José Miguel Moreno contrasts the uniqueness of the Angelica with the usual sound of the small theorbo.​ The differences in terms of resonance are indeed amazing, especially since the soloist does well with it to play out the musical lines on both instruments and to make broad gestures.

This manuscript, from Christophe Rousset's private collection, was discovered by him in 2004. Dedicated to a Madame de Théobon, it contains not only the essential French harpsichord pieces of the late seventeenth century, but also many transcriptions of compositions by Lully and several hitherto completely unknown preludes. Providing precious insight into the art of the harpsichordist and the musical practices of that time, these pieces are recorded here for the first time. With it's powerful but still austere sound, the Nicolas Dumont harpsichord of 1704 does them full justice.

An ancient hero, a dragon, a young goddess: love and glory are at the heart of Lullys first opera, first performed in front of Louis XIV. As in his previous works - divertissements, ballets de cour and comédies- ballets - Lully makes the voices and the orchestra sparkle, multiplying the pieces which stand out and that were appealing to the court. But with the help of the librettist Philippe Quinault, he introduced the dramatic force of French classical tragédie in an exclusively musical work: and here the audience was bewitched by the mythical love stories so sumptuously portrayed.

The large motet 'à la française' is a quite distinctive affair that has nothing in common with the more traditional notion that a composer like Bach, for instance, had of the genre. If a comparison must be made, we will find that the French motet is more like an extended cantata consisting of a succession of choruses and arias accompanied by the orchestra, with the absence of recitative constituting an important difference.

Who was Louis Gaulard Dumesny? Dumesny was not the first haute-contre historically speaking, but he was the first to have become famous in his lifetime. Sources agree that he was a cook when Lully discovered him. He made his debut in 1677 and everyone was amazed by his acting, the power of his voice and also his ability to learn everything by ear, since he could not read music. A few centuries later, Reinoud Van Mechelen, star tenor of the international Baroque scene, has decided, with his ensemble A Nocte Temporis, to pay tribute to this ‘haute-contre’ register, a high tenor voice (not to be confused with the countertenor!), by devoting three recordings to it, paying tribute in turn to Lully, Rameau and Gluck.

'Armide' is in the form of a tragédie en musique, a genre invented by Lully and Quinault, and was their last collaboration. It was a new form of opera that combined elements of classical French drama with ballet, French song and a new form of recitative. Critics in the 18th century regarded 'Armide' as Lully's masterpiece and it continues to be well-regarded, featuring some of the best-known music in French baroque opera and being arguably ahead of its time in its psychological interest. The subject, chosen for Lully by King Louis XIV, is the enchantress Armide’s unhappy love for the knight Renaud, drawn from Tasso’s 'Gerusalemme liberata'.

The Marquise de Sévigné (1625 96) was a 17th-century blogger, writing letters to family and friends about life at the court of Louis XIV, and in particular performances of Lully during his lifetime, letters that were copied and widely circulated in manuscript. Our quartet of musicians has gathered together a selection of contemporary music, instrumental trio arrangements of popular songs and Lullian airs as well as duo and solo music such as she might have heard or had performed in her Parisian salon. These works – and many others like them – survive mainly in manuscript, though most are available in facsimile or online.

The Habsburg Imperial Court was a melting pot of many different cultures in which the zest for living of southerners, the Slav melancholy, French formalism, Spanish courtliness and the original German-speaking Alpine cultural region intermingled. Together with his Ars Antiqua Austria ensemble, Gunar Letzbor occupied himself over a ten year period to produce this 10CD "Klang der Kulturen" box, a musical tour of the individual countries that formed the roots of and influences on the music of baroque Vienna, documenting them in live recordings, with each CD representing one country.

