Couperin and Contemporaries: The Pleasures of Versailles

Acclaimed period music group ARIOSO perform vocal and instrumental works by Francois Couperin and his contemporaries performed at the fabulous court of Louis XIV – Le Roy Soleil.

ARIOSO celebrates the 350th anniversary of the famous French baroque composer Francois Couperin (1668–1733) with music from his celebrated Concert Royaux.

The concert also includes two wonderful works by Couperin’s contemporaries. Michel Pignolet de Monteclair's magical setting of Pyrame et Thisbe tells the story of the ill-fated lovers. This story inspired Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Les plaisirs de Versailles by Marc-Antoine Charpentier recounts the amusing bickering between La Musique and La Conversation, resolved by gaming and the god of festivities, Comus. It ends with a paean to the Sun King.

For this performance ARIOSO comprises of four singers: Marie Lemaire, Emma Edgar, Martin Wallace, Roger Brock. The instrumentalists will be: Derek Revill (baroque violin), Naomi Meredith (viola da gamba) and Martyn Hodgson (theorbo/baroque guitar).