Mon amant de Saint-Jean

Fascinated by the interplay of echoes from one past to another, Vincent Dumestre and Stephanie d'Oustrac found an affinity in the project Mon Amant de Saint-Jean, their very first collaboration, and aimed to make it a unique musical adventure: a recital in which the atmosphere of the chansons of the Annees Folles infuses early music with its sweet madness. In 1904, the great cabaret singer Yvette Guilbert was invited to the home of the Casadesus family, the founders of the Societe des Instruments Anciens (Early instrument society): the Baroque fraternised with the cafe-concert. Around the same time, in the revue Paris qui chante, an aria by Scarlatti rubbed shoulders with the coarse language of Aristide Bruant and Paulin, while Gaston Dumestre, a singer at the cabaret Le Chat Noir (and one of Vincent's ancestors!), sang chansons realistes while accompanying himself on the theorbo presented to him by Oscar II of Sweden: 'It is in language that we must seek the common driving force. These cabaret singers relished a very special flavour, a vigour, a raciness in the words of the Baroque era', concludes Vincent Dumestre.