Highlights Of Les Arts Florissants' Spring Festival Available Online Starting April 24

Although the Festival de Printemps, Les Arts Florissants' (LAF) Spring Festival showcasing sacred music in the churches of southern Vendée in France, will not take place April 24-26, 2020 due to current circumstances, starting April 24, audiences can experience online some of the exquisite artists and sublime music from the planned programs.

The 2020 Festival celebrates the music of Antonio Vivaldi. LAF's William Christie and Paul Agnew, featured solo artists, and students from The Juilliard School's Historical Performance program are among those who taped performances from various locations in isolation.

Join Les Arts Florissants at www.arts-florissants.com, on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram pages on April 24, 25, and 26, for performances of works by Vivaldi, as well as Charpentier and Tallis. All programs will be available starting on the dates and at the times (local NYC and Paris times) listed below.

Friday, April 24
3:00 pm EDT (9:00 pm Paris time) - Pergolesi Stabat Mater: Dolorosa
This movement, one of the brilliant Neapolitan composer's most popular and poignant duets, is performed by William Christie, soloists Jessica Niles and Théo Imart, and musicians from The Juilliard School's Historic Performance program, who recorded it from locations in Thiré, Paris, and New York, respectively.

Saturday, April 25
5:00 am EDT (11:00 am Paris time) - Concert & Café: Vivaldi sonata
Elena Andreyev, cello, and Florian Carré, harpsichord, with the participation of Cécile Vérolles, cello, have prepared a video version of Vivaldi's Sonata in B-flat major, RV 46.

3:00 pm EDT (9:00 pm Paris time) - Vivaldi's Great Venetian Mass for the Annunciation: Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei
The Vivaldi Mass program was conceived and created by Paul Agnew and performed on March 4, 2020 at the Cité de la musique in Paris. A recording of the performance will be released by harmonia mundi in spring 2021. Viewers can enjoy audio excerpts from the recording accompanied by videos of the concert and messages from the artists. In addition, scores for the Sanctus and Agnus Dei, painstakingly constructed from examples of related works by the composer and shaped by liturgical practices in Venice at the time, will also be available for study.

Sunday, April 26
5:00 am EDT (11:00 am Paris time) - Concert & Café: Vivaldi sonata
William Christie, harpsichord, and Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin, perform Sonata No. 5, op. 2 in B minor (Corrente, allegro).

11:30 am EDT (5:30 pm Paris time) - Vivaldi Stabat Mater, Eja Mater, fons amoris
Brilliant countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński, arising stars on the Baroque music scene, was selected by Les Arts Florissants Artistic Director Paul Agnew as the soloist for Vivaldi's moving Stabat Mater. Orliński and pianist Aleksander Dębicz videotaped this performance of the work's seventh movement, Eja Mater, fons amoris, in Warsaw.

Experience the splendor of William Christie's gardens at his home in Thiré in all their springtime glory. Christie, his gardeners Alain Berthet and Florian Herouet, and photographer Jacky Joccotton have captured the gardens in March and April in a series of photos and videos that offer a virtual tour of both the best known and some of the hidden nooks on the grounds. Take the virtual tour starting April 24.

From the archives, three concerts performed by Les Art Florissants at the church in the village of Thiré, where Les Arts is based in the Vendée, are now posted on YouTube: Charpentier's Cécile, vierge et martyre and Le fils de prodigue, and a program of Thomas Tallis's plainsong.