The ensemble Le Consort, formed in Paris in 2015, is dedicated to baroque music, more particularly to the chamber music genre known as trio sonata. Ever since their outset, it has been a repertoire they work on, play, record and perform enthusiastically, sincerely and with a truly modern approach. Indeed, the trio sonata is quintessential to chamber music in the baroque era. So, Le Consort aims at adding to the genre that personal, dynamic and colourful touch. The repertoire includes works by such composers as Corelli, Vivaldi, Couperin, Purcell… not forgetting men and women composers who have remained unknown and whom the Consort endeavours to re-discover, thus contributing to bringing their names to the attention of the audience. Giving pride of place to these unpublished composers is one of the artistic trademarks of the ensemble. Jean-François Dandrieu, LouisAntoine Lefevre or else Giovanni Battista Reali are three composers the Consort has recorded for the first time (respectively in the albums Venez chère ombre and Specchio Veneziano). Furthermore, for some years, Le Consort has been regularly straying from the beaten tracks of the trio sonata and has expanded its workforce to accompany vocal projects for instance, as was the case with Adèle Charvet in the recording of Teatro Sant’Angelo, or the projects of concertos.
Indeed, the rise in soloist careers of the Consort members makes them develop and fulfill themselves in larger groups during concerts or recordings by the soloist members of the ensemble, all the while delivering a marvelous feat consisting in maintaining a chamber music way of operating despite an increased number of musicians. It has been the case with Concerti per una vita, the double disc of violin concertos by Théotime Langlois de Swarte and for the recording of the Concerti per violoncello performed by Hanna Salzenstein. Born of the founding members’ desire to carry out projects requiring a greater number of musicians, Le Consort is a scalable ensemble whose productions range from concertos to operas. The orchestra will play at Folle Journée de Nantes, at the BBC Proms in London, and at Opéra-Comique during the next season.
The Société Générale Fondation d’Entreprises is the main sponsor of the Consort, which is also supported by La Caisse des Dépôts.
