Poème Harmonique in residency

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Poème Harmonique in residency
Direction Vincent Dumestre
IN THE PROGRAM
To be or not to be
Le Poème Harmonique / Purcell
Opéra
29 May 2016 Rouen, Théâtre des Arts
God Save the Queen
Le Poème Harmonique / Purcell
Opéra
5 Jun 2016 Rouen, Théâtre des Arts
Formed in 1998, Le Poème Harmonique is a group of soloists, gathered
around its artistic director Vincent Dumestre. Its artistic activity, centred
on vocal and instrumental music of the seventeenth and early eighteenth
century, is regularly enriched by interaction with other disciplines. This,
together with real teamwork – working together as a company – is Le
Poème Harmonique’s hallmark in Baroque performance today.
Actors, dancers, circus artists and puppeteers join its singers and
musicians in programmes of chamber works – Le Ballet des Fées, Il
Fasolo – and, since 2004, in large-scale stage productions, such as Le
Bourgeois Gentilhomme (a comédie-ballet by Molière and Lully; stage
director Benjamin Lazar) and Baroque Carnival (directed by Cécile
Roussat). For operatic performances, such as Lully’s Cadmus et
Hermione and Cavalli’s Egisto (both staged by Benjamin Lazar), Le
Poème Harmonique studies in depth the correspondences between
‘period’ aesthetics – use of candles for lighting, authentic gestures and
painted sets and machinery – and the aesthetics of modern stage
productions. The ensemble also gets back to the sources of early French
and Italian music by exploring its relationships with traditional or folk
music. The recording entitled Aux Marches du Palais, for instance, is
devoted to French songs of oral tradition.
Twenty-five per cent of Le Poème Harmonique’s activity takes place in
theHaute-Normandie Region. But since it was founded the ensemble has
made many concert tours in Europe and has appeared in most of the
continent’s capitals, with recent debuts including London, Vienna and
Madrid. It has a particularly strong rapport with audiences in Rome, New
York and Tokyo.
Outstanding events of the past seasons include Le Bourgeois
Gentilhomme, Baroque Carnival and Cadmus et Hermione, all of which
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have been exceptionally successful, with almost 130 performances, at
venues including the Opéra Comique, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and
Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie,
Théâtre de Caen, Grand Théâtre de Provence at Aix-en-Provence, Grand
Théâtre de Luxembourg, the Utrecht
Festival, Teatro Canal in Madrid, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the
National Theatre in Prague, the Budapest Spring Festival, San Francisco
Cal Performances Festival, and so on.
The ensemble’s recent stage projects have included the first
performances of Pagliardi’s Caligula, in September 2011 at the
International Puppet Festival in Charleville-Mézières, and of Cavalli’s
Egisto, in February 2012 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, then at the
Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie. Also, in 2013-2014, as part of its
residency there, Le Poème Harmonique presented Purcell’s Dido and
Æneas at Rouen Opéra.
The ensemble’s recordings for the Alpha label have met with rare public
success (over 150,000 CDs and DVDs sold since1998) and also with
great critical acclaim. Le Poème Harmonique has received the Grand
Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros, the Diapason d’Or (including Best DVD
of 2006 for Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme), recommendations from Opéra
International, Classica, Le Monde de la Musique, a Prelude Classical
Award in 2003, the Antonio Vivaldi International Award (Cini Foundation,
Venice), the Caecilia Press Prize, and so on. The DVD of Cadmus et
Hermione, released in 2008, was also exceptionally well received
(Diapason d’Or, Recommended by Classica, BBC Music Choice, German
Record Critics’ Award, etc.).