Principal Underwriter: Old Virginia Brick

Program

Vivaldi	Sinfonia in B minor, “Al Santo Sepolcro”, RV 169
	Stabat Mater, RV 621
	Robin Blaze, countertenor
	Motet “In furore giustissimae irae”, RV 626
	Karina Gauvin, soprano
Pergolesi	Stabat Mater
	Karina Gauvin, soprano & Robin Blaze, countertenor

Artist Biography

The chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy borrows its name from the renowned string orchestra of the court of the French kings. The group, which has a core membership of fifteen players, was brought together in 1984 by Music Director Bernard Labadie and specializes in the vast repertoire of music for chamber orchestra, performed in the stylistic manner most appropriate to each era. Although the ensemble plays on modern instruments, its approach to the works of the Baroque and Classical periods has been strongly influenced by current understanding of performance practice in the 17th and early 18th centuries; in this repertoire Les Violons du Roy uses Baroque bows and bowing technique. The orchestra has been widely acclaimed for the exceptional energy, brilliance and vitality of its performances.

A pillar of the musical scene in Québec City, and well known throughout Canada for its concerts and its recordings for the French and English networks of the CBC, Les Violons du Roy has, since 1988, made over 100 concert appearances in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Spain, and United States. Its performance of Handel’s Messiah, regularly presented in Québec City, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto always creates a critical and public sensation. The group also performed Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in April 2000 and St. John Passion in April 2004, both in Québec City, Montreal and Toronto. After a first visit in August 1997, Les Violons du Roy played at Lincoln Center in New York in March 2001 as part of their North American tour with American counter-tenor David Daniels, and also in September 2001 presenting Mozart’s Requiem and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass in the same setting; they returned in August 2004 during the Mostly Mozart Festival. Tours of the United States and Europe are already scheduled until 2007, including their return at Amsterdam Concertgebouw and at the Rheingau and Schleswig-Holstein Festivals.

From 1992 to 2003, Les Violons du Roy made 12 CD recordings on the Dorian label. Seven of them (Simphonies des noëls, Stabat Mater, Music of Bach’s Sons, Vivaldi: Concerti for Strings, Handel: Apollo e Dafne, J.S. Bach Art of the Fugue and Mozart’s Requiem) have been nominated for JUNO awards, and two (Handel: Apollo e Dafne and Mozart’s Requiem) won the JUNO award for Best Classical Album, Choral or Vocal Performance. Their latest CD, J.S. Bach Psaume 51 and Cantata 82, was released in October 2004 on ATMA label. Future recordings are planned with Virgin Classics.

Les Violons du Roy won the 2003-2004 Opus awarded by Le Conseil québécois de la musique for the Concert of the Year – Québec City (Handel’s Alcina).

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