In the seventeenth century, England was fascinated by the "abnormals", especially by madness and the occupants of madhouses such as the Bethlem Royal Hospital.

 

By painting what was then considered insanity, the Mad Songs give us a better understanding of the norm at the time.

The Mad Songs that developed from the English Restoration certainly received less attention than they deserve. Indeed, musicologist Craig Timberlake believes that "there is no repertoire as neglected as the Mad Songs, which can stimulate the creative imagination of the English-speaking singer.

 

With VERY MAD SONGS, David Chevallier offers a contemporary reinterpretation of these works, while respecting their identity. We find their particular atmosphere and the extreme emotional fluctuations on which the Mad Songs are built.

The English origins of soprano Anne Magouët, and her acute sense of dramaturgy make her the ideal interpreter of this repertoire, sometimes exuberant, sometimes introspective.

 

Bruno Helstroffer's and David Chevallier's theorboes bring to life arrangements of great rhythmic and harmonic richness, underlining the instability of the characters embodied.