The early French Baroque has been relatively slow to catch on in historical performance circles, at least outside France, probably because it's more difficult for the listener than the melancholy viol music of England or the spectacularly passionate vocal works of Monteverdi. The larger French genres are unfamiliar and involve a visual aspect that would be difficult if not impossible to re-create. As for chamber music, the French repertoire contains a mixed bag of genres, with imported music (has there ever been a period of ...
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The early French Baroque has been relatively slow to catch on in historical performance circles, at least outside France, probably because it's more difficult for the listener than the melancholy viol music of England or the spectacularly passionate vocal works of Monteverdi. The larger French genres are unfamiliar and involve a visual aspect that would be difficult if not impossible to re-create. As for chamber music, the French repertoire contains a mixed bag of genres, with imported music (has there ever been a period of French musical history in which there wasn't a dispute between partisans of French and of Italian music) competing with the native air de cour (court air) and with instrumental styles, including those involving the lute. Even at this early date, Spanish music too held a special fascination in Paris. This pan-continental disc, with Belgian tenor Stephan van Dyck paired with a group of mostly Austrian string players, offers a near-perfect introduction to this period of French...
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