J.C. Bach: Gloria (Ricercar in Eco)

Les Agrémens is a popular Belgian chamber orchestra largely devoted to works from the Baroque and Classical periods. Members perform on period instruments even when the score calls for such antiquated and largely forgotten instruments as the crumhorn. The ensemble typically consists of around 20 members, though the number can range from 10 or so for smaller-scale works, on up to 30 or more for the larger ones, such as Classical-era symphonies and choral works. Les Agrémens has often performed with the Namur Chamber Choir, which might be viewed as a sort of sibling-ensemble, since both were founded by, and serve under aegis of the Center for Choral Singing of the French-speaking Community of Belgium and both are based in Namur, Belgium. Les Agrémens has thus performed many choral works, particularly from the Baroque period (Handel's Messiah, J.S. Bach's Christmas Cantatas, Charpentier's Te Deum, H. 416, and Pachelbel's Christ lag in Todesbanden, to name just a handful). In addition, it has regularly performed much orchestral music from the Classical period, including symphonies of Haydn, Gossec, Mozart, J.C. Bach, and many others. Les Agrémens' recordings are available from Ricecar and Armide France.

Founded in 1995, Les Agrémens was initially created to accompany the Namur Chamber Choir. While it still serves that purpose, it has taken on a separate musical life of its own, performing strictly instrumental concerts and appearing on non-vocal recordings. The ensemble's name derives from the music of Francois Couperin: the first book of Couperin's Pièces de clavecin contains a work entitled Les Agrémens (ornamentation) -- No. 19 of the Cinquieme Ordre.

The first concerts by Les Agrémens were played under the baton of veteran Luxemburg-born conductor Pierre Cao in December 1995 and featured works by Handel. Those initial performances, including one broadcast over Belgian television, drew highly favorable reaction from both critics and public alike.

By the turn of the century, Les Agrémens was drawing consistently positive notice across Europe. Guy Van Wass was appointed principal conductor in 2001 and soon made his first recording with the ensemble, an acclaimed Ricercar CD of three symphonies by Gossec and the B flat Clarinet Concerto by J.V. Stamitz. The ensemble has since grown in stature as critical plaudits accrue and demand for recordings grows. Among the ensemble's later recordings is a 2009 Ricecar CD containing Haydn's Symphonies No. 45 and No. 85 and the Symphony in D major by Joseph Martin Kraus.

Belgium's Choeur de Chambre de Namur ("Namur Chamber Choir") has a large repertory of choral standards but has focused especially on historical performances of early music. The group has a large repertory of recordings, many of them made for the Ricercar label.

The Choeur de Chambre de Namur was founded in 1987 in Namur, Belgium, by the Center for Choral Singing of the Communauté française de Belgique ("French Community of Belgium"). The group receives some government funding but has been successful in drawing audiences and generating album sales almost from the beginning. For a time, the choir favored music from Belgium's Wallonia region, such as Orlande de Lassus and André Grétry, but soon, its repertory broadened. The choir's size varies from 12 to 32 singers, according to the requirements of the music being performed. The Choeur de Chambre de Namur has always welcomed guest conductors, including such leading lights of the historical performance movement as Christophe Rousset, Jordi Savall, and Marc Minkowski. In its first years, the group has a sequence of conductors that included Pierre Cao, Denis Menier, Olivier Opdebeek, and Patrick Davin. In 2002, Jean Tubéry became conductor; he was succeeded in 2010 by Leonardo García Alarcón. In 1993, the Choeur de Chambre de Namur made its recording debut, joining the instrumental group La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy for a performance of Handel's Messiah on the Astrée label. In the late '90s, the group made several recordings on the Cypres label, including one of Paul Uy's Choral pour la Paix in 1996. Although the choir is oriented toward Baroque music, it has a large repertory extending forward to the contemporary era. In 2000, the group made a critically acclaimed recording of Benoît Mernier's Missa Christi Regis Genitum.

The Choeur de Chambre de Namur has collaborated with leading early music instrumental ensembles, including Les Agrémens, La Petite Bande, and the Ricercar Consort. The group is closely associated with the ensemble Les Agrémens. It has also appeared with prominent modern-instrument groups such as the Royal Flanders Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Lille, and the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège. In 2003, with In dulci jubilo... Deutsche Barock Weinacht, the choir made its first recording for the Ricercar label. It has remained associated with that label, although it has also recorded for Ambronay, Alpha, and Aparte, among other labels. By 2023, when the Choeur de Chambre de Namur released an album on Alpha featuring Mozart's Requiem in D minor, K. 626, and Giovanni Paisiello's Mass for the Coronation of Napoleon, the group's recording catalog comprised some 50 items. ~ James Manheim

Wieland Kuijken is widely regarded as one of the most influential pioneers in the twentieth century revival of the viola da gamba and early cello. Born to a musical family near Brussels, he began studies on the cello at the Conservatory at Bruges in 1952. He then attended the Brussels Conservatory, winning the Prix d'Excellence in 1962. His musical activities as a student in Brussels were varied and included performance with the contemporary music ensemble Musiques Nouvelles. At the same time, he began to teach himself the viola da gamba, and from 1959 to 1972, he performed with the Alarius Ensemble, an ensemble devoted to performances of French Baroque music. Soon thereafter, the name "Kuijken" became synonymous with stylistically accurate performances of Baroque music thanks to concerts with his brothers Sigiswald (violin) and Barthold (flute) in the Kuijken Early Music Group. Specializing in the bass viol, Wieland Kuijken has performed and recorded a large repertoire as both a continuo player and soloist. His recordings of Bach, Marais, and Forqueray have garnered critical acclaim, and his repertoire encompasses music by composers as late as Mozart and Boccherini. He has taught at the conservatories of Antwerp, Brussels, and the Hague, and has been a featured performer at festivals of early music such as Flanders, Saintes, and the English Bach Festival. Aside from his brothers, notable collaborators have included Alfred Deller, Frans Brüggen, Jordi Savall, and Gustav Leonhardt.