André Chéron? Who? Unfortunately for him, he is more associated with his famous student Jean-Marie Leclair than with his own music, of which the majority has been lost, in particular his religious Grands Motets, performed at religious concerts. During his lifetime, he made quite a name for himself as a harpsichord player at the Paris Opéra, and then as batteur de mesure and inspecteur de l’orchestre de l’opéra, in which office he presided over performances of many works by Rameau but also by Pergolèse, feeding the interminable Querelle des bouffons, a battle between Francophiles and Italophiles in the French music world of the time. These sonatas from Op. 2, published in 1729, alternate between trio sonatas for two soloists and continuo, and duet sonatas for a single soloist and continuo. Note the cyclical aspect of the collection, with two sonatas in the rather unusual key of E minor, which Charpentier, in his Énergie des modes described as "effeminate, amorous and plaintive". Chéron represents a kind of missing link between the France of Louis XIV's Grand Siècle, and the rather less rigorous France of Louis XV, which marked the end of the French baroque era. The Catalan ensemble Matís – Catalan by birth, but with an international cast, with mainly Asian players – serves up these rarities with great conviction, on two rich, delectable recorders after a design by Pierre Jaillard Bressan, a famous Franco-London manufacturer active at the start of the 18th century. © SM/Qobuz