Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew & Benjamin Alard
Biographie Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew & Benjamin Alard
Paul Agnew
An artist of international renown and an accomplished teacher, Paul Agnew, who was born in Glasgow, received his earliest musical education with Birmingham Cathedral Choir. He afterwards went to Magdalen College, Oxford, before joining the Consort of Musicke, with which he performed music from both the Italian and the English Renaissances. He was auditioned by William Christie in 1992 and subsequently became the performer of choice for the high-tenor roles of the French Baroque repertory. He was acclaimed in major roles in operas by Rameau and also in Charpentier, Handel and Purcell.
While he continued to sing with prestigious conductors in the leading international venues, his career took a new turn in 2007 when he began conducting certain projects for Les Arts Florissants. His first programme as guest conductor featured Vivaldi’s Vespers. This was followed by, among others, Handel’s Odes and Anthems and, the following year, Lamentazione, a concert devoted to Italian-Baroque polyphony, which was to be Paul Agnew’s first recording as Associate Conductor of Les Arts Florissants.
In 2010, he conducted the ensemble again in Purcell’s The Indian Queen before undertaking the complete cycle of Monteverdi’s madrigals, a project for which he had conducted over 100 concerts by the end of 2015, and recording an anthology drawn from all eight books of madrigals and released in three volumes: Cremona (2015), Mantova (2014) and Venezia (for release in autumn 2016).
During the 2013/14 season, he was appointed Associate Musical Director of Les Arts Florissants, which he has since conducted regularly in France and abroad.
Paul Agnew is also co-director of Le Jardin des Voix, the academy of Les Arts Florissants for young singers. His interest in training new generations of musicians has led him to conduct the Orchestre Français des Jeunes Baroque on many occasions, and also the European Union Baroque Orchestra. He has also conducted several concerts with orchestras using modern instruments, among them the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the St Paul Chamber Orchestra (Minnesota) and Music of the Baroque (Chicago).
Les Arts Florissants
A renowned musical Ensemble, specialized in Baroque music since 1979. Founded in 1979 by William Christie, Les Arts Florissants is one of the best-known baroque-music ensembles in the world. Established in the name of creativity, pleasure and sharing, the Ensemble — which takes its name from a short opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier — has played a pioneering role in the revival of a repertoire that had been largely forgotten and which is now enjoyed across the globe in all the most prestigious concert houses. This pioneering spirit has never died, and Les Arts Florissants’ two artistic directors, William Christie and Paul Agnew, continue the Ensemble’s tradition of research and innovation today.
"Almost 40 years ago a group of friends and I founded Les Arts Florissants, the ensemble that has allowed me to rediscover the magnificent repertoire of the baroque age and perform it in all of the world’s most prestigious halls. At the same time, in the Vendée, I have accomplished another of my dreams: creating a unique and original garden around my 17th-century manor house, which is now the setting each year for the , where we welcome music lovers from all over the world.
“Encouraged by these years of success, I now feel it is time to put Les Arts Florissants on a firm footing for the future. For this reason, the creation of a foundation, recognized by the French government as being of “public utility,” was fundamental. And to make it possible, I have decided to gift all my properties, including my house and gardens, to the Foundation Les Arts Florissants – William Christie.
“This project is the realization of the dream of a lifetime. A dream of music and gardens, but also of the handing on of savoir-faire and passion to future generations of artists and audiences. It is here that all my desires converge and that everything begins. This is the start of a great adventure!” (William Christie)
Benjamin Alard
Alard’s principal passion has always been the music of J.S. Bach and it was for his interpretation of this great composer that he was awarded first prize in the 2004 International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges.
While still quite young he began studying music in his hometown in Dieppe, France. He was soon drawn to the organ and entered the Conservatory of Rouen where he studied with Louis Thiry and François Ménissier.
He was first introduced to the harpsichord by Elizabeth Joyé, with whom he studied in Paris before going on, in 2003, to the Schola Cantorum in Basel to work with Jörg-Andreas Bôtticher, Jean-Claude Zehnder and Andrea Marcon.
Since 2005 he has been organist of the Bernard-Aubertin organ in the church of Saint-Louis-en-l’Ile in Paris where each season he gives concerts about the music of Bach.
Today Benjamin Alard divides his time between performing recitals and chamber music on both the harpsichord and organ. He often performs repertoire for two harpsichords with Elisabeth Joyé, in duo with the violinist Francois Fernandez or in trio but also with Emmanuel Pahud. He is regularly invited to perform as soloist in music series in Europe, Japan and North America.
Benjamin Alard has recorded for the label Hortus and has made several recordings of works by J. S. Bach for Alpha (Sonatas in trio, Clavier Übung I and II). His recordings have consistently received high praise from the press and have been awarded multiple prizes.
He will now devote himself to the complete works for harpsichord and organ solo of Johann Sebastian Bach for harmonia mundi. Four boxes, on 18, are already available. Volume 3, “À la française”, was the recipient of the presitigous Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkrik (German Record Critics' Award). The release of volume 5, “Weimar 1708-1713 - Toccatas and Fugues” will be followed in March of 2022 by the publication of volume 6, the first book of “The Well-Tempered Clavier”, marking the work’s 300th anniversary. Later in that same year, harmonia mundi will publish a boxed-set of Benjamin Alard’s recordings dedicated to Bach’s “Orgelbüchlein”.
Benjamin Alard performs regularly in principal musical centers world-wide, from Paris to Moscow and Saint-Peterbourg (Mariinsky Theatre) and further afield, to Tokyo, Boston, Madrid, Barcelona, Switzerland and Belgium.
