Matís Ensemble - Cheron: Sonatas, Op. 2 (2018)

Andre Cheron was an influential musical personality in Paris during the mid-eighteenth century. He worked at the Paris Opera as a harpsichordist and inspecteur de l’orchestre de l’Opera. In this capacity he supervised several premieres of Rameau’s operas and the controversial performance of Pergolesi’s intermezzo La serva padrona. With his 1729 sonata collection, André Cheron (1695-1766) cultivates the “Corelli” notation, which was so highly regarded in the French Régence. Ensemble Matis is made up of young musicians of various nationalities who originally met at the Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya in Barcelona, and ultimately came together to form the current group at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel. Since the ensemble’s inception in the autumn of 2012, they have worked together intensively in formations contingent on the repertoire and have attempted to share and expand upon their experiences in their joint music-making. With Japan, Switzerland, and South Kroea, many different cultures are represented in the ensemble, which enriches and consistently makes the collaboration exciting. The ensemble has specialized in the performance of Baroque chamber music and, as the name “Matis” implies, pays special attention to small details, nuances, and timbres in the music and in ensemble playing. The ensemble’s goal is to bring the music with its wealth of color closer to the audience and to bring to life different expressive values.