Little is known about Robert de Visée’s life. The facts that have survived, however, reveal an illustrious career: as well as playing the guitar, lute, theorbo and viola da gamba, the Frenchman was also a singer and composer, and in 1680 he entered the court of Louis XIV as a chamber musician – a role that eventually led to his appointment as the king’s guitar master in 1719.

This recording is based on a selection of works taken from De Visee’s collection of suites published in 1716, the Pièces de Théorbe et de Luth mises en partition, dessus et basses – music which, for its time and place, was typically stylish, embodying the particular qualities of gentility, grace and elegance.

The release forms an engaging counterpart to the first volume in the series (BC94154), and the trio of Italian musicians are here joined by harpsichordist Manual Tomadin, whose fine continuo playing adds another timbral dimension to the intimate scoring of recorder, theorbo and viola da gamba.