Intro
Biography
Le Poème Harmonique
Biography
Le Poème Harmonique was founded in 1998 by Vincent Dumestre, and focuses its artistic activity on the performance of 17th and 18th century music.
The group are well-known for their original vocal and instrumental interpretations as well as cross-genre programmes involving actors, dancers and even acrobats. 2004 saw the expansion of Le Poème Harmonique’s small scale repertoire of chamber music, with the revival of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, a comédie-ballet by Molière and Lully. Premiered in Utrecht, the fruit of this restoration would ensue as a long-term collaboration between stage director Benjamin Lazar and choreographer Cécile Roussat, the latter also Director of the Baroque Carnival.
Their most recent production, Lully’s lyrical tragedy, Cadmius and Hermione, was premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in January 2009. This is to be succeeded by Cavalli’s opera Egisto which will again be presented at the Opéra-Comique, in the autumn 2011.
For all their productions, Le Poème Harmonique pay immaculate attention to detail and atmosphere. Key examples are the use of candles for lighting, authentically informed gestures, painted canvases and machinery all relate accordingly to the era of the works performed.
Among past highlights, Le Poème Harmonique presented Marazzoli’s opera, La Vita Humana, in a beautiful staging by Benjamin Lazar, which was ideally performed in religious settings. In Aux Marches du Palais, a precious collection of French songs of oral tradition with popular essence, Le Poème portray inspiration from folk and traditional music. A more recent programme, Venezia, dalle strade ai palazzi, devised in collaboration with Benjamin Lazar, pays tribute to early 17th century Venitian music. Premiered in June 2008 in San Francisco, it was also performed to great acclaim at the Potsdam Festival in Germany.
Le Poème Harmonique have successfully completed worldwide tours in Europe (Benelux, Central Europe, Germany, Austria, Spain and Italy), Latin America and the Far-East (China and Japan), whilst devoting a quarter of their activity to the Haute-Normandie Region, where they are resident. Le Poème have performed extensively in there home country, in Paris (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Cité de la Musique), Lyon (Théâtre des Célestins), Rouen (Opéra), Avignon (Opéra), Caen, Reims, Limoges, Metz (Arsenal), Nantes (Le Printemps des Arts). As well as this they enjoy a strong following abroad, performing in Brussels (Bozar), Utrecht (Festival), Prague (National Theatre), Budapest (Spring Festival), San Francisco (Calperf Festival), Rome (Accademia Santa Cecilia), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Luxembourg (Grand-Théâtre), Boston (Early Music Festival) and Granada (International Festival). In 2008, the ensemble made their New York debut and were granted “Carte blanche” by the Automne en Normandie Festival, which resulted in over ten performances within a single month.
The ensemble's recordings for Alpha have met with rare public accolade (over150,000 CDs and DVDs sold since 1998) and great critical acclaim. Le Poème have received numerous awards including the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros, Diapason d’Or (including Best DVD of 2006 for Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme), recommendations from Opéra International, Classica, Le Monde de la Musique, Prelude Classical Award 2003, Antonio Vivaldi International Award (Cini Foundation, Venice) and the Caecilia Press Prize, to mention just a few. Cadmus et Hermione on DVD (Diapason d’Or, ffff Télérama, BBC Music editor’s choice) and Firenze, 1616, a CD dedicated to Domenico Belli and his contemporaries are the ensemble’s latest releases.
Le Poème Harmonique are supported by the French Ministry of Culture (DRAC Haute-Normandie) and the Haute-Normandie Region. They have a long working collaboration with both the Research Group of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles and the Fondation Royaumont.
March 2010
Not to be altered without permission. We update our biographies regularly. Please destroy all previous biographical material
Discography
Le Poème Harmonique
Discography
2008
Lully - Quinault : Cadmus et Hermione
Direction: Vincent Dumestre, Benjamin Lazar, Gudrun Skamletz
Alpha
DVD Diapason d'Or
ffff De Télérama
10 de Répertoire - Classica
BBC Music Choice
2005
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Text by Molière, Music by Lully
Alpha 700
Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles Cros
10 - Classica/Répertoire
Diapason d'Or - Diapason
« Le Choix » - France Musiques
5 - Goldberg Magazine
CHOC de l'année - Monde de la Musique
ffff - Télérama
CD
2007
FIRENZE 1616
Alpha 120
Choc in Le Monde la Musique
ffff in Télérama
Belli: Orfeo Dolente
Direction: Vincent Dumestre
Alpha 120
Choc in Le Monde la Musique
ffff in Télérama
2006
Charles Tessier: Carnets de Voyages
Direction : Vincent Dumestre
Alpha 100
10 Recommandé par Classica-Répertoire
* * * * * de Goldberg
* * * * du Monde de la Musique
* * * * de Forum opéra
Recommandé par Klassik-Heute(Allemagne)
Recommandé par Musik an sich (Allemagne)
2005
Love is Strange
Elizabethan instrumental music
Alpha 81
10 de Répertoire / Classica
Anthoine Boësset: Je meurs sans mourir
Alpha 057
10 - Répertoire / Classica
CHOC - Monde de la Musique
Prix de l'Académie Charles Cros
2004
Plaisir d'amour: Chansons et romances de la France d'Autrefois
Alpha 513
Daniel Brel: Quatre Chemins de Mélancolie
Alpha 509
2003
Nova Metamorfosi
Alpha 039
10 - Répertoire
CHOC - Monde de la Musique
Recommandé - Classica
Prix Caecilia 2004 de l'Union de la Presse Musicale Belge
Prix 2004 du magazine allemand Fonoforum
Prelude Classical Awards 2004 (Netherlands)
2002
Pierre Guédron: Le Consert des Consorts
Alpha 017
Recommandé - Classica
10 - Répertoire
Il Fásolo?
