Ha! compagnons Élodie Bouchard & Anthony Harvey

• Giulio Caccini (1551 - 1618):
• 1 Caccini: Torna, deh torna pargoletto mio 03:44
• Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620):
• 2 Campion: Oft Have I Sighed 03:55
• 3 Campion: Her Rosie Cheekes 02:05
• 4 Campion: Shall I Come Sweet Love to Thee 02:29
• Sigismondo D'India (1582 - 1629):
• 5 D'India: Tu parti, ahi lasso 02:19
• 6 D'India: Intenerite voi, lagrime mie 02:25
• Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643):
• 7 Monteverdi: Lamento d'Arianna, SV 22 08:55
• Étienne Moulinié (1599 - 1669(:
• 8 Moulinié: Quoy faut-il donc vous dire adieu 01:41
• 9 Moulinié: Quittez, quittez cette fière rigueur 01:50
• 10 Moulinié: Enfin la beauté que j'adore 06:09
• 11 Moulinié: Ha! compagnons nous voyla bien 02:52
• Total Runtime 38:24

Info for Ha! compagnons

Ha! compagnons takes the listener back to a time when the voice and the lute were the true companions in the quest for poetic and musical expression. In exploring this fruitful partnership, Canadian soprano Elodie Bouchard and American lutenist Anthony Harvey offer vivid and colourful interpretations of air de cour, ayres and monodies by 17th-century composers Giulio Caccini, Thomas Campion, Sigismondo d’India, Claudio Monteverdi and Etienne Moulinié.

This project introduces the listener to the pivotal period between Renaissance and Baroque when composers united in the desire for clarity of sung lyrics. Voice and lute then became an essential duo whose intimate character perfectly matched the needs at the different courts throughout Europe. This symbiosis can be heard in the air de cour and ayres of France and England, whereas in Italy it is rather the genre of accompanied monody which prevailed over the national soundscape and later lead to the development of the first operas. The pieces on the album share the timeless theme of love in all of its different shades, rounded up by the ultimate drinking song that lends its title to the project: “For us, Ha! compagnons illustrates not only the historical camaraderie of voice and lute, but also the collaborative aspect of many companions making this release possible” explains Elodie Bouchard.

Passionate about early music, soprano Elodie Bouchard stands out for her musical expressivity and the diversity in colours of her voice. She performs regularly with the baroque ensemble Les Méandres and the Scholastica Ensemble with whom she participated in the recording Saints inouïs recently released on Atma Classique. She was featured at the opening concert of the Montreal Bach Festival in 2018, as well as at the Montréal Baroque Festival and the Young Performers Festival of Early Music America in 2019. Since 2018, she has partnered with the exceptional lutenist and continuo player Anthony Harvey who performs both, as a soloist and accompanist with many of North America’s leading ensembles such as the National Philharmonic, the Wolf Trap Opera Company, the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra and the Washington Bach Consort. Together, Bouchard and Harvey aim to bring music for voice and lute to the forefront of the music world. In each performance, the young artists combine their vast expertise in historical performance practice with their evocative musical intuition.

Élodie Bouchard, vocals
Anthony Harvey, lute

Elodie Bouchard
Passionate about early music, soprano Elodie Bouchard stands out for her musical expressivity and the diversity in colours of her voice. She performs regularly with the baroque ensemble Les Méandres and the Scholastica Ensemble with whom she participated in the recording Saints inouïs recently released on Atma Classique. She was featured at the opening concert of the Montreal Bach Festival in 2018, as well as at the Montréal Baroque Festival and the Young Performers Festival of Early Music America in 2019.

Elodie completed a bachelor’s and master’s degree in classical voice performance at the Université de Montreal, followed by a master’s degree in early music at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in 2019. She received the Wirth Family Fellowship in music as well as a scholarship for excellence.

Interested in Lieder and French melodies, she has performed several recitals with pianists, in which she presents works by Poulenc, Wolf, Schubert, Debussy, and Hahn. It is primarily in this repertoire that she develops a concern for detail and a finesse of interpretation. During concerts, she interprets the creations of Montreal-based composers Eliazer Kramer and Maggie Ayotte.

Her interest in opera led her to perform several roles, including Alcina in Francesca Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina, the first opera composed by a woman, Ginevra in Handel’s Ariodante, Serpina in Pergolesi’s La serva padrona, peace in Charpentier’s Les arts florissants and the princess in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges.

Anthony Harvey
is an American lutenist. He has performed as both a continuo player and soloist with ensembles such as the Washington Bach Consort, Chatham Baroque, and I Musici de Montréal. He has also served as Adjunct Faculty at James Madison University (Harrisonburg, Virginia), Washington College (Chestertown, Maryland), and as a guest artist at the Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). He holds multiple degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and is presently a doctoral candidate in lute performance at McGill University.

This album contains no booklet.