Jean-Christophe Spinosi and the Ensemble Matheus – A musical portrait

Portrait of one of the most successful baroque ensembles of our days: Jean-Christophe Spinosi's Ensemble Matheus.

Jean-Christophe Spinosi tells the story of his famous ensemble, from the creation of the Quatuor Matheus in 1991 through the encounter with countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, whom this documentary shows at a concert at the Chapelle de la Trinité in Lyon.

The Ensemble Matheus started in 1991 as a quartet, made up of Jean-Christophe Spinosi (who served as the first violinist), his wife, his sister-in-law and brother-in-law! A family thing, then. Not to mention the fact that the name of Matheus came from the name of the Spinosi couple's first child, Mathieu. This is at least what Jean-Christophe Spinosi himself says to the camera in this musical portrait, which shows a passionate and fascinating man and musician.

Jean-Christophe Spinosi's passions are multiple: he is passionate about Vivaldi, whose operas he contributed to re-discover. He is passionate as well about sacred music, and more generally about music in the Baroque era. Incidentally, Maria Coppola chose him to perform in her feature-movie Marie-Antoinette shot in Versailles!

Karl More introduces us to Jean-Christophe Spinosi, who talks about what he knows best: his work as a conductor and his music ensemble.