Reviving ancient baroque music, the Vincent Dumestre way

Inspired by ancient musical eras, the show by Vincent Dumestre and his ensemble is a throwback to 17th-18th century baroque performances  
The cast of Le Poeme Harmonique
The cast of Le Poeme Harmonique

In the new age when hip-hop and EDM dominate music charts, one must be thankful to masters like Vincent Dumestre for reviving music from another era and presenting it to the younger generation of music lovers. The 49-year-old French lutenist is an exponent of baroque music, a style of Western music that rose in prominence during the period between the Renaissance era and the Classical music era, that is, 17th and 18th centuries. With the ensemble named Le Poeme Harmonique that he created 20 years ago, he has been reproducing famous baroque pieces in concerts around the world, the latest of which will be hosted at Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Hall this Sunday. 

“The title of the program we play is Venezia, where we bring together famous pieces such as Monteverdi’s Lamento della ninfa and lesser-known popular compositions of Giovanni Battista Fasolo, in a semi-staged setting devised by French baroque theatre artiste Benjamin Lazar. Benjamin is a great friend who played an important role in rediscovering the codes of baroque theatre,” says Dumestre, whose first album with the ensemble was a tribute to the Italian composer Bellerofonte Castaldi, “a then-unknown composer whose pieces exhaled extraordinary atmospheres.”


The worth of the words

“As our name implies, we are especially concerned with poetry, that is the marriage of words, sound and harmony, which started playing an important role in the baroque era as chords were increasingly used as a colourful accompaniment to singing,” says Dumestre, adding that while there are those who try to explore new music outside the scope of pop and other contemporary genres, others are opening up and turning back to ancient styles of music, which makes his mission still relevant. “It is challenging but equally beautiful to make sense out of it all,” he reflects. 

Having played in “several operas and in other projects involving up to 100 musicians”, Dumestre has witnessed the renaissance of baroque music over the past two decades. However, he is cautious about it becoming a routine phenomenon. “We need to stay fresh and keep challenging the way we think about expression and the repertoire of music we play,” he explains. 


Global inspirations
You would expect someone like Dumestre to be hands-on while collaborating with musicians from different countries. Not surprisingly, he admits, “It is quite easy, since everyone in the ensemble wants to make the most of the opportunity at hand.” Digging deeper into the nuances of the way they work during rehearsals, he explains, “We first start playing, hear how each person feels about the phrasing, rhythm and intensity, and then figure out a way to make it into a coherent, collective expression, by staying true to the knowledge we have about the piece and consequently develop a close relationship with it too.”

Tying to sample global sounds is a key to Dumestre’s work. “I’m always amazed by the way each culture comes up with its own response to the reality of emotion. The baroque era was a time when each country in Europe had its own musical language. And I am thrilled to see it is the case even today,” he shares, adding that he recently invited Iranian singer Alireza Ghorbani for one of their concerts, where her performance added credence to his observation that the trend of global collaborations in Classical music is still going strong.  

Vincent Dumestre
Vincent Dumestre

Subcontinental sojourn
Expecting the Chennai concert to be a “beautiful encounter”, Dumestre reveals that he has only received positive feedback about music lovers in the city, in the lead up to the performance. “It is always thrilling to meet a new audience, whether they enjoy the music or not, because they are discovering it or because they have already heard it digitally and are eager to listen to it live for the first time,” he says.

With the concert being part of the Bonjour India celebrations, Dumestre shares how much he respects Indian music. “It is one of the greatest sources of inspiration regarding the approach of rhythm, melody and time in music. It has had a huge influence on Western artistes, both academic and popular. Even though I don’t compose music myself, I like to let it change my perspective on these aspects in baroque music,” he shares, adding that Ustad Zakir Hussain remains one of his favourite artistes across all musical traditions.

Work in progress
Following the Chennai performance, Dumestre and his group have a packed schedule coming up. “We are currently preparing for a new production of Phaéton, a brilliant opera by Italian born French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, which we will be performing in Perm, Russia and at the royal opera house in Versailles, France. There is also a soon-to-be-released album comprising of pieces by Michel Richard Delalande, who was one of King Louis XIV’s favourite composers,” he shares, adding that they will also perform a sacred opera by Antonio Draghi — Il Terremoto — in their hometown of Rouen. 

January 21. 7.30 pm.

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