Mein Geist

After the (voluntary) departure of founder Damien Guillon, Le Banquet Céleste has reinvented itself as a collective of musicians and singers, all committed to further exploring the baroque repertoire with the stylistic rigor that has established the ensemble's reputation. In this first recording of the "new" Banquet, Bach takes center stage, with cantatas BWV 85 and 115 featuring violoncello piccolo obbligato: "The violoncello piccolo is smaller and has a very special timbre that can be both serious and passionate as well as peppery and sensitive. In the arias, in which it engages in a concertante dialogue with the vocal soloist, it usually embodies the voice of tenderness and comfort and the confident promise of the hereafter," writes musicologist Corinne Schneider. The Sixth Suite for cello, BWV 1012, rounds out the program: "It sounds radiant and joyful as a redemption that perfectly fits the themes developed in these two cantatas," she concludes. Céline Scheen, Alexander Chance, Thomas Hobbs and Benoît Arnould are the vocal soloists, Julien Barre plays piccolo cello.