François 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 for Louis XIV between 1714 and 1715. 18th-century music specialist and conductor Christophe Rousset leads Les Talens Lyriques in majestic versions of these well-named “royal concerts.”
Couperin: Concerts Royaux – Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
