Destinées

Born to be musicians? The female composers whom Baroque violinist Sophie de Bardonnèche is paying tribute to had very different fates: While the name Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665-1729) is well known, who knows Mlle Duval (born around 1718), the second woman whose works were performed at the Paris Opera and who bore the nickname "la Légende" in her time? Her opera ballet Les Génies bears witness to her great mastery. Then there are Anne-Madeleine Guesdon de Presles and Élisabeth-Louise Pellecier, female composers who were married to male composers - the latter signed her works with the name of her husband, Papavoine? Others had it easier because they were aristocrats, like Mlle de Menetou (1679-1745). No fewer than ten female composers are brought to new life in this program of sonatas, overtures, and dances conceived by Sophie de Bardonnèche, a founding member of the Consort. She is accompanied on her first solo album by her partners Lucile Boulanger and Justin Taylor.