A reel atomic bomb! The story is taken from one of the best-known and most catastrophic episodes in the Old Testament: the Lord, weary of earthly wickedness and corruption, decides to exterminate humanity by making it rain continuously for 40 days and 40 nights. He will spare only Noah, his family, and the animals of each species which He has ordered to be given shelter in the Ark. The subject is splendidly suited to dramatic treatment, and librettist Vincenzo Giattini and Falvetti take full advantage of this throughout the piece. The listener will long remember the tender duet between Noah and his wife Rad; rain overwhelms the desperate chorus, the final light of hope.

Céphale & Procris is an important, early work: dating from 1774-1775, just before Gluck’s arrival in Paris and his Iphigenie en Aulide, this is a historic cog in the wheel turning French stage works from the Lullian past into the future to be established by Gluck. The recitatives are short and dramatically to the point, in the Italian style, and each character and scene has its music adapted to it in tailor-made fashion, often with ravishing solos from orchestral winds and brass. Everything which makes this an exciting historical event.

Vibrantly emotional, near dreamlike… Celebrating the "Red Priest's" stylistic wealth, Leonardo García Alarcón imagines sumptuous choral vespers dedicated to St Mark. When Vivaldi's fantasy seems to live mostly in opera houses or concert rooms, here are pieces devoted to the Divine Office. A masterpiece! A refreshing realisation of Leonardo García Alarcón heading one of the best choir in the world! Ce disque reconstitue un office de vêpres à Saint Marc de Venise, et présente des œuvres d'une grande diversité où vous apparaîtront toute l'excellence vivaldienne que nous apprécions tant . Magnifique et somptueux. Une réalisation exceptionnelle du chef argentin Leonardo García Alarcón à la tête d'un des meilleurs ensembles vocaux du monde.

Entouré d'une équipe de grand talent, dominée par les subtiles prestations de Cyril Auvity et Céline Scheen, Christophe Rousset à la tête de ses Talens Lyriques et du Chœur de Chambre de Namur nous invite à la redécouverte d'une tragédie lyrique de Lully, Bellérophon, crée le 31 janvier 1679. Une révélation!

Dido & Æneas. The poetry of the voice, the emotion of the verb set exquisitely to music Purcell's masterwork. Leonardo García Alarcón and a rising new generation of 'baroque' performers bring intensity, passion and innocent freshness to Dido' s eternal tragedy.

Judas Maccabaeus in the first new complete recording for 15 years, marking the 5th anniversary of the Ambronay label and from the 30th year of the Festival. Composed to celebrate an English victory, Judas Maccabaeus, combines celebration and scenes of hope, national aspiration and vocal jubilation. A must have!