Motets Napolitains Anthea Pichanick, Les Accents, Thibault Noally

• Leonardo Leo (1694 - 1744): Turbido cælo mare furentes:
• 1 Turbido cælo mare furentes: "Turbido cælo mare furentes" (Allegro) 06:15
• 2 Turbido cælo mare furentes: Recitativo "Accense ire cælestes" 00:56
• 3 Turbido cælo mare furentes: Responde "afflicte voci" (Larghetto) 11:45
• 4 Turbido cælo mare furentes: "Alleluia" (Allegretto) 02:18
• Alessandro Scarlatti (1660 - 1725): Totus amore languens:
• 5 Totus amore languens: "Totus amore languens" (Largo) 01:53
• 6 Totus amore languens: "Epulare, delectare" (Allegro) 02:01
• 7 Totus amore languens: Recitativo "Quid hoc cœlesti ardore" 00:31
• 8 Totus amore languens: Non mannæ dulcedo 02:39
• 9 Totus amore languens: "Ite procul o dapes mundanæ" (Allegro) 02:01
• 10 Totus amore languens: "Eia ergo" (Allegro) 01:42
• Nicola Porpora (1686 - 1768): Regina Cæli:
• 11 Regina Cæli: "Regina Cæli" (Allegretto) 02:48
• 12 Regina Cæli: "Resurrexit sicut dixit" (Allegro) 01:59
• 13 Regina Cæli: "Ora pro nobis Deum" (Adagio) 03:27
• 14 Regina Cæli: "Alleluia" (Allegro) 01:08
• Alessandro Scarlatti: De tenebroso lacu:
• 15 De tenebroso lacu: "De tenebroso lacu" (Largo è staccato, Allegro, Adagio) 06:02
• 16 De tenebroso lacu: "Derelecti nos exorant" (Moderato) 05:14
• 17 De tenebroso lacu: Recitativo "Sele emosinas" 00:45
• 18 De tenebroso lacu: "Si Fenices"[Without tempo indication] 04:28
• 19 De tenebroso lacu: Recitativo "Ergo in tam" 00:57
• 20 De tenebroso lacu: "De profundis" (Lento) 07:03
• Total Runtime 01:05:52

Info for Motets Napolitains

The decision to record my first solo recital with Les Accents was an easy one to take, given the ties that bind us and the resulting depth of our mutual musical understanding. We could have chosen better-known works for alto, like Vivaldi’s cantatas, but preferred to focus on the Italian motet from the second half of the 17th century, in all its facets (with a slight emphasis on Alessandro Scarlatti), while seeking to offer plenty of variety.

Thibault Noally places great trust in his singers, which enables us to move forward together in the music. The fact that I used to play the violin certainly plays a part in our rapport: sometimes without even being aware of it, we give preference to works which, while very vocal, are also highly instrumental. Porpora’s Regina Coeli, one of the two previously unrecorded works on this album, is a good example, since the voice often seems to be treated as a fifth stringed instrument, whether in its vocal figures or general tessitura. Leonardo Leo’s motet Turbido coelo is no less demanding, requiring the same virtuosity but also a theatricality that points towards opera – though as it is still church music, it is important not to go over the top!

Anthea Pichanick, contralto
Les Accents
Thibault Noally, violin, direction

Anthea Pichanick
The French contralto Anthea Pichanick brilliantly appeared on the music scene by winning First Prize at the prestigious Antonio Cesti International Baroque Opera Competition in Innsbruck in 2015. Music lovers discovered a unique color of voice, a timbre of striking depth and a musicality that combines refinement and intensity. This victory earned her a recital with the ensemble L’Astrée at the Konzerthaus in Vienna.

During the summer 2016, Anthea Pichanick gave a highly acclaimed performance at the Festival International d’Opéra Baroque et Romantique de Beaune as Asteria in Tamerlan by Vivaldi, with the ensemble Les Accents conducted by violinist Thibault Noally. Diapason magazine praises “a generous, perfectly composed voice and an admirable diction”. This event marks the beginning of a regular collaboration with the Festival de Beaune as well as Les Accents and Thibault Noally.

Her 2016/2017 season is characterized by eclecticism. In December 2016, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, she sings Handel’s The Messiah with Le Concert Spirituel conducted by Hervé Niquet. A few months later, she impersonates one of Strauss’ Elektra Handmaids at the Lyon Opera House under the baton of Hartmut Haenchen. The special relationship with Les Accents strengthens with the revival of Tamerlano de Vivaldi in Dortmund, Germany, a Vivaldi recital at the Théâtre Grévin in Paris in June 2017: «We fall immediately under the spell of a rich contralto voice as rare as original, whose texture is soft as velvet, bright and dark at the same time», underlines the specialized site Forumopera.

Shortly afterwards, she brilliantly assumed the title role of Alessandro Scarlatti’s Mitridate once again at the Beaune Festival: «Anthea Pichanick takes on the boldness as well as the outpourings of the title role, with her souple, free and smooth contralto» (Diapason).

In the same summer, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Le Poème Harmonique and Vincent Dumestre, alongside Julia Lezhneva, in Krakow, was also featured.

The 2017/2018 season is just as intense: Mozart’s Requiem at La Seine Musicale de Boulogne-Billancourt with Les Musiciens du Louvre conducted by Marc Minkowski, directed by Bartabas; Handel’s Israel in Egypt with Les Cris de Paris and Les Siècles at the Festival Cervantino in Mexico; The Messiah with the Symphony Orchestra of the Balearic Islands conducted by Pablo Mielgo; a Vivaldi recital with Le Concert Spirituel at the Oratoire du Louvre. She also participates in the gala evening at the Salle Gaveau with Emőke Baráth, Chantal Santon Jeffery, Philippe Jaroussky, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro and La Chimera.

She made her debut at the Opéra de Nancy with the role of Zulma in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri under the direction of Giuseppe Grazioli and directed by David Hermann. Forumopera is once again enthusiastic: « We admire the talent with which Anthea Pichanick succeeds, thanks to her vocal and theatrical resources, in making of Zulma a one and only full character ». She took over this role at the Beaune Festival this time with the Ensemble Matheus and Jean-Christophe Spinosi. In Beaune, she also sang the role of Fernando in Handel’s Rodrigoin Les Accents.

For the 2018/2019 engagements, we can mention Bach’s Christmas Oratorio under the direction of György Vashegyi (Palace of Arts in Budapest, Chapelle Royale de Versailles, Saint-Roch Church in Paris), The Messiah again with Hervé Niquet (Chapelle Royale de Versailles), concerts dedicated to the Bach and Hasse family with Les Musiciens du Louvre, as well as Mozart’s Requiem with the Choir and Orchestra of the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon conducted by Lorenzo Viotti.

In the fall of 2017 Alpha Classics released the recording of The Messiahwith The Spiritual Concert and Hervé Niquet.

Booklet for Motets Napolitains