François Couperin Pièces de Violes, Philippe Pierlot 

French baroque requires a very special sensibility from performer. Virtuoso player in a french tradition is the one who listens through to composer's musical thought and follows it through with performance. Staying all the while responsive and reactive to all the intricate lines of melody and sonic delicate dynamics. Couperin can fool you with his seeming light and concise phrasing that in lesser hands may pass for simplicity which is in reality not simple at all. Sensitivity and alertness is paramount here and Philippe Pierlot is an exemplary interpreter of this phenomenally beautiful and just as much devilishly difficult elusive music. Even in the lively episodes this music material requires light deft hand and subtle calibration of volume and tempi. Ever changing tonalities and liquid rhythmic figurations are those ingredients of this music's intoxicating charm and depth. After another decade of listening to Couperin's oeuvre one keep finding that this music is just never gets dull or seem old. Quite opposite. Its perpetual freshness and hypnotic allure are simply nonpareil. Merci, merci, merci...

Philippe Pierlot, né à Liège en 1958, est un violiste et chef d'orchestre belge, spécialiste de la musique baroque. Biographie Autodidacte dans le jeu de la guitare et du luth, il a fait ses études de viole auprès de Wieland Kuijken au Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles. Avec Bernard Foccroulle et le violoniste français François Fernandez, ils fondent en 1980 le Ricercar Consort[1] et plus tard leur propre label sous le même nom. Il interprète notamment le Magnificat de Bach ou les Apothéoses de Couperin. Pierlot est l'un des rares interprètes jouant du baryton, instrument préféré du prince Nicolas Esterházy, employeur de Joseph Haydn, qui composa environ 150 œuvres pour cet instrument. Plus de 50 enregistrements d'œuvres baroques de compositeurs, en partie peu connus, ont fait le succès de Pierlot. Il est récompensé en 1998 d'un Diapason d'or pour la gravure de l'intégrale des Trios pour le coucher du roy de Marin Marais. En 2007, Il prend la direction du Collegium Vocale de Gand et du Ricercar Consort pour enregistrer à la Chapelle Royale du Château de Versailles la Messe des Morts à quatre voix H.10 de Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Après avoir enseigné au conservatoire de Maastricht et à la Hochschule für Musik à Trossingen, il est actuellement (2010) professeur de viole de gambe au conservatoire royal de La Haye ainsi qu'au Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles. En 2012, Il participe à la bande son originale de la série européenne The Spiral. En 2017, il se voit décerner l'octave "Musiques classiques" en compagnie de l'ensemble Ricercar Consort pour l’interprétation d’œuvres de Biber et d’autres compositeurs du siècle dans « Imitatio ».

This is wonderful music! I have heard Couperin before but not this one. The Viola player is awesome!

Like a divine respiration-utterly civilized and beautiful.

Suite 1, for viola da gamba & continuo 1. Prelude 00:05 2. Allemande Légere 03:45 3. Courante 06:05 4. Sarabande Grave 08:10 5. Gavotte 12:17 6. Gigue 14:35 7. Passacaille Ou Chaconne 16:50 Suite 2, for viola da gamba & continuo 1. Prelude 22:29 2. Fuguete 25:05 3. Pompe Funèbre 27:10 4. La Chemise Blanche 36:18 Premier concert in G major 39:41 Deuxième concert in D major 53:18

this music = balm for the soul!

Avec l'amour et précision.

Remarkable compositions, remarkable performance. Deeply felt & expressed, technically so integrated that one has that sense that the players are "one instrument." Leaving musicology to one side for a moment, it as if this music could be heard & understood by any listeners from Gregorian Chant to Schoenberg - deep in the soul. Bravo.

Optimē factum! Grātiās tibi!

Glorious.

Een verzuchting, wat is dit toch prachtige muziek. En diepgaande interpretatie. I heave a sigh: such beautiful music. And thorough interpretation. Thank you, Ria.

Très émouvant...

Perfect music to listen to at the proper volume while doing technical work on the computer. The music soothes as it entertains and lets your mind be creative and be energetive. Late Renaissance and Baroque music is the best. I enjoy the music of Couperin as much as the likes of Marais, Telemann, Bach, Bocherini, and other immortals

All the mornings of the world

Beautiful music........

Very nice music, well played! An interesting visual choice, however: A painting by the late 17th century Dutch artist Adriaen van der Werff for music by the contemporary French composer, F. Couperin. Yet, it does help set a mood, after all.

Such a different conception from Bach’s analogous work - the Sonatas for viola da gamba. Here melody reigns supreme.

Beautiful and uplifting. But already that ONE strange person has visited to click a thumbs-down. Who IS that ONE person? And does he ever leave his basement lair?

아 밝고 편안하다^

Ad at 8:09

I believe I meant 'energetic', oh well

27:10

Hiya

Nothing like that throaty gamba sound. Who did it better: Couperin or Marais???

Ethereal baroque💜 is this 18th century?

La composition est magnifique ainsi que l'interprétation. Ce qui est regrettable - et c'est un défaut assez général dans les enregistrements - est que la prise de son efface quelque peu l'accompagnement qui s'entend comme dans un lointain, en particulier le clavecin, et c'est bien dommage.

Gay

Apart from totally appreciating the music, I can't help thinking that the guy is smiling so mischieveously because he's about to snap the girl's bra. Pity she wouldn't have been wearing one. :)

Que de réflexions, de commentaires, d'analyses, critiques ! Mon cerveau fait tout cela, mais à la différence des vôtres, il m'interdit de les exprimer par écrit, par le verbe ou par les signes Sauf trois mots : j'aime / j'aime pas Ici : j'aime

I love French gamba music. It's so emotive and satisfying.

It is not exactly an incongruity, but at the same time, this music I feel belongs to an earlier era. It has been moved forward in time as if by accident. His dates read 1668 to 1733. Has this style of music passed during his lifetime? Or is a deliberate homage to a past age? I cannot compare his style to Rebel, Marin Marais or even Buxtehude. This is not to his detriment. But it is exquisitely played, if only for one of many reasons - getting the instrument and keeping it in tune. I spent twenty minutes watching a performer at the Wigmore Hall doing his best to get his Gamba in tune. What did the first players do to keep some control over their tuning? History does not record their efforts. The overtones of the Gamba are exquisite, not to mention the unique sound that is produced. No scordatura needed here, I think. A very satisfying sonority. And something you will not obtain from any other instrument - especially a contemporary keyboard instrument where no individual nuances are possible. Ria, congratulations on bringing together 24.2 subscribers. That's an impressive statistic. Thank you for bringing this wonderful music to those who can appreciate it . Some information about the instruments used in the recording would be helpful. Pity there are 19 Philistines amongst us.

These works by Couperin are true masterpieces, and the rendition in this recording is nothing short of perfect, to say the least. Its elegance and melodic beauty aside, I was instantaneously hooked up by its soul-touching sophistication and became a willing captive of it throughout.

nice❤

indeed the music is supreme...i can´t find the score of the Deuxieme concert in D major...Hum..any suggestion??? thanxxs to sahre this recording!!

27:03

Left-handed girl is holding a right-handed theorbo upside down. Neither of these two people are musicians, they just posed for the artist for the day or week because they are pretty.

Am I missing something or is the audio quality miserable?