Palazzetto Bru Zane - Centre de Musique Romantique Française

A little over a hundred years after the first performance of Lully’s Atys (1676), one of his major works and one particularly appreciated by Louis XIV, Parisian audiences discovered an updated version. The opera had already been seriously revised for its revival at the Paris Opéra in 1753, but in 1780 it was completely reset by the Italian composer Niccolò Piccinni to a libretto adapted for the purpose from Quinault’s original by Jean-François Marmontel, who also reduced it from five acts to three. The quarrel between the supporters of Piccinni and those of Gluck was at its height at that time, and Piccinni showed in Atys his perfect mastery of the French style (particularly in the dream scene, Act II), while also incorporating Italianate touches. Atys, with seven airs, is of course the focus of the work, but his duos with Sangaride and the air for Cybele at the end of Act II, as well as the quartet in Act III, were also highly appreciated by the audience. The end of the work, however, with Atys committing suicide on stage after learning that he has killed his beloved Sangaride while under a spell cast by Cybele, shocked the audience and as a result jeopardised the success of the 1780 production, which was taken off after only eight performances. Such a bloody ending, no doubt too far ahead of its time, contrasted with the metamorphic ending of the original version by Lully and Quinault. Thus Piccinni and Marmontel were obliged to alter the plot: in 1783 they presented a version with a happier ending, which enabled Atys to remain in the repertoire of the Paris Opéra until 1792 (over fifty performances).

Wishing to revive this work in an original manner, the Palazzetto Bru Zane decided to present a transcription for a smaller orchestra and four soloists, following a practice that was common for works performed on some of the stages at the royal court of Versailles. The result is a distillation of the drama, concentrating on the main characters; a sort of ‘in camera’ version, in the manner of a tragedy by Racine.The Soloists of Le Cercle de l’Harmonie
Julien Chauvin, first violin
Karine Crocquenoy, second violin
Marie Legendre, viola
Emilia Gliozzi, cello
Christian Staude, double bass
Tami Krausz, flute
Emma Black, oboe
Javier Zafra, bassoon

At the end of his life, the composer known as Le Chevalier de Saint-George (1745-1799) founded an orchestra, which he named Le Cercle de l’Harmonie. In 2005 at the Deauville Festival, the conductor and composer Jérémie Rhorer and the violinist Julien Chauvin decided to revive that name in bringing together their favourite partners to perform the great symphonic and operatic repertoire of the late eighteenth century. While ardently championing the masterpieces of Mozart and Haydn, they felt naturally and passionately drawn to the French repertoire, particularly that of the key period stretching from the Ancien Régime to the First Empire. Le Cercle de l’Harmonie is invited to present its programmes at many major festivals and musical institutions. It has actively recorded both audio and video, for Virgin Classics and now for Ambroisie-Naïve. Le Cercle de l’Harmonie is supported by the Fondation Orange, the Swiss Life Foundation and the City of Deauville.

Julien Chauvin, first violin
Julien Chauvin studied violin with Vera Beths at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and Baroque and Classical interpretation with Wilbert Hazelzet, Jaap Ter Linden and Anner Bylsma. In 2003 he was a prizewinner at the Bruges International Early Music Competition, and since then he has appeared as a soloist in South America, South Africa, Georgia, Germany, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands… and at the Deauville Easter Festival, the Cordes-sur-Ciel Festival (Tarn) and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. For Baroque music Julien Chauvin plays with renowned ensembles such as Concerto Köln, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Le Concert d’Astrée, L’Ensemble Baroque de Limoges. He also performs works of the Romantic and contemporary periods, the latter in close collaboration with composers Steve Reich, György Kurtág, Thierry Escaich, Thomas Adès and Philippe Hersant. As a chamber musician he appears with Renaud Capuçon, Jérôme Pernoo, Jérôme Ducros, Bertrand Chamayou, Christophe Coin and Patrick Cohen. In 2005, with conductor Jérémie Rhorer, he founded Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, and in 2007 he formed the Quatuor Cambini-Paris. With both ensembles he explores and revives major works of the French repertoire from the end of the Ancien Régime to 1830.

Chantal Santon, soprano
Chantal Santon (who also has a degree in political science) studied singing at the Paris Conservatoire (CNR) and went on to work with Margreet Honig, Florence Guignolet and Malcolm Walker. She performs on stage and records a very varied repertoire. She took the part of Eve on the recording of Le Paradis perdu by Théodore Dubois. Chantal Santon’s plans for the coming months include performances and recordings with Violaine Cochard, the Brussels Philharmonic, Les Agrémens (of Namur), Amaryllis, Le Concert Spirituel, Opera Fuoco, Il Seminario Musicale, and the Magdeburg Philharmonic.

Marie Kalinine, mezzo-soprano
Born in Paris, Marie Kalinine studied music at the Maîtrise de Radio France, then at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM). She was chosen by Ève Ruggieri as ‘Revelation of the Year 2007’. In 2013 she will be taking the roles of Carmen at Maribor Opera House (Slovenia), Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann in Poland, the twin Marcellienne in Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien in Lisbon, Prince Raphaël in Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde at Saint-Étienne Opéra, then Ascagne in Berlioz’s Les Troyens, with Roberto Alagna (his first Enée) at Marseille Opéra.

Mathias Vidal, tenor

After obtaining a degree in musicology in 1999, Mathias Vidal went on to study at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM), from which he graduated in 2003. That same year he was awarded a prize by the Centre Français de Promotion Lyrique (CFPL); later he was acclaimed as the ADAMI ‘Classical Revelation 2007’. Since his début roles – Frantz and Nathanaël in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Arnalta in Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea – his operatic repertoire has constantly expanded. He sings the part of Adam in Le Paradis perdu by Théodore Dubois with Les Cris de Paris. Mathias Vidal is also well known for his performances of Baroque music, he sings the Italian and German repertoires, and he often appears in operetta (especially Offenbach).

Aimery Lefèvre, baritone
Born in Bourges, Aimery Lefèvre studied piano, organ and singing, before joining the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles in 2000, where he specialised in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music performance. He then entered the Lyon Conservatoire (CNSM), where he studied with Brian Parsons. After that he joined the Paris Opéra’s Atelier Lyrique. His career began in the Baroque repertoire under conductors such as Patrick Cohën-Akenine, Martin Gester, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Hervé Niquet and Christophe Rousset. His first operatic role was as Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, conducted by Kenneth Weith. He then appeared at the opera houses in Tours and Rennes, and at MC93 in Bobigny. In 2009-10 Aimery Lefèvre made his debut at the Paris Opéra in two productions: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Fiorello), conducted by Bruno Campanella, and Platée (Momus), conducted by Marc Minkowski. Since then he has appeared at the Paris Opéra again, and at the Grand Théâtre in Luxembourg and the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse; he has given recitals at La Scala, Milan, and at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He took part in the recording of Lully's Atys (Célénus) with La Simphonie du Marais.