Who was Louis Gaulard Dumesny? Dumesny was not the first haute-contre historically speaking, but he was the first to have become famous in his lifetime. Sources agree that he was a cook when Lully discovered him. He made his debut in 1677 and everyone was amazed by his acting, the power of his voice and also his ability to learn everything by ear, since he could not read music. A few centuries later, Reinoud Van Mechelen, star tenor of the international Baroque scene, has decided, with his ensemble A Nocte Temporis, to pay tribute to this ‘haute-contre’ register, a high tenor voice (not to be confused with the countertenor!), by devoting three recordings to it, paying tribute in turn to Lully, Rameau and Gluck. The first part of this trilogy therefore contains the finest operatic airs and suites by Lully, featuring excerpts from Isis, Persee, Armide, Amadis, Acis et Galatee and Achille et Polyxene, but also pieces by Marin Marais (Alcide), Marc-Antoine Charpentier (Medee), Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (Cephale et Procris), Henry Desmarets, Pascal Colasse, CharlesHubert Gervais and Andre Cardinal Destouches.

• Campra: Sommeil
• Charpentier, M-A: Medee
• Collasse: Achille et Polyxene
• Collasse: Ciel! En voyant ce temple redoutable… (from Thetis et Pelee)
• Collasse: J'entends d'agreable concerts… (from Enee et Lavinie)
• Desmarest: Didon
• Desmarest: Ebbro far voglio il mio core… (from Les fetes galantes)
• Desmarest: Lieux charmants, retraites tranquilles… (from Les amours de Momus)
• Desmarest: Ma vertu cede au coup… (from Theagene et Cariclee)
• Desmarest: Sommeil - Ah! Que le sommeil est charmant… (from Circe)
• Destouches, A: Helas! Rien n'adoucit… (from Amadis de Grece)
• Gervais: Meduse: Air - Sarabande - Menuet
• Jacquet de la Guerre: Amour, que sous tes lois… (from Cephale et Procris)
• Lully: Acis et Galatee
• Lully: Bois epais (from Amadis)
• Lully: Cessons de redouter la fortune cruelle (from Persee, LWV60)
• Lully: Isis, LWV 54 : Ouverture
• Lully: Miserere mei Deus LWV25
• Lully: Patrocle va combattre, et j'ai pu consentir… (from Achille et Polyxene, LWV 74)
• Lully: Plus j'observe ces lieux (from Armide)
• Marais, M: Alcide