William Christie is renowned for his pioneering work in the revival of Baroque music. Born in 1944, he founded the ensemble Les Arts Florissants in 1979, which has become a leading force in historically informed performance. Christie’s expertise in French Baroque opera, particularly works by composers like Lully, Rameau and Charpentier, has earned him international acclaim. His dedication to historically informed performance has set new standards in the field and breathed new life into forgotten masterpieces. A dedicated educator, Christie has also influenced a new generation of musicians. His contributions have significantly enriched the appreciation and understanding of early music, cementing his legacy as a pivotal figure in classical music. The boxset includes all albums he has made for Erato and Virgin Classics, with these complete recordings now together on the same label.

This 61CD-box brings together all recordings the conductor William Christie made for Erato and Virgin Classics, from 1994 to 2011. Christie’s 80th birthday is celebrated on 19 December 2024.

William Christie is the architect of one of the most remarkable musical adventures of the last forty years. Harpsichordist, conductor, musicologist and teacher, he has played a pioneering role in the rediscovery of Baroque music, bringing the French repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries to a wide audience.

An American by birth who has lived in France since 1971, his career took a decisive turn when he founded Les Arts Florissants in 1979. At the helm of this instrumental and vocal ensemble, he established a highly personal style both in concert and on the operatic stage. His breakthrough came in 1987, when he performed Lully’s Atys at the Opéra Comique and then in the world’s greatest opera houses.

From Charpentier to Rameau, via Couperin and Mondonville, William Christie is the undisputed master of tragédie-lyrique, opéra-ballet, French motet and court music. His attachment to French music does not prevent him from exploring the repertoires of Monteverdi, Rossi, Purcell, Handel, Mozart, Haydn and Bach.

Keen to further his work as a teacher, in 2002 he founded the Académie du Jardin des Voix. Since 2007, he has been artist-in-residence at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, where he gives masterclasses twice a year. In 2021, together with Les Arts Florissants, he launched the first Masterclasses at Quartier des Artistes (Thiré, Vendée, in France) for young professional musicians.

In 2012, he created the Festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie in Thiré, Vendée, where he brought together Les Arts Florissants, his Juilliard School students and the winners of the Jardin des Voix.

The 2024-2025 season will see the celebration of William Christie’s 80th birthday, with an anniversary tour and a series of exceptional events.

An ensemble of singers and instrumentalists dedicated to Baroque music and faithful to performance on period instruments, Les Arts Florissants is one of the world’s most renowned ensembles. Founded in 1979, they have since been led by William Christie, accompanied since 2007 by British tenor Paul Agnew, who became the ensemble’s co-musical director in 2019. Les Arts Florissants, whose name is borrowed from a little opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, have brought a previously little-known repertoire to the French music scene (notably by unearthing treasures from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France): not only the French Grand Siècle, but more generally European music of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Contents:

CD 1
Campra - Grands motets

CD 2
Salve Regina: Campra, Couperin

CDs 3-5
Charpentier - Médée

CD 6
Charpentier - La Descente d’Orphée aux enfers

CD 7
Charpentier - Les Plaisirs de Versailles

CD 8
Charpentier - Divertissements, airs et concerts

CD 9
Charpentier - In nativitatem Domini canticum · Messe de minuit

CD 10
Charpentier - Te Deum · Grand Office des morts

CD 11
Charpentier - Judicium Salomonis

CD 12
Couperin - Leçons de Ténèbres pour le Mercredi Saint

CD 13
Desmarets - Grands Motets lorrains

CDs 14-16
Handel - Orlando

CDs 17-18
Handel - Acis and Galatea

CDs 19-21
Handel - Alcina

CDs 22-24
Handel - Theodora

CDs 25-27
Handel - Serse

CD 28
Handel - 7 Violin Sonatas

CDs 29-30
Haydn - Die Schöpfung (The Creation)

CD 31
d’India - Madrigali

CDs 32-33
Landi - Il Sant’Alessio

CD 34
Lully - Les Divertissements de Versailles, Great Operatic Scenes

CD 35
Méhul - Stratonice

CD 36
Mondonville - Grands Motets

CDs 37-38
Monteverdi - Vespro della Beata Vergine

CD 39
Mozart - Requiem · Ave verum corpus

CD 40
Mozart - Great Mass in C minor

CDs 41-42
Mozart - Die Zauberflöte

CDs 43-44
Mozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail

CD 45
Purcell - Dido and Aeneas

CDs 46-47
Purcell - King Arthur

CD 48
Divine Hymns: Purcell...

CD 49
Rameau - Les Grands Motets

CDs 50-52
Rameau - Hippolyte et Aricie

CDs 53-54
Rameau - Les Fêtes d’Hébé

CD 55
Rameau - La Guirlande

CD 56
Rameau - Zéphyre

CDs 57-59
Rameau - Zoroastre

CD 60
Le Jardin des Voix

CD 61
Duetti

Recorded 1994–2011