At the end of the reign of Louis XIV, France was a land of piety, but also of Italianism in music, including religious music. The emotions composed by Couperin for his female singers are so dramatic that they sound like something out of an opera… Vocality and spirituality are artfully combined, testifying to the refinement of fine French singing practised both in the salons and theatres and in places of worship. People flocked to listen to the divine voices singing the Lessons for the days of Holy Week in Parisian convents, the faceless voices of young conventual recluses, voices from heaven… but often opera singers when theatres were closed during the period of penance before Easter! The candles were traditionally extinguished as the Office of Darkness unfolded, to end in the darkness of the night… The three extant lessons by François Couperin were written for Shrove Wednesday and represent one of the peaks of French sacred art of the early eighteenth century.

Gaetan Jarry conducts two young and wonderful singers, Ana Quintans and Adèle for this concert, which is particularly relevant to Versailles, and which will also be recorded in our collection.

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