At the Maguelone Festival in Occitanie (France), Léa Desandre and Thomas Dunford bring to life, through their programme *Laissez durer la nuit*, a rich yet all too rarely performed repertoire of 17th-century French court music, in a virtuoso interplay between voice and theorbo. 
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Bathed in the musical hues of the Grand Siècle, Maguelone Cathedral hosts a recital by mezzo-soprano Léa Desandre and lutenist Thomas Dunford as part of the Maguelone Early Music Festival. “Laissez durer la nuit” offers a journey through an operatic repertoire that subtly explores the nuances of the heart.
Little-known French songs
The duo has chosen to perform 17th-century French arias, which were usually performed at court or in salons by leading musical figures of the time. The programme features illustrious composers such as Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Marin Marais, as well as lesser-known artists including Michel Lambert, Sébastien Le Camus and Honoré d’Ambruys. This repertoire, rarely performed today, brims with songs that explore the theme of love and its wide emotional range — at times light and bucolic, at others dramatic and melancholic — and lends itself perfectly to Léa Desandre’s virtuoso vocal tones. Thomas Dunford’s theorbo not only accompanies her, but also shines in solo passages in instrumental pieces by Robert de Visée that punctuate the concert.
The programme does, however, venture beyond France’s geographical borders with “Ombra mai fù”, the opening aria from Georg Friedrich Händel’s opera Serse, and also beyond the boundaries of time: thus “Mes longs cheveux”, taken from Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande, and the surprising “Dis-moi quand reviendras-tu?” by singer-songwriter Barbara, open up the legacy of songs from the Grand Siècle across the ages.
A complementary and masterful duo
The Franco-Italian mezzo-soprano Léa Desandre, winner of the ‘Best New Classical Artist’ award at the 2017 Victoires de la Musique Classique and the 2018 Young Soloist Award from French-speaking public media, made her debut at the prestigious Jardin des Voix alongside William Christie. Trained at the Schola Cantorum in Basel under Hopkinson Smith, lutenist Thomas Dunford belongs to the same musical circle through his work with Les Arts Florissants and ensembles such as Cappella Mediterranea, Le Concert Spirituel, and Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien. Dunford has also ventured into conducting, founding his own ensemble, Jupiter, in 2018. The ensemble released a multi-award-winning debut album dedicated to Vivaldi the following year.
The Programme
🎼 Michel Lambert (1610-1696)
Ma bergère est tendre et fidèle
Ombre de mon amant
Vos mépris chaque jour
🎼 Robert de Visée (1650-1725)
Gavotte in D minor
Chaconne in D minor
Prelude and Sarabande in D minor
Allemande ‘La Royale’
Rondeau ‘La mascarade’
🎼 Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704)
Celle qui fait tout mon tourment
Auprès du feu on fait l’amour
Tristes déserts, sombre retraite
Sans frayeur dans ce bois
🎼 Sébastien Le Camus (1610-1677)
On n’entend rien dans ce bocage
Laissez durer la nuit
Forêts solitaires
🎼 Marin Marais (1656-1728)
Les Voix Humaines
🎼 Honoré d’Ambruys
Le doux silence de nos bois
🎼 Marie-Joseph Déodat de Séverac (1872 – 1921)
Paysages tristes
🎼 Georg Friedrich Haendel (1685 – 1759)
Ombra mai fù (Serse)
🎼 Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918)
Mes longs cheveux (Pelléas et Mélisande)
🎼 Barbara (1930 – 1997)
Dis-moi quand reviendras-tu ?
At Maguelone Cathedral, in 2019.
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