"The performances are light and transparent—fast movements, wonderfully weightless... This is ensemble playing of great mutual respect and undeniable musicality." —Alex Baran, WholeNote Magazine, February 2006

Known for an inspired synthesis of French and Italian styles, Musica Franca is dedicated to performing the lush compositions written for bassoon and continuo during the baroque period—in particular the work of composers Michel Corrette and Joseph Bodin de Boismortier.

Corrette and Boismortier lived during one of France's most politically turbulent times, but each wrote deeply warm, genial music. Musica Franca easily captures the playful, inventive spirit of Corrette's compositions, with many of the movements displaying the all-or-nothing passion that characterized much of his work. The Boismortier sonatas, by contrast, are treated with infinite subtlety and feline grace—played by Musica Franca with the utmost virtuosity that his work demands. The performances, in fact—with their infinite variations and nuances—reveal the skills that allowed Boismortier to become one of the first composers to succeed without a patron...able to make his living entirely by writing new works of music.

Through careful selection of the most interesting pieces by these composers, Musica Franca offers a fresh, charismatic perspective on their work. Instrumentation is varied — sometimes even within the same piece — in order to bring out the widest range of tonal colors, and Musica Franca performs the music in the same spirit of pleasure as many musicians of the 18th century: light, nimble interpretations performed with both nuance and joy.

The founding members of Musica Franca (pictured above left to right) are Mathieu Lussier, basssoon; Nadina Mackie Jackson, bassoon; and Fraser Jackson, contrabassoon.

Boismortier - Sonatas for Two Bassoons and Continuo

Corrette - Le Phenix - Les Delices de la Solitude