On the sleeve, musicians are waiting patiently for a metro train at the imaginary Opus 1 station. This is how the ensemble Le Consort, led by young harpsichordist Justin Taylor, frame their first recording, which is made up of Sonatas in trio opus 1 by Jean-François Dandrieu, a French composer known for his organ music.
Born in Paris in 1682, Dandrieu, like Justin Taylor, came from Angers, where his whole family lived. A child prodigy, he would perform before the Princess Palatine at the age of 5, and later he would dedicate to her this imposing collection. He then took holy orders and became the titular organist of Saint Merry, a much-sought-after post at the time. He would become the organist of the Royal Chapel of Versailles, and one of the most important musicians in the Kingdom, accumulating admiration, privileges, honours and official recognition.
Published in 1705, this collection of his Sonatas in trio, presented here interspersed with sonatas by Corelli which were Dandrieu's model, is bursting with inventiveness and vocality, and it artfully blends a French spirit with Italian influence. This new album is also a meaningful wink from this young ensemble, Le Consort, which originally formed around one of these sonatas and this Opus 1, which turned out to be lucky for them. So this is at once a musical thunderclap and an homage to friendship; and it gives us a key to an overlooked, yet essential part of late-baroque French music. © François Hudry/Qobuz