The Italian-style trio sonata, honed by Corelli into a monument of seventeenth century classicism with its perfect balance of new-found tonality and assimilation of dance forms into art music, had a hard time finding a foothold in France. Among other aspects, the unwillingness to abandon the dance suite – possibly caused by the privileged position of ballet as a royal pastime at the court of Louis XIV – meant that French composers waited until the end of the century to compose "proper" trio sonatas. But a great deal of experimentation with the form went on before that, and not surprisingly one of the experimenters was the Italian "immigrant" Lully. His rôle at the court of the Sun-king included providing small-scale works for the Coucher du Roi, the nightly ceremony marking the king's withdrawal to bed.

Versailles: its court, its atmosphere and its music… So many splendours emblematic of a monument with an incomparably rich history. The works associated with the palace have travelled down the centuries and today represent a precious part of our heritage. In this ten-CD set, Alpha retraces the musical life of the unique and luminous universe of Versailles. Le Poème Harmonique, Café Zimmermann, Capriccio Stravagante and many others invite themselves into the company of Jean-Baptiste Lully, Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Jean-Henry d’Anglebert and share with us for a few hours the sumptuous concerts that made Versailles a place like no other.

Gloire au Centre de musique baroque de Versailles qui nous a fait redécouvrir Henry Desmarest, l'un des plus étonnants compositeurs du règne de Louis XIV. À vingt ans à peine, il osa braver Lully sur son propre terrain, en montant un opéra et un divertissement à la cour du Roi-Soleil. Plus tard, avec son aîné Marc-Antoine Charpentier, il fut l'un des principaux acteurs du renouveau d'un opéra français en manque de vrais succès depuis la mort de Quinault et Lully. On croyait indûment tout savoir de ce maître de musique. C'était compter sans le talent de défricheur du label français K.617, qui a trouvé en Nouvelle-Orléans les traces d'un baroque français "exporté", estampillé du nom de Desmarest, entre autres.

This is a sort of self-portrait of the Great Organ of the Royal Chapel of Versailles, delivering all its aspects, enhanced by the choice of a repertoire emblematic of the baroque era: the major classic French organ works (Couperin, Marchand, de Grigny, Corrette) composed to glorify the very specific aesthetics of instruments like that of Louis XIV's Chapel; but also to reveal its other sound riches, transcriptions of chefs d'oeuvres, from Le Sommeil d'Atys by Lully, to the contredanses of Rameau's Boréades. To add a new dimension to the organ's sound universe and to enhance its orchestral qualities, modern editing and "re-recording" processes were gently used to serve the superposition of musical voices, as if invisible hands filled in for the organist in certain works, which are true Proust's "madeleines" for Gaétan Jarry. He goes all out to play the instrument of Versailles "for the Glory of God and the King"!

The great composer Jean-Baptiste Lully deployed all his musical science in his grand motets to express intense emotion; Madame de Sévigné said: "all eyes were filled with tears". With their large chorals, small ensembles, trios, duets, solos and orchestral symphonies, these large religious compositions are representative of the pomp deployed at Louis XIV's court, at the service of the monarch's absolute power. If O Lachrymae fideles, composed in winter 1664, goes from contained emotion to jubilant dance, the two other motets are deeply solemn.

Voici la bande originale du film de Gérard Corbiau, réalisateur notamment du film Farinelli. On ne peut qu'admirer le soin avec lequel le cinéaste a mis en lumière les conflits et l'admiration réciproque entre les deux astres de Versailles : Louis XIV et Jean-Baptiste Lully. La musique est pétillante d'intelligence, de couleurs, de rebondissements, comme les intrigues de la première cour du monde. Sous la baguette explosive de Reinhard Göbel, le Musica Antiqua Köln révèle les contrastes les plus violents. C'est un bain de jouvence qui nous fait entrer dans un univers de théâtre aussi fascinant… Que dangereux !

In these works, written for the Chapel Royal, Lully is inspired to paint a whole sweep of emotions, at once melancholy, sweet, tragic, noble and victorious. Observe his mastery of color. Listen to how choral and orchestral textures, now in five, now in ten parts, change with the rhythm of the text. Note how subtle touches of orchestral color highlight the meaning of a word or the sweetness of a modulation.