Glossa: GCD921615

2 CDs in slipcase, 132-page booklet.

Present as a singer in the chorus of Les Arts Florissants in 1987 when William Christie put on Lully's Atys, [recorded for harmonia mundi] Niquet formed his own ensemble, Le Concert Spirituel that same year. Since that time he has balanced his own endeavours to stage (and record) key French tragédies with his other musical interests. Niquet's latest incursion into French Baroque opera comes with Lully's prologue and five-act Proserpine, joining Destouches' Callirhoé and Marais' Sémélé: a group which Glossa has been releasing in elegant editions over the last three years.Additionally, the recordings have all followed performances of the works, especially at the Opéra de Montpellier where Le Concert Spirituel is currently in residence. Three centuries after the first performance in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel pay tribute to the genius of Lully with a new recording of Proserpine made just after stagings in both Paris and Versailles.Together with a cast of top soloists, well-versed in the demands of French Baroque, singing and with his incomparable Le Concert Spirituel, Hervé Niquet once more conjures up a dramatic feast.