Arcadelt, L’Éloge de la beauté

A beauty born out of multiple European influences

Arcadelt was one of the first great madrigalists. He was born in Namur in 1507. He lived in Lyon before entering into the service of Alessandro de’ Medici’s court in Florence. He then went to Venice and eventually joined the Sistine Chapel in Rome under Pope Paul III. He later became choirmaster to Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorraine. He served under King Henry II until his death in Paris in 1568. Arcadelt is known for having set Michelangelo’s poems to music. Another one of his scores illustrates Caravaggio’s famous painting of the Lute Player. His success was such that at the beginning of the 17th century, Monteverdi was astonished to discover that collections of Arcadelt’s compositions were outselling his own in Italy. The Chœur de chambre de Namur first introduced Arcadelt’s fine, airy music to Leonardo García Alarcón. Since then, the choir has performed Arcadelt’s works with Cappella Mediterranea on a regular basis and in February 2018, the two ensembles recorded an album dedicated to the composer (released by Ricercar).

Programme

Coming soon

Duration: 1 hour and 10 minutes, without intermission

Artists

Sofie Garcia, soprano
Laurène Paterno, soprano
Léo Fernique, countertenor
Valerio Contaldo, tenor
Matteo Bellotto, bass

Chœur de Chambre de Namur
Cappella Mediterranea
Leonardo García Alarcón, conductor