Park Avenue Armory continues its series of 2022 recitals on Tuesday evening May 17, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. for a unique performance by music specialists from the French Grand Siècle, Ensemble Correspondances, in the intimate setting of the Salle des Vétérans de l’Armurerie.

A major figure in the French repertoire of the 17th century and period compositions from the canon of early music, the Ensemble Correspondances brings together a collective of singers and instrumentalists under the direction of harpsichordist and organist Sébastien Daucé to present their program entitled Plaisirs du Louvre, Music for the Chamber of Louis XIII.

During the reign of Louis the Just, King of France from 1610 to 1643, the Louvre served as the epicenter of power, displayed in an elaborate set of ceremonies for daily royal activities and accompanied by specific music from the King’s personal orchestra. The country’s elite composers such as Moulinié, Guédron, Couperin and de Chancy were enlisted to create these airs de cour and royal ballets; the most famous composer of them, Antoine Boësset, transformed the polyphonic tune of the Renaissance into a more intimate work for the royal setting. This program features a rich range of these delicately crafted miniature works, reminiscent of the atmosphere of a royal chamber or apartment within the intricate interior of the Veterans’ Hall.

The full directory follows:

Louis Constantin: The Royal Ballet of the Night, “Hunters I & II”

Antoine Boësset: Ballet of the bocagères nymphs of the sacred forest, “Queen whom I serve and whom I know” (Concert of Diane and her nymphs)

Antoine Boësset: Ballet of the bocage nymphs of the sacred forest, “Dialogue of the troupe of Orpheus and the Hamadryades”

François de Chancy: German in C at 5

Pierre Guédron: “Deadly stop importuning” (Just despise Saint Agnez)

Pierre Guédron: “What rigorous torments” (Le Purgatoire)

Étienne Moulinié: “It comes out of our feathered bodies” (Concert of different birds)

J. Champion de Chambonnières: The Talk of the Gods

Antoine Boësset: “Do not boast of the torch of Heaven”

Étienne Moulinié: First fantasy for 4

Étienne Moulinié: “Break the charms of sleep” (Air de la Ridicule)

–Intermission–

M. de la Voye: Prelude

Antoine Boësset: “Black forests, dark dwellings”

Louis Constantin: The Royal Ballet of the Night, “Sabbath Dances”

Antoine Boësset: “What a wonderful adventure”

Antoine Boësset: “I am the adorable Equity” (Story of Bliss, Justice, and Loves)

Antoine Boësset: “This king conqueror of our misfortunes” (For the King)

Louis Couperin: Fantasy for the viols

Antoine Boësset: “What do you claim, my desires”

Louis Constantin: The Royal Ballet of the Night, “Folia” (major and minor)

Antoine Boësset: “Segua chi vuol iniquo Amore”

Louis Couperin: The Piedmontese

Antoine Boësset: “Advise me my heart” (disgraced David)

François de Chancy: “Rare flowers, living paintings”

TICKETING

Tickets for $55 (plus fees) can be purchased online armoryonpark.org or by calling the box office at (212) 933-5812, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

HEALTH AND SAFETY PROTOCOLS

Health and safety at the Armory are of the utmost importance. The Armory requires all ticket holders to be fully vaccinated. Upon entering the building, ticket holders will be required to show proof of full vaccination (the New York State Excelsior Pass or a hard copy or photo of your vaccination card), along with an issued photo ID by the government. The Armory will continue to follow all city, state, and CDC guidelines regarding COVID-19 safety protocols.

All customers and staff are required to wear masks inside the armory.

Founded in Lyon in 2009, the Ensemble Correspondances brings together under the direction of the harpsichordist and organist Sébastien Daucé a group of singers and instrumentalists, all specialists in the music of the Grand Siècle. In just a few years of existence, Correspondances has become a reference ensemble in the French repertoire of the 17th century. Placing itself under the auspices of Baudelaire’s notion of correspondences between the arts, it interprets music whose sounds can still directly affect today’s listeners while presenting stage productions in rarer and more original forms such as the oratorio. and the court ballet. The ensemble’s dual commitment to breathing new life into already well-known composers and restoring the image of characters less familiar today but celebrated and frequently performed in their day has already produced 16 critically acclaimed recordings.

