Four Couperin Royal Concerts

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Stephen Schultz (Baroque flute), Jory Vinikour (harpsichord), Alexa Haynes-Pilon (viola da gamba), and Mindy Rosenfeld (Baroque flute) are featured in period perfect performances of François Couperin’s four Concerts Royaux.

The lovely Music Arts album (MA-1302) to be released in August includes four concerti which stand among the great compositions of the French master who lived and worked at the height of the golden era of French music during the reign of Louis XIV.

The Premier Concert in G Major, the Second Concert in D Major, the Troisième Concert in A Major and the Quatrième Concert in E Minor are structured in multiple movements that include all sort of dance forms: Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, Rigaudons, Forlanes and a myriad other French Baroque gems. They are given peerless performances by Schultz, Vinikour, Haynes-Pilon and Rosenfeld that emphasize elegance, lightness, and flawless technique.

The album is impeccably produced and engineered at Skywalker Sound by Jack Vad.

Rafael de Acha ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”