Alpha 023
CHOC - Monde de la Musique
Recommandé - Répertoire
Recommandé - Classica
Michel Richard de Lalande: Musiques pour les Ténèbres
Alpha 030
10 - Répertoire
Recommandé - Classica
2001
Emilio de' Cavalieri: Lamentations
Alpha 011
Diapason d'Or - Diapason
10 - Répertoire
Recommandé - Classica
Nominated for Victoires de la Musique 2001
Fondation Cini Award for vocal music
Prelude Classical Awards 2002 (Netherlands)
2000
Aux marches du Palais: Romances & complaintes de la France d'autrefois
Alpha 500
CHOC - Monde de la Musique
Recommandé - Répertoire
Diapason d'Or - Diapason
Estienne Moulinié: l'Humaine Comédie
Alpha 005
CHOC - Monde de la Musique
10 - Répertoire
5 Diapasons - Diapason
1999
Domenicho Belli: Il Nuovo Stile
Alpha 002
Diapason d'Or de l'année 1999 - Diapason
CHOC de l'année 1999 - Monde de la Musique
10 - Répertoire
Recommandé - Classica
Recommandé - Opera International
ffff - Télérama
Le Musiche di Bellerofonte Castaldi
With Guillemette Laurens, voice
Alpha 001
Diapason d'Or de l'année 1999 - Diapason
CD of the month - Répertoire
Recommandé - Classica
Repertoire
Le Poème Harmonique
Repertoire
| 4 Musicians |
| Music and Poetry at the King's bedside © |
| French Instrumental and vocal music at the court of Louis XIV |
| Marin Marais, Michel Lambert, etc…with narrated texts by Jean Racine |
Esperar, Sentir, Morir |
| Street dances and courtly songs in 17th-century Spain and Italy |
| The blends and influences of popular music on Art Music; this programme includes popular themes and melodies performed in the streets and at the court. |
| Ferrari, Monteverdi, José Marin, Moulinié, Kapsberger, Merula, Hidalgo |
7 Musicians |
| Aux Marches du Palais (also exists in a version with 10 musicians) |
| Traditional French Romances and Laments |
| Long performed as children's songs, they also retrace the history and sociology of France and are a part of an oral tradition that is centuries old. The songs were preserved with different arrangements/publications made through the ages from the 15th Century to the 19th. |
Il Nuovo Stile |
| A concert of Italian vocal and instrumental music of the seventeen century |
| Belli was in charge of the Chapel of San Lorenzo in Florence from 1613 and worked almost all his life at the Medici court. Castaldi, born in 1580, was an adventurer and spent his life composing, performing and travelling. The Humanist aesthetic inspired by the Antiquity led to a 'New Style' - the abandonment of polyphony for the use of a monodic voice, closer to human expression. "Text, rhythm and sound", in that order of importance according to Caccini. |
| Domenico Belli & Bellerofonte Castaldi |
Michel Richard de Lalande(1657 - 1728) © |
| Tenebrae - 'Leçons de Ténèbres' |
| The most important composer and the greatest representative of the 'Ecole de Versailles'. Made a major contribution to the corpus of sacred music for female voices; his works were often performed by his wife and daughters. |
Tonos divinos, tonos humanos |
| Spiritual adoration or worldly love? |
| A concert of instrumental and vocal music from 17th-century Spain. The programme aims to show the connections between sacred vocal music and secular/popular music, and how words glorifying heaven and words expressing human suffering are often very similar. |
| Juan del Encia, Juan Hidalgo, Moulinié, Juan Aranès + anonymous composers |
10 Musicians |
| Aux Marches du Palais |
| See above |
Michel Richard de Lalande |
| Tenebrae - 'Leçons de Ténèbres' |
| See above |
Il Fasolo? © |
| Venice in the 17th Century - from Carnival songs to Venetian opera |
| Who is Il Fasolo? The author of La Barchetta passagiera published in Rome in 1627? The Venetian opera composer Francesco Manelli? The Franciscan friar and religious composer Giovanni Battista Fasolo who retired in Palermo? Or all of them? Le Poème Harmonique retraces here the origins of the Venitian Opera, staging characters from the Comedia dell'arte using baroque gestures and candles. |
11 Musicians |
| The Human Comedy - Estienne Moulinié (1600? - 1676) |
| French Airs de cour, Spanish, Italian and Occitanian songs of the 17th Century, popular songs and instrumental ballets, Estienne Moulinié is a composer of great diversity. Of Languedoc origin, Estienne Moulinié was familiar with Italian and Spanish music and was the only composer at the time to compose on texts written in the four above languages. |
12 Artists |
| Le Ballet des fées © (8 musicians and 4 dancers) |
| Dances, fights and other figures in the Ballet de Cour : the art of mimetic dance in the seventeenth Century |
