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The Arts Intel Report

Charpentier: Leçons des Ténèbres

April 1, 2023
Place d'Armes, 78000 Versailles, France

“Lessons of darkness” is the generic term for French Baroque liturgical music for the first three days of Holy Week. The texts are from the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and while the idiom is inspired by polyphonic Italian models from the Renaissance, the music is for highly virtuosic solo voices. On April 1, William Christie and Les Arts Florissants do the honors in compositions by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. On April 5, Gaétan Jarry conducts from the organ a companion program of music by François Couperin. —Matthew Gurewitsch