Hear the exquisite voices of soprano Karina Gauvin and contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux as they perform selected works by George Frideric Handel with the celebrated Les Violons du Roy, conducted by Music Director Jonathan Cohen.

Recognized for her work in the Baroque repertoire, Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin sings Bach, Mahler, Britten, and the music of the 20th and 21st centuries with equal success. Gauvin has sung with the world’s leading symphony orchestras, including the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the San Francisco Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, as well as Baroque orchestras such as Les Talens Lyriques, the Venice Baroque Orchestra, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and Les Violons du Roy.

Marie-Nicole Lemieux is acclaimed as a peerless recital artist with an exceptional vocal palette having a special talent for French and Russian songs, as well as German lieder. Her international career has led her to the world’s most famous stages: La Scala; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; l’Opéra National de Paris; the Staatsoper in Berlin, Munich, and Vienna; the Teatro Real in Madrid; and many more. 

Les Violons du Roy takes its name from the celebrated court orchestra of the French kings. It was founded in 1984 by Bernard Labadie, now styled founding conductor, and continues under music director Jonathan Cohen to explore the nearly boundless repertoire of music for chamber orchestra in performances matched as closely as possible to the period of each work’s composition.  

ALL-GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL PROGRAM

Judas Maccabaeus, HWV 63

        Overture

        Duet: “From this dread scene”

Alexander Balus, HWV 65

        Sinfonia (Act 3)

     Aria: “Fury with red sparkling eyes” 

Joshua, HWV 64

        Duet: “Our limpid streams with freedom flow” 

Solomon, HWV 67

        Overture: I. Sinfonia: Andante - II. Allegro moderato

     Aria: “Will the sun forget to streak”

     “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba”

     Recitative and duet: “Thou fair inhabitant … Welcome as the dawn of day” 

Belshazzar, HWV 61

        Ouverture

        Duet: “Great victor, at your feet I bow”

Theodora, HWV 68

        Overture 

        Recitative and aria: “Ah! Whither should we fly? … As with rosy steps the morn”

     Recitative and aria: “But why art thou disquieted … Oh! that I on wings could rise”

     Duet: “To thee, thou glorious son of worth”

        Duet: “Streams of pleasure ever flowing”