CDThe Bedroom of the King / La Chambre du Roi
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Product details
The Bedroom of the King - La Chambre du Roi, evokes the intimacy, delicacy, refinement and above all, the douceur ('softness' or 'sweetness') of French chamber music of the early 18th century, particularly in the court of Louis XIV.
The Elysium Ensemble comprising eminent Early Music practitioners: Greg Dikmans (Baroque Flute), Ruth Wilkinson (Bass Viol), Linda Kent (Harpsichord) and Lucinda Moon (Baroque Violin) present a program featuring the music of François Couperin and Jacques Hotteterre, two of the most famous musicians of their time. Both were members of the Musique de la Chambre du Roi - an elite company of musicians who performed for Louis XIV in his private apartments at Versailles. Their music is the music of elegant conversation that, with the natural charm and sensitivity of its melodies and the classical beauty of its forms, delights the intellect and moves the heart.
In keeping with performance practice of the time and to further enhance one's musical, aural and rhetorical appreciation of the music, the main work Couperin's "Huitième Concert" is broken up in several places by his "Septième Concert" and Jacques Hotteterre's "Suite in E minor" and "Deuxième suite de pièces à deux dessus".
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Track Listing
Huitième concert dans le gout théâtral (Couperin)
Septième concert (Couperin)
Suite en E si mi (E minor) (Hotteterre)
Deuxième suite de pièces à deux dessus (Hotteterre)
Press Quotes
“The ensemble perform these with a similar poise and style and haunting loveliness.”— The New Englander
“the first detail the strikes me ... is the vitality of the performance ... The listener is kept interested by the varying of texture and timbre which is at the same still light and transparent ... dynamic playing.”— Caroline Downer, Cinnamon Sticks
“Neither strident nor over-elaborate, the delightful compositions are played with appropriate delicacy ... and recorded with an intimate acoustic.”— Andrew Scott, The Sunday Age
“If there's a word to sum up this CD, it is cheerfulness. The music seems to bounce along, even in the grave moments ... The performance is clean, agile and stylish.”— Neville Olliffe, Early Music News
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