Eclatante Amarante

A portrait of the French Singer
Anne Chabanceau de la Barre (1628-1688)

A journey through the language of passions inspired by the life of the French soprano Anne Chabanceau de La Barre (1628-1688). Highlighting her career in Paris , but also her sojourn at the court of Queen Christina in Sweden (1653-1654), it features her repertory from the King’s chamber, the 'ballets de cour' and the ‘salons’. Shifting from music to poetry to narration, the program explores how Mlle de La Barre and other female performers in the seventeenth century moved their listeners by expressing the affects through the mirror of the soul – the voice.

Allez où le sort vous conduit,

Il faut partir, adorable Amarante,

Bien loin, comme une étoile errante,

Vous brillerez au milieu de la nuit.

Pour moi, je veux jusqu’au trépas

Avoir l’honneur d’accompanger vos pas

Et de chanter en tous lieux vos louanges,

Lorsque d’une voix,

Comme celle des anges,

Vous ferez des lois.

Tristan L’Hermite

(Bénigne de Bacilly: Receuil des plus beaux vers, 1661)

Elisabeth Belgrano, voice

Lucas Harris, lute, theorbo

"…sung by Elisabeth Belgrano, who offered us a sighing and expressive interpretation augmented by elegant vocalizing and numerous well-executed embellishments."
Luxemburger Wort, 2001

CONTACT ELISABETH