A French Noel (1999)

Folger Consort performed A French Noel from December 17 to December 21, 1999. For the festive holiday season, a superb quartet of singers and our instrumental band performed a merry melange of Renaissance, Baroque, and traditional French music. 16th-century noëls by Guillaume Costeley, court organist and composer to Charles IX of France, were combined with traditional carols, some of the most beautiful set by Marc-Antoine Charpentier around 1700. Dances, both courtly and rustic, and motets by the master singer-composers recollect celebrations of earlier centuries.

Rosa Lamoreaux's "voice, pellucid and supple, is perfectly at ease...." Gramophone

Drew Minter "possesses one of the most beautiful countertenor voices in the world today." Washington Post

Peter Becker has " a resplendent bass and elegant phrasing...." San Francisco Chronicle

Artists

Folger Consort

Artistic Directors

• Robert Eisenstein: viols, violin
• Christopher Kendall: lute, archlute

Guest artists

• John Moran: baroque cello, viol
• Scott Reiss: recorders, percussion
• Webb Wiggins: organ, harpsichord
• Rosa Lamoreaux: soprano
• Drew Minter: countertenor
• Robert Petillo: tenor
• Peter Becker: baritone