Alla Francesca

 

Alla Francesca 

Alla Francesca was founded in 1989, by members of Ensemble Gilles Binchois. The central members of Alla Francesca are Brigitte Lesne (voice, harp), Emmanuel Bonnardot (voice, fiddle) and Pierre Hamon (winds), and each of the three continues to perform with Ensemble Gilles Binchois as well as their own projects. Lesne directs the female vocal ensemble Discantus, Bonnardot directs the vocal ensemble Obsidienne, while Hamon works as a recorder soloist in a broad range of repertory. As of 2002, Alla Francesca is directed by Hamon alone.

Alla Francesca focuses on the music of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, and works closely with the Center for Medieval Music in Paris. To date, it has recorded exclusively for the Opus 111 label.

Quoting the group's liner note biography: Their repertoire ranges from the art of the troubadours at the end of the eleventh century to the sumptuous polyphonic works of the fifteenth. They perform by turns as soloists and accompanists, recreating all the diversity of this music and offering lively new readings of the different manuscript sources. In the framework of the Centre de Musique Médiévale de Paris, and through their teaching activities there, the members of the ensemble examine these sources in the light of research carried out by musicologists and themselves.

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Recordings, listed chronologically by recording date:

Francesco Landini and Italian Ars Nova

Alla Francesca
Opus 111 60-9206

Ciconia: Motets, Virelais, Ballate, Madrigals

Alla Francesca & Alta
Opus 111 30-101

Llibre Vermell de Montserrat

w/ Cantigas de Santa Maria
Alla Francesca
Opus 111 30-131

Gautier de Coincy

Les Miracles de Nostre-Dame
Alla Francesca
Opus 111 30-146

Richard Coeur de Lion

Troubadours et trouvères
Alla Francesca
Opus 111 30-170

Beauté parfaite

L'Automne du Moyen Age - Chansons des XIVe et XVe siècles
Alla Francesca
Opus 111 30-173

Armes, Amours

Alla Francesca / Alta
Opus 111 30-221

D'amours loial servant

Chansons d'amour françaises et italiennes des XIVe et XVe siècles
Gérard Lesne / Alla Francesca
Virgin Veritas 45357

Le Roman de la Rose

Alla Francesca
Opus 111 30-303

Cantigas de Santa Maria

Alla Francesca
Opus 111 30-308

Sur la terre comme au ciel

Un jardin au Moyen-Âge
Discantus - Brigitte Lesne / Alla Francesca - Pierre Hamon
Jade 198 796

Istanpitta

Musiques de fête à la cour des Visconti en Italie à la fin du XIVe siècle
Pierre Hamon / Carlo Rizzo / Alla Francesca
Opus 111 30-325

Tristan et Yseut

Mélodies celtiques, France 13e siècle
Alla Francesca - Brigitte Lesne & Pierre Hamon
Zig-Zag Territoires 051002

Mediterranea

Alla francesca
Zig-Zag Territoires 090402

Thibaut de Champagne

Le Chansonnier du Roi
Alla Francesca - Brigitte Lesne
Aeon 1221

Trobar & Joglar

Alla Francesca
Agogique 017

Juifs et Trouvères

Chansons juives du XIIIè siècle en ancien français et hébreu
Alla Francesca
Buda Musique 860261

Solo recordings by the principal performers:

Lucente Stella

Moyen Age - XXe siècle
Pierre Hamon
Opus 111 30-122

Ave Eva

Chansons de femmes, XIIe et XIIIe siècles
Brigitte Lesne
Opus 111 30-134

Machaut: Ay mi!

Lais et virelais
Emmanuel Bonnardot
Opus 111 30-171