The Ensemble Correspondances is in residence at the Théâtre de Caen. He is an Associated Ensemble at the Louvre Museum and at the Théâtre de l’Aquarium at the Cartoucherie de Vincennes. The ensemble is supported by the Ministry of Culture – DRAC Normandie, the Normandy Region, the City and the theater of Caen. The Societe Generale Foundation C’est vous l’avenir is a major patron of Ensemble Correspondances. The ensemble benefits from the support of the Fondation Correspondances, under the aegis of the Fondation Bullukian, a group of music lovers who actively support the research, publication and interpretation of 17th century music. He also receives regular support from the Institut Français, Odia Normandie and the Center National de la Musique for his concerts and recordings. L’Ensemble Correspondances is a member of: Arviva – Living Arts, Sustainable Arts; FEVIS; Profedim; and the European Early Music Network.

The organist and harpsichordist Sébastien Daucé aims to promote the unknown but abundant repertoire of the 17th century. At the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Lyon, he studied harpsichord and basso continuo with Françoise Lengellé and Yves Rechsteiner. His exploration of a little played and often unpublished repertoire has resulted, with the support of the harmonia mundi label, in a discography of thirteen recordings which have attracted much press attention and have received distinctions such as the Diapason d’Or. of the Year, ffff de Télérama, Editor’s Choice in Gramophone, ‘Choc’ of the Year in Classica, German Record Critics Award and IRR Outstanding. Alongside his activities as a performing musician, Sébastien Daucé edits the music that makes up the ensemble’s repertoire, going so far as to recompose complete pieces, if necessary, as in Le Ballet Royal de la Nuit. He has been teaching at the Pôle Supérieur de Paris since 2012. In 2018, he was guest artistic director of the London Festival of Baroque Music.

Park Avenue Armory presents more intimate performances and programs in its acclaimed Recital Series, which features musical talent from around the world in an intimate salon setting. The series has hosted the debuts of many world-class artists, including: the North American recital debut of pianist Igor Levit, soprano Sabine Devieilhe, tenor Ilker Arcayürek, baritones Benjamin Appl and Roderick Williams, clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer and cellist István Várdai; the American recital debuts of sopranos Barbara Hannigan and Anna Lucia Richter and baritone Thomas Oliemans; and the New York debut of pianist Severin von Eckardstein and the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam.

The Recital Series has programmed the world premieres of Roger Reynolds’ FLiGHT performed by the JACK Quartet and Michael Hersch’s “…das Rückgrat berstend” performed by violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and cellist Jay Campbell. Actress Charlotte Rampling and cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton gave the US premiere of The Night Dances on the series in 2015, which brought together solo cello suites by Benjamin Britten and poetry by Sylvia Plath; Wieder-Atherton returned to the Armory in 2017 for the North American premiere of Little Girl Blue, a program that reimagined the music of Nina Simone. New York premieres include: In the Light of Air and Shades of Silence by Anna Thorvaldsdottir performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble; Minina by Dai Kujikura, Baudelaires by John Zorn and a new arrangement of Chants de terre et de ciel by Messiaen, also performed by ICE; Rushes by Michael Gordon performed by the Rushes Ensemble; Just Constellations by Michael Harrison performed by Roomful of Teeth; The Departure by David Lang, Our Flags Fly in Hope and Sorrow and Rigwreck by Gabriel Jackson, “Conversation in the Mountains” from Where Flames A Word by Kile Smith, Ahania Weeping by Louis Andriessen, Johannisbaum by Suzanne Giraud, Sumptuous Planet by David Shapiro, Benjamin CS Boyle’s Empire of Crystal and Ted Hearne’s Animals (commissioned by Park Avenue Armory), all performed by The Crossing under the direction of Donald Nally; and Jumalatteret by John Zorn sung by soprano Barbara Hannigan with pianist Stephen Gosling.

Other notable programs include performances by: baritone Christian Gerhaher with pianist Gerold Huber; the Flux Quartet ;; tenor Ian Bostridge with pianist Wenwen Du; pianist David Fray; soprano Lisette Oropesa with pianist John Churchwell countertenor Andreas Scholl with harpsichordist Tamar Halperin; soprano Kate Royal with pianist Joseph Middleton; pipa player Wu Man and the Shanghai Quartet; tenor Lawrence Brownlee with pianists Myra Huang and Jason Moran; mezzo soprano Isabel Leonard with pianist Ted Sperling; soprano Nadine Sierra with pianist Brian Wagorn; Rosa Feola with pianist Iain Burnside; cellist Nicolas Altstaedt; tenor Paul Appleby with pianist Conor Hanick; baritone Will Liverman with pianist Myra Huang; and mezzo soprano Jamie Barton with pianist and composer Jake Heggie.

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