Les Musiciens du Louvre (literally ''The Musicians of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

'') is a French period instrument ensemble, formed in 1982. Originally based in Paris, since 1996 it has been based in the Couvent des Minimes in

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' considers it one of the best orchestras in the world.Tim Ashley
Prom 22
'The Guardian', Tuesday 31 July 2007.

History

Founded by

Marc Minkowski Marc Minkowski (born 4 October 1962) is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works, and is the current general director of Opéra national de Bordeaux. His mother, Mary Anne (Wade), i ...

in 1982, the ensemble was originally based in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. From 1987 it gained an international reputation as one of the best

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

and classical ensembles. It has also made successful forays into the works of Offenbach, Berlioz and

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...

. In 1992, it inaugurated the Baroque music festival at the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

with '' Armide'' by

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he ...

, then in 1993 took part in the inauguration of the

Opéra Nouvel The Opéra Nouvel (Nouvel Opera House) in Lyon, France, is the home of the Opéra National de Lyon. The original opera house was re-designed by the distinguished French architect, Jean Nouvel between 1985 and 1993 in association with the agency o ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

with '' Phaëton'' by Lully. 1993 also saw it win a Gramophone Award for Best Baroque Vocal Recording for its recording of ''San Giovanni Battista'' by Stradella. On its move to Grenoble in 1996 it merged with the Ensemble instrumental de Grenoble. In 1999, the ensemble collaborated with photographer William Klein on ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

'', a film performance of

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

's celebrated oratorio with accompanying photographs and filmed images shot or assembled by director. In 2004, on the reopening of the

Maison de la Culture de Grenoble The Maison de la Culture de Grenoble, commonly called MC2, is a public venue for public events located on the Avenue Marcellin-Berthelot in Grenoble, France. History Built by André Wogenscky on the occasion of the Olympics, MC2 was inaugurated ...

(renamed MC2) Les Musiciens du Louvre set up an 'atelier de création'. In 2005, they were the first French ensemble invited to play at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

('' Mitridate, re di Ponto'', reprised in the Mozart complete works festival in 2006). In 2005,

decided to set up the Atelier des musiciens du Louvre, a workshop aiming to increase partnership with regional artists and cultural figures and to increase public access to the orchestra's concerts via teaching and education projects, especially to the young.

Activities

Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble supports the renewal of Baroque music in France and more generally the use of period instruments and period style. The projet des Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble proposes a progressive and lyrical re-evaluation, from baroque music to modern music, and programming certain works which have been neglected for unjustifiable or obscure reasons. This project makes the ensemble one of the most evolved, inventive and original music groups in the world. It is also well known for its rediscovery of works by

(its contribution to the Handelian repertoire is recognised as one of the most important in the world),

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

and

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and ...

, as well as by Haydn and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

, to mention the most important. This path has naturally led to later and later repertoire, favouring 19th century French music. It has participated in projects around Berlioz (''Symphonie Fantastique'', ''Nuit d'été'', ''Harold en Italie'') and Jacques Offenbach in particular (''La Belle Hélène'', ''La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein''), but also around

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

(''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the ...

'' and the music from '' L'Arlésienne'') and

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

(''Musique de Théâtre''). The 2008–2009 season also saw even later composers such as

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

and Stravinski. Opera quickly took a major role in the orchestra's repertoire right from its foundation – they have won critical acclaim for their productions of Monteverdi ( ''The Coronation of Poppaea'' in 2000 at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence),

(''Armide'' in 1992),

(''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that in ...

'' at the Ruhr Triennale, ''The Abduction from the Seraglio'' at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, ''Mitridate'' in 2005 for their first Salzburg Festival appearance) but above all their productions of ''Iphigénie en Tauride'' by

at the Opéra de Paris, ''Carmen'' by Bizet (May 2007), ''Die Feen'' by

(March 2009) at the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

and ''The Marriage of Figaro'' by Mozart at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées. It has also toured in Eastern Europe, Asia, North America, South America and (in 2009) to Japan.

Discography

*Lully (''Phaëton'', ''Acis & Galatée'', les Comédies-Ballets) *Charpentier (''Le Malade imaginaire'', ''Te Deum'') *Marais (''Alcione'') *Blamont (''Didon'') *Clérambault (''Le Soleil vainqueur des Nuages'') *Mouret (''Les Amours de Ragonde'') *Stuck (''Héraclite & Démocrite'') *Rebel (''Les Élémens'') *Rameau (''Hippolyte & Aricie'', ''Platée'', ''Dardanus'', ''Les surprises de l'Amour'' uites ''Anacréon'', ''Le Berger fidèle'', ''Une symphonie imaginaire'') *Mondonville (''Titon & l'Aurore'', Sonates en symphonies) *Gluck (''Armide'', ''Iphigénie en Tauride'', ''Orphée et Eurydice'') *Méhul (Symphonies n° 1 and 2) *Berlioz (''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Herminie'' with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Aurélia Legay) *Offenbach (''La Belle Hélène'', ''La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein'', Concerto for cello and other instruments, gala with Anne Sofie von Otter, ''Orphée aux Enfers'', A Concert of Music by Offenbach) *Handel (''Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno'', ''La resurrezione'', ''Messiah'', ''Hercules'', ''Amadigi'', ''Teseo'', ''Ariodante'', ''Giulio Cesare'', ''Concerti Grossi opus 3'', ''Dixit Dominus'' et motets romains, ''Delirio amoroso'' and cantatas with Magdalena Kožená, French cantatas, ''Haendel Scarlatti Caldara Opera Proibita'' with Cécilia Bartoli) *Mozart (''Mitridate'' VD ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' VD ''Don Giovanni'' rrangement for wind octet by Triebensee ''Jupiter'', Mass in C Minor) *Monteverdi (''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' VD *Stradella (''San Giovanni Battista'') *Rossini (''L'inganno felice'' nder the name Concert des Tuileries * Bizet (''L'Arlésienne'') * Bach (Messe en Si)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musiciens Du Louvre French orchestras French instrumental groups Musical groups established in 1982 Early music orchestras Organizations based in Grenoble 1982 establishments in France Musical groups from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Erato Records artists