| The ballet de cour appeared in France in the 16th Century, combining the four arts of music, dance, poetry and painting. The aim was to regain the original harmony between Man and the Divine with inspiration taken from mythology and romances. Another form, the ballet burlesque, was a favourite during the reign of Louis XIII. |
Pierre Guédron (1570 ? - 1620 ?) - A Concert of Consorts |
| Polyphonic Airs de Cour and instrumental dances |
| Compositeur en musique de la Chambre du Roy, Pierre Guédron is typical of the early Baroque period in France when the air de cour was invented under the multiple influences of vaux de ville, street music, Spanish and Italian songs and dances. Performed by a triple consort of voices, viols and lutes. |
Emilio de' Cavalieri (1550 - 1602) - Lamentations |
| Personal musician to Ferdinando de' Medici in Florence, Emilio de Cavalieri is credited with the invention of dramatic monody or stile rappresentativo, replacing the polyphonic style for a more human approach. It is the first time that this style was used in religious music. |
13 Musicians |
| Anthoine Boësset (1556 -1643) - Je meurs sans mourir ('I die without dying') |
| Airs de cour and court-ballet music from the time of Louis XIII |
| Anthoine Boësset composed over 230 airs and became Maître de Musique de la Reyne and then Surintendant de la Musique de la Chambre. He took the air de cour to its height, giving it his truly Baroque aesthetic. |
17 Musicians |
| Nova Metamorfosi |
| Sacred Music in Milan in the early 17th century |
| The programme presents an important period of change in Milan, when secular compositions such as Monteverdi's Madrigals, were transformed into pieces with a truly mystical feeling under the Counter-Reformation orchestrated by Cardinal Borromeo. |
| Vincenzo Ruffo, Claudio Monteverdi/Aquilino Coppini |
reviews
Le Poème Harmonique
reviews
| Château Bosmelet, Normandy, France – 2005 |
| French music (Marais, Lambert) and poetry (Racine) "…There is a level of intensity to this music-making which would be arresting whatever the context….Yet however polished are the details of the performance, it is the whole which leaves the most lasting impression. It is a performance which has been lived in, and confidently, invites us, as listeners, to do likewise. The response of the audience is predictably ecstatic…"
|
| Early Music Review – October 2005 |
| Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music 2004 |
| "The four singers and six players gave an excellent concert…soprano Claire Lefilliâtre was particularly effective, with her clean, direct and slightly mezzo-ish tone and expressive use of hand gestures (a feature of all the singers). The accompaniments were impressive, including some imaginative, and generally sensitively unobtrusive, deconstructed post-modern percussion." |
| Early Music Review - August 2004 |
| Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme by Lully and Molière Word Premiere ‘re-création’ - Utrecht Early Music Festival, 27 August 2004 |
| "The standing ovation given by the Batavian audience proved, if necessary, the universality of Molière’s theatre, as well as the success of a first-rate work. The ovation was justified for the sublime four-hour performance which was lit by three hundred candles…This Bourgeois meant both a return to the origins of baroque art and a radical modernity. Performed by a young and fervent troupe, as fascinated by contemporary music as by early music, this production of Bourgeois owes its existence as much to the talent of the new generation of erudite and skilled artists, as to the fifty-year-old baroque tradition…May Utrecht church belles sound far away the good news of a performance which merits as much success as the legendary Christie performance of Atys by Villégier, because it is its equal." |
| Opéra International, October 2004 |
| "Vincent Dumestre likes difficult challenges…On a magical stage lit by a thousand candles, the make-up, the costumes are animated by a mysterious spirit…Baroque dance has never seemed as expressive…Utrecht’s captivated audience definitely understood all this…The combined strengths of the stage manager/actor Benjamin Lazar and Vincent Dumestre have given a new vigour to baroque performance." |
| Diapason, October 2004 |
| "For the opening of Utrecht festival, a resurrected production of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme which will make its mark. This Bourgeois becomes again, as it historically was, a comedy-ballet…with the curtain barely raised, the magic sets in…4 hours goes by like in a dream." |
| Les Echos, August 2004 |