïs Bertrand, mezzo-soprano | Nicolas Kuntzelmann, countertenor | François-Olivier Jean, tenor | Cyril Costanzo, bass | Simon Waddell, lute, cittern & guitar | Ronan Khalil, virginal | Marion Martineau, viola da gamba | Robin Pharo, viola da gamba & artistic director