专辑简介

Following Northern Lights--Brooklyn Baroque's acclaimed debut recording--The Pleasures of the French explores exquisite musical treasures of France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The disc features the premiere recording of Jean-Baptiste Barrière's Sonata in E Minor for Cello and Continuo, performed by Brooklyn Baroque's virtuoso Baroque cellist David Bakamjian. Until middle of the eighteenth century, the viola da gamba had been the favored solo bass instrument in France, and Barriere was one of the first French composers to write flashy solo cello music. Also included on this disc are chamber works by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, one of the most prolific and published composers of the French Baroque, and Jacques Hottetterre. Harpsichordist Rebecca Pechefsky and Baroque Flutist Andrew Bolotowsky give a stirring rendition of Michel Corrette's Sonata in E Minor, which has as its programmatic inspiration the time Apollo spent amusing himself at the court of King Admetus. Rounding out the disk are works by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, one of the most talented and celebrated woman composers of the eighteenth century, and François Couperin, considered the most illustrious of a distinguished French family of musicians and often referred to as "Couperin Le Grand."

Brooklyn Baroque debuted in the fall of 2000, when cellist David Bakamjian joined the long-standing duo of Baroque flutist Andrew Bolotowsky and harpsichordist Rebecca Pechefsky. Since then, the group has performed frequently in the New York area and has been invited to play in other states across the country. The trio is the ensemble-in-residence at the eighteenth-century Morris-Jumel Mansion, where it performs in a yearly series. Brooklyn Baroque specializes in the music of Bach and his contemporaries, but its concerts often range further back into the seventeenth century or as far forward as Beethoven. For this recording they are joined by recorder player Gregory Bynum, who also appeared on Northern Lights, and Baroque cellist Christine Gummere.