MARC-ANTOINE CHARPENTIER A Christmas Concert

Samuele Lastrucci director

Lili Aymonino soprano
Valentina Fin soprano
Emma Alessi Innocenti soprano
Gabriel Belkheiri haute-contre
Marco Angioloni taille
Francesco Masilla basse

Matteo Saccà violin
Rossella Pugliano violin
Giulia Serio flute
Giuditta Isoldi flute
Johanna Lopez viola da gamba
Tommaso Tarsi lute

Program

Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643–1704)
Antiphon without organ to the virgin “Sub tuum præsidium”, H. 28
In Assumption of the Blessed Mary Virgin, H. 353
Song to the Blessed Virgin, H. 340
Salve Regina H. 27
Magnificat, H. 73
Litanies of the Virgin, H. 83

Program notes
The Marian core presented here offers an exemplary sample of Charpentier’s synthesis between the Italian lexicon learned from Carissimi and the elegant French taste. The chosen program showcases forms and ensembles of the French chapel, from the bare splendor of the “Antiphon without organ to the Virgin” H. 28 (Sub tuum praesidium), with three a cappella sopranos, to the wide fresco of the “In Assumption of the Blessed Mary Virgin” H. 353, where choral and solo invocations, imitative-concertante sections alternate episodes of relaxation with litany refrains. The canticle “Song to the Blessed Virgin” H. 340 features a trio of Haute-contre, Taille, and Basse with concertante instruments and continuo, in a fine timbral balance and affective suspensions. The “Salve Regina” H. 27 is conceived as a solo interlude entrusted to the soprano voice. The “Magnificat” H. 73 distills the poetic of the trio of male voices over a chaconne bass, varying the emotions between humility and exaltation. The program concludes with the “Litanies of the Virgin” H. 83: a chain of invocations following the Parisian practice, with luminous progressions, persuasive modulations, and a wide-ranging devotional culmination.