Gérard Lesne
Encyclopedia
Gérard Lesne is a French
countertenor
. He also the founder and artistic director of the baroque music
ensemble, Il Seminario Musicale
. He has made more than 70 recordings and has appeared as a soloist at numerous opera houses and music festivals including the Opéra de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées
, La Fenice
, Opéra National de Lyon
, Théâtre du Châtelet
, Teatro San Carlo, Aix-en-Provence Festival
, Utrecht
Early Music Festival, and Boston Early Music Festival
.
In 2004, Gerard Lesne was made Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
by the French government, and received the Académie Charles Cros in honorem prize for his career.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
countertenor
Countertenor
A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
. He also the founder and artistic director of the baroque music
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
ensemble, Il Seminario Musicale
Il Seminario Musicale
Il Seminario Musicale is a baroque music ensemble founded in 1985 by the French countertenor, Gérard Lesne who is also its artistic director. Considered to be one of the leading French baroque music ensembles, it has been resident since 1990 at the Fondation de l'abbaye de Royaumont, thirty...
. He has made more than 70 recordings and has appeared as a soloist at numerous opera houses and music festivals including the Opéra de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is a theatre at 15 avenue Montaigne. Despite its name, the theatre is not on the Champs-Élysées but nearby in another part of the 8th arrondissement of Paris....
, La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
, Opéra National de Lyon
Opéra National de Lyon
Opéra National de Lyon is an opera company in Lyon, France which performs in the Nouvel Opéra, a modernized version in 1993 of the original 1831 opera house.The inaugural performance of François-Adrien Boïeldieu's La Dame blanche was given on 1 July 1831...
, Théâtre du Châtelet
Théâtre du Châtelet
The Théâtre du Châtelet is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.One of two theatres built on the site of a châtelet, a small castle or fortress, it was designed by Gabriel Davioud at the request of Baron Haussmann between 1860 and...
, Teatro San Carlo, Aix-en-Provence Festival
Aix-en-Provence Festival
The festival international d'art lyrique is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in the month of July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumental music.-Establishment:The...
, Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
Early Music Festival, and Boston Early Music Festival
Boston Early Music Festival
The Boston Early Music Festival is a music festival held every two years in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, for all people interested in historical music performance....
.
In 2004, Gerard Lesne was made Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
by the French government, and received the Académie Charles Cros in honorem prize for his career.
Selected discography
- 1986 : Cantate Italiane e Sonata, by Antonio VivaldiAntonio VivaldiAntonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
, with Fabio Biondi on violin solo and Il Seminario Musicale, Diapason d'OrDiapason d'OrThe Diapason d'Or is a recommendation of outstanding classical music recordings given by reviewers of Diapason magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the British Gramophone magazine....
award, on Adda. Re-released by Musidisc in 2001.
- 1991 : Cantatas, by Antonio CaldaraAntonio CaldaraAntonio Caldara was an Italian Baroque composer.Caldara was born in Venice , the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at St Mark's in Venice, where he learned several instruments, probably under the instruction of Giovanni Legrenzi...
, on Virgin Classics. Re-released in 1999.
- 1992 : Salve Regina, by Vivaldi, with Fabio Biondi and Il Seminario Musicale, Diapason d'Or award, Virgin
- 1993 : Leçons de ténèbres du vendredi saint, by Marc-Antoine CharpentierMarc-Antoine CharpentierMarc-Antoine Charpentier, , was a French composer of the Baroque era.Exceptionally prolific and versatile, he produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres...
, with Il Seminario Musicale, conducted by Gérard Lesne
- 1995 : Motets, by Alessandro StradellaAlessandro StradellaAlessandro Stradella was an Italian composer of the middle baroque. He enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, collaborating with distinguished poets, producing over three hundred works in a variety of genres.-Life:Not much is known about his early life, but he...
, with Sandrine Piau and Il Seminario Musicale, on Virgin Classics. Re-released in 1999 with the cantatas of Antonio Caldara.
- 1997 : David et JonathasDavid et JonathasDavid et Jonathas , H. 490, is an opera in five acts and a prologue by the French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, first performed at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, Paris, on 28 February 1688. The libretto, by Father François Bretonneau S.J., is based on the Old Testament story of the...
, by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, with Les Arts FlorissantsLes Arts Florissants (ensemble)Les Arts Florissants is a Baroque musical ensemble in residence at the Théâtre de Caen in Caen, France. The organization was founded by conductor William Christie in 1979. The ensemble derives its name from the 1685 opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The organization consists of a chamber orchestra...
, conducted by William ChristieWilliam Christie (musician)William Lincoln Christie is an American-born French conductor and harpsichordist. He is noted as a specialist in baroque repertoire and as the founder of the ensemble Les Arts Florissants....
- 2001 : Carmina BuranaCarmina BuranaCarmina Burana , Latin for "Songs from Beuern" , is the name given to a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces were written principally in Medieval Latin; a few in Middle High German, and some with traces...
, by Carl OrffCarl OrffCarl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
, with L'Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, with Natalie DessayNatalie DessayNatalie Dessay is a French coloratura soprano. She dropped the silent "h" in her first name in honor of Natalie Wood when she was in grade school and subsequently simplified the spelling of her surname outside France...
, Thomas Hampson, Michel PlassonMichel PlassonMichel Plasson is a French conductor.Plasson was a student of Lazare Lévy at the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1962, he was a prize-winner at the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors. He studied briefly in the United States, including time with Charles Münch...
- 2002 : Arias et cantates, by the Bachs, with Il Seminario Musicale, conducted by Gérard Lesne
- 2002 : Cantates BWV21 et BWV42, by BachBạchBạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
, with Collegium Vocale Gent, La Chapelle Royale, conducted by Philippe HerreweghePhilippe HerreweghePhilippe Herreweghe is a Flemish conductor.In his school years at the University of Ghent, Herreweghe combined studies in medical science and psychiatry with a musical education at the Ghent Conservatory, where Marcel Gazelle, Yehudi Menuhin's accompanist, was his piano teacher...
- 2002 : Stabat Mater, by Giovanni Battista PergolesiGiovanni Battista PergolesiGiovanni Battista Pergolesi was an Italian composer, violinist and organist.-Biography:Born at Iesi, Pergolesi studied music there under a local musician, Francesco Santini, before going to Naples in 1725, where he studied under Gaetano Greco and Francesco Feo among others...
, with Il Seminario Musicale and Véronique Gens, conducted by Gérard Lesne
- 2003 : Ô Solitude, by Henry PurcellHenry PurcellHenry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
, with Il Seminario Musicale, conducted by Gérard Lesne
- 2005 : Human?, with Shazz and Massa (CD), on Naïve
- 2006 : Salve Regina, by Antonio Vivaldi, with Il Seminario Musicale, conducted by Gérard Lesne
External links
- Short biography at Bach-Cantatas.com
- Page of Gerard Lesne and his ensemble Il Seminario Musicale at the Foundation de l'abbaye de Royaumont (in English)