Le Violon de Rameau

After their first recording as a duo, released by harmonia mundi and performed in concert all over the world, William Christie and violin virtuoso Théotime Langlois de Swarte join forces again for a new musical program, this time devoted to a leading French Baroque composer: Jean-Philippe Rameau. 

"The idea of this program began with a portrait of Jean-Philippe Rameau, attributed to Jacques-André-Joseph Aved (1702-1766.) In this picture, the musician, a great music theorist known for his lyric works as well as his harpsichord pieces, is shown not at a keyboard, but with a violin. The image captures the moment, showing him ready to pluck the string while the first finger of his right hand places a B, inviting us to listen to this enigmatic note. From this observation was born the desire to build a musical universe out of this portrait, to enter the canvas and reveal Jean-Philippe Rameau's lifelong relationship with the violin. Beginning with his musical training, through his alleged participation in a troupe of itinerant musicians in the south of France as a violinist, to the consecration of Hippolyte et Aricie, this investigative program brings together transcriptions of opera arias, excerpts from dance suites and sonatas by virtuoso violinists and composers who rubbed shoulders with Rameau." Théotime Langlois de Swarte