SPRING FESTIVAL – BLOOMING ARTS

The Festival de Printemps – Les Arts Florissants, a collaboration between Les Arts Florissants and the Département de la Vendée, returns for its 8th edition with a tribute to Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), one of the pioneers of Baroque music. Recognised as the father of opera and a master of sacred music, Monteverdi will be at the heart of this edition. Paul Agnew and William Christie, two great specialists in his repertoire, will be conducting the concerts. Paul Agnew, Artistic Director of the Festival, comments: "Monteverdi shaped Baroque music as we know it. His influence has lasted for generations.

The programme

CONCERT
Selva morale e spirituale – Claudio Monteverdi
Friday 19 April 2024 at 8:00 pm
Luçon Cathedral
William Christie will conduct a programme drawing on one of Claudio Monteverdi’s most famous masterpieces, the Selva morale e spirituale, which is undoubtedly one of the high points in the history of Western vocal music.


CONCERT
Concert & Café: Elizabeth Kenny (lute)
Saturday 20 April 2024 at 11.00am
Saint-Juire-Champgillon church
British lutenist Elizabeth Kenny, one of today’s leading interpreters of the instrument, will have carte blanche to compose a programme devoted to lute pieces in 17th-century Italian music.


CONCERT
Vespers of the Virgin – 1610 – Claudio Monteverdi
Saturday 20 April 2024 at 8:00 pm
Church of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption, Fontenay-le-Comte
After performing Monteverdi’s complete madrigals, Les Arts Florissants and Paul Agnew will tackle the Vespers of the Virgin, the cornerstone of their fifteen-year exploration of this major composer.


CONCERT
Concert & Café: Adrien Mabire (cornet à bouquin)
Sunday 21 April 2024 at 11am
Saint-Juire-Champgillon church
Adrien Mabire’s recital will be an opportunity to discover the expressive richness of one of his favourite instruments, characteristic of 17th-century Italian baroque music and with an intriguing name: the cornet à bouquin…


CONCERT
Sacred Madrigals – Claudio Monteverdi
Sunday 21 April 2024 at 5.30pm
Church of Sainte-Hermine
A connoisseur of Monteverdi’s madrigals, whose complete works he has conducted in concert and on disc, Paul Agnew invites us to rediscover this repertoire in an unusual light: that of the “contrafacta”.

Tours of the William Christie Gardens on Saturday 20 & Sunday 21 April from 10.30am to 5.30pm. Guided tours at 12 noon and 3 pm