» a nocte temporis
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(c) Senne Van der Ven
Biography
[“a nocte temporis”: Latin translation of the French expression “depuis la nuit des temps”, which means “from time immemorial”]
After several years of activity as a soloist with conductors such as William Christie, Philippe Herreweghe, Hervé Niquet, Christophe Rousset, and many others, Reinoud Van Mechelen founded his own ensemble in 2016. His goal is to present historically informed music as well as to emotionally touch an as large audience as possible. Surrounded with musicians who share this passion he formed a nocte temporis.
Started as a chamber music ensemble with projects such as Erbarme Dich (arias for tenor and flute by J.S. Bach), Pirame & Tisbé (French cantatas of N. Clérambault) and The Dubhlinn Gardens (Irish eighteenth century music at the crossroads of folk and baroque music, conceived and co-led by Anna Besson) created larger programmes from 2018 onwards such as Ich Habe Genug(solo cantatas by J.S. Bach), Un Noël Français (pastorales by M.A. Charpentier) and Les Larmes d’Orphée (M.A. Charpentier). A nocte temporis grew into a baroque orchestra for Dumesny and Jéliote, the first two parts of the trilogy around the 'haute-contre' voice and Clérambaut, dramatic genius (with three orchestral works by Nicolas Clérambault for full orchestra, choir and soloists).
a nocte temporis has played at prestigious venues and festivals such as the Opéra de Lille, Festival Radio France (Montpellier), Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Festival de Saintes, the Chapelle Royale du Château de Versailles, MAfestival (Bruges), Bozar (Brussels), AMUZ (Antwerp), deSingel (Antwerp), Salle Gaveau (Paris), Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (Amsterdam) and Wigmore Hall (London).
With only 28 musicians, it lays down a light chamber music-like, yet gently luminous, at times even roughened soundscape beneath Van Mechelen's relaxed and easy vocal line, which certainly does not skimp on virtuoso runs and polished tonal gems. But this never becomes a technical end in itself; this careful and sensitive interpreter always strives for meaning and sensuality.
- Rondo Magazine
As familiar as these concerts may be, there are still moods and sensations to be discovered between the lines of the music that have hardly been noticed before.
Such as the wonderful shimmering of the strings with which the Belgian early music ensemble A Nocte Temporis bathes the first bars of the ‘Andantino’ in subdued light in the double concerto – before the two soloists Anna Besson (transverse flute) and Clara Izambert (harp) turn this piece into an opera aria without words. Anna Besson then picks up on this in the final movement of the D major concerto, which, given its exquisite joy of movement, would also have earned a place in a Mozart singspiel. Without any pretence or false rococo affectation, Besson, together with conductor Reinoud Van Mechelen and the Original Sound Musicians, who are in excellent form right down to the horns, ensures a seamless Mozart experience.
- Rondo Magazine