Les Talens Lyriques - Couperin: Concerts Royaux

Couperin's four Concerts Royaux were published in 1722 as a supplement to his third anthology of harpsichord pieces. While the score doesn't mention any instrumentation, we know the composer envisaged them as ensemble pieces for a mixed consort of instruments. This is how they were performed at the Sunday concerts at Versailles organized by Madame de Maintenon for Louis XIV between 1714 and 1715. 18th Century music specialist and baroque conductor Christophe Rousset leads Les Talens Lyriques in majestic versions of these well-named royal concerts.