While Louis XIV was drenching Versailles in gold and grandeur, the Swedish court under Gustav XI was looking curiously over the borders. During his reign, the Kapellmeister Gustav Düben built up a collection that is known today as the Düben archives: a treasury of music by German, Italian and local composers. Sébastien Daucé and Ensemble Correspondances reconstruct that world of sound with instruments similar to the original court ensemble: strings, recorder, basso continuo and vocal quartet. German, Latin, Italian and Swedish intermingle in the music, which is as worldly as the court it was written for – ideal material for the mezzo Lucile Richardot and her dark timbre that switches effortlessly between lamento and understated devotion. From Johann Christian Bach via Franz Tunder to Giuseppe Peranda: this baroque music is top class, and it glitters in the light of the North.
Program
Music by J.C. Bach, F. Tunder, G. Peranda, J. Fischer, J. Krieger and others
Performers
Lucile Richardot, mezzo soprano | Sébastien Daucé, artistic leader | Ensemble Correspondances