The King's Playlist in Bloomington, MN

This 2024 release by the new
Ensemble Molière
is not alone in examining the roles music played at the court of the Sun King, but it is unusually detailed. The concept of a playlist for Louis XIV is, of course, anachronistic, but it does point to the fact that the creative hothouse of the court was directed, above all, at serving the king's needs. The program includes some orchestral works for public functions, slimmed down to the chamber dimensions here (flute, violin, viola da gamba, bassoon, and harpsichord, all Baroque instruments) by the group's harpsichordist,
Satoko Doi-Luck
. It is hard to object to this. Some of the music on the album is less than fully specified in the instrumentation, and it is easy to imagine the king taking a shine to the catchy tunes of the
Symphonies pour les soupers du Roy
("
Symphonies for the King's Dinners
") of
Michel-Richard Delalande
and ordering them to be played in a chamber version. The program ends, charmingly, with the
Pièces en trio
Trios pour le coucher du Roy
," or "
Pieces for the King Going to Bed
Marin Marais
, which are not unknown but are underrated examples of
Marais
' art. The
has a laid-back sound that works well in the more intimate pieces but can plod a bit in the larger ones. Nevertheless, this release performs the valuable function of helping the listener imagine the music as it sounded and served its purposes at the French court. ~ James Manheim