MARIN MARAIS (1656-1728)

Suite en La mineur (IIIe Livre)
1 Prélude
2 Fantaisie
3 Allemande
4 Courante
5 Sarabande
6 Gigue + Double
7 Gavotte
8 Menuets 1 & 2
9 Grand Ballet

Suite en Sol majeur (IIIe Livre)
10 Prélude
11 Caprice
12 Allemande + Double
13 Courante
14 Sarabande grave
15 Gigue à l'angloise
16 Gigue La Petite
17 Gavotte
18 Menuets 1 & 2
19 Muzette (IVe Livre)
20 Chaconne (Ve Livre)

Suite en Ré mineur (IIe Livre)
21 Prélude
22 Bourrasque
23 Allemande
24 Courante
25 Sarabande
26 Gigue
27 Menuets 1 & 2
28 Double Rondeau

“Each stroke of the bow is a specific movement, and the challenge of the sound it produces is to breathe life into an imaginary choreography without which the music would lose its soul.” (P. Pandolfo)

With every new project, Paolo Pandolfo confirms his position as the greatest viola da gamba player of his generation, each time unveiling a world whose existence was hitherto unknown to us. 70 minutes of dazzling virtuosity, the most communicative musicality and immense interpretative intelligence. One cannot say enough when referring to the wisdom and inexhaustible energy of this artist who is securing the future of early music which in these last times had seemed so predictable and conceptually weary.

Grand Ballet goes straight to the heart of Marais’ music, to its essence, which is no other than the dance and the gesture, of crucial importance in the years of splendour of Louis XIV. Magnificent liner notes written by the luthier Pierre Jaquier, a regular collaborator on Pandolfo’s French projects, put the finishing touch to a CD which we present with the certainty that it will set a new standard.