Le Comte Ory première

Heading for America ! Press review
From 3-8 of March, The Ensemble Matheus was touring in America. After a first concert at the Concordia Chamber Players
festival, New Hope (PA), the Ensemble Matheus performed at the Carnegie Hall of New York, and at the Grand Théâtre of
Québec.
NEW YORK The New York Times - 8th March 2013 - Zachary Woolfe
Gentle Viola, Breathless Violins (translation : Lucie Le Bras)
« It is always inspiring to see a group of musicians enjoying themselves, and the Ensemble Matheus was clearly having a good time at
its concert on Wednesday evening at Zankel Hall. The members of this early-music group, based in Brittany, France, and led by the
conductor and violinist Jean-Christophe Spinosi, smiled and laughed at one another throughout the show.
The arias, including others from Handel’s “Serse” and Vivaldi’s “Olimpiade” and “Ottone in Villa,” were interspersed with instrumental
works in the nearly two-hour intermissionless evening. In these the ensemble was more successful, skillfully swelling and receding in
the overture to “Serse” and in a series of concertos featuring the cellist Jérôme Pernoo.
Mr. Pernoo’s tone was appealingly brushy and rough, and his enthusiasm infectious. He had the quickest passages in Vivaldi’s
Concerto in D minor for two violins and cello (here the violinists were the expressive Mr. Spinosi and Laurence Paugam), from that
composer’s series “L’Estro Armonico,” and played them with exhilaration. In another Vivaldi, the Concerto in G minor for two cellos,
Mr. Pernoo was joined by Claire-Lise Démettre for the rich harmonies of the slow second movement.
Best was Porpora’s flexible, dazzling Cello Concerto in G, one of a small body of instrumental works written by a composer better
known for his operas and cantatas. It features four movements rather than Vivaldi’s usual three, and includes two spellbinding
adagios. Mr. Pernoo played these with focused elegance and the breathless finale with excitement. »
With Jérôme Pernoo, cello © Carnegie Hall - Julien Jourdes
QUEBEC Le Soleil - 8th March 2013
- Richard Boisvert
Jean-Christophe Spinosi and the Ensemble Matheus : the « chief » and his tribe
« A storm blew on Louis Fréchette’s audience yesterday evening. Jean-Christophe Spinosi and the Ensemble Matheus’s Vivaldi didn’t
cause any injuries or damages, don’t worry. However, we can definitely say that this music rocks.
Both director and violinist, Jean-Christophe Spinosi shows an unique conducting style. The expression of his musicality goes through a
constant renewal of ideas and an incredible variety of attacks, accents, supports, colors and so on. This unbridled and rich vocabulary
serves a caustic speech, subtle and energic, just like pure alcohol. (…)
Then soprano Veronica Cangemi appeared on the scene, without ceremony, to sing an “Ombra mai fù” full of sense, coherence and
above all, originality. The highlight, abnormally long although, was deeply moving, sweet and tender. And what about the quality of
the program. Perfection. (…)
Then the evening went along in the alternation of concertos and arias performed the most expressive and inventive way we could
ever imagine. From his chair of concertmaster or standing in front of the orchestra, like an implacable master, Spinosi had an eye on
everything. No room for compromise. Full commitment. You had to be there, however, to see him relax once the last tuning made,
embracing his partners and checking hands. It looked like a tribe. »
Le Quartz - square Beethoven - 60 rue du Château - bp 91039 - 29210 Brest cedex 1 / Tél. +33 (0)2 98 33 95 03 / [email protected] / www.ensemble-matheus.fr
With Veronica Cangemi, soprano © Carnegie Hall - Julien Jourdes
It’s not the first time the Ensemble Matheus crosses the Atlantic ocean to play in America. In 2008, the orchestra already caused
sensation at the Carnegie Hall of New York and at the Library of Congress of Washington, with mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore, on a
program including Handel and Vivaldi. Let’s go back in time with some press extracts dedicated to the Ensemble’s concert performance.
WASHINGTON The Washington Post - February 2008 - Stephen Brookes
« George Frideric Handel doesn't usually come across as particularly sexy. Stately, sure. Dignified, without a doubt. But in a fast-paced
concert (….), mezzo Jennifer Larmore and the Ensemble Matheus brushed the dust off Handel and showed that there's more furious,
passionate life in baroque music than you might suspect. (…)
The Ensemble Matheus was no mere backup orchestra. Its members may be renowned for their intensive scholarship, but there was
nothing prissy or academic about their playing, which was aggressive, vibrant and focused to an absolutely electrifying pitch. »
NEW YORK The New York Sun - February 2008 - George Loomis
« An infrequent New York appearance by the admired mezzo soprano Jennifer Larmore was surely the main draw for many in the
audience at Zankel Hall last Thursday evening. So the presence of Ensemble Matheus, a dynamic, up-and-coming French periodinstrument band making its American debut under its director, the violinist Jean-Christophe Spinosi, probably came as an unexpected
bonus. (…)
In the many passages in which the soloists played together, the blend was lovely, the differences indiscernible. The concerto is
distinguished by Telemann's allusions to Polish and Moravian folk music in the earthy last movement, which all played with lusty footstomping vigor.
Mr. Spinosi, joined by concertmaster Laurence Paugam, was also heard in an exuberant account of Vivaldi's Concerto in D Major for
Two Violins and Orchestra, RV 513, a piece characterized by greater motivic invention than Vivaldi is often given credit for. Both
soloists played with utter confidence and with tone that was shining yet had an apt period mellowness. »
Ensemble Matheus © Carnegie Hall - Julien Jourdes
Le Quartz - square Beethoven - 60 rue du Château - bp 91039 - 29210 Brest cedex 1 / Tél. +33 (0)2 98 33 95 03 / [email protected] / www.ensemble-matheus.fr