René Jacobs
Encyclopedia
René Jacobs is a Belgian
(Flemish) musician. He came to fame as a countertenor
but in recent years has become renowned as a conductor
of Baroque and early Classical opera.
and in The Hague
.
The Kuijken
brothers, Gustav Leonhardt
and Alfred Deller
all encouraged him to pursue a career as a countertenor
, and he quickly became known as one of the best of his time. He recorded a large amount of less-known Baroque music by such composers as Antonio Cesti
, d'India
, Ferrari, Marenzio, Lambert, Guédron, William Lawes
and others. He also sang in much-acclaimed recordings of the major works of Bach
(such as the St Matthew Passion led by Gustav Leonhardt
and Philippe Herreweghe
).
is especially renowned, having won such awards as Gramophones Record of the Year for 2004, "Le Monde de la Musique"'s Choc of the Year for 2004, a Grammy Award for "Best Opera recording of
2005", and two Midem
Classical Awards in 2004. Other award-winning recordings include George Frideric Handel
’s Rinaldo
(Cannes Classical Award, 2004), and Joseph Haydn
’s Die Jahreszeiten
(Diapason d’Or of 2005). The partial discography below lists some of the many other awards won by Jacobs' recordings.
His recordings and work have won numerous awards, including the Grammy Award
for "Best Opera", Gramophone 's "Record of the Year", the "III Premio Traetta 2011", and numerous European awards. His recording of Mozart's Magic Flute was Record of the Year at the inaugural International Classical Music Awards in April 2011.
He is particularly noted as a singer's conductor, and for his handling of recitative.
Jacobs regularly conducts such orchestras and ensembles as the Concerto Köln, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Freiburger Barockorchester
, Nederlands Kamerkoor and RIAS Kammerchor
for recordings and concert tours. In 1992, the Berlin State Opera
invited Jacobs to conduct.
From 1991 to 2009, Jacobs was the artistic director of the opera programs at Innsbruck
's Festwochen der Alten Musik
(Innsbruck Festival of Early Music). He also teaches the interpretation and the Baroque singing style at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
(Flemish) musician. He came to fame as a 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...
but in recent years has become renowned as a conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
of Baroque and early Classical opera.
Early years, countertenor
Jacobs began his musical career as a boy chorister at the Cathedral of Ghent. Later he studied classical philology at the University of Ghent while continuing to sing in BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
.
The Kuijken
Kuijken
Kuijken is a Dutch surname. It may refer to:A Belgian family of musicians:* Barthold Kuijken - player of the baroque flute* Sigiswald Kuijken - conductor and player of the baroque violin* Wieland Kuijken - viol and cello player...
brothers, Gustav Leonhardt
Gustav Leonhardt
Gustav Leonhardt is a highly renowned Dutch keyboard player, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. Leonhardt has been a leading figure in the movement to perform music on period instruments...
and Alfred Deller
Alfred Deller
Alfred George Deller CBE , was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularizing the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th Century....
all encouraged him to pursue a career as a 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...
, and he quickly became known as one of the best of his time. He recorded a large amount of less-known Baroque music by such composers as Antonio Cesti
Antonio Cesti
Antonio Cesti , known today primarily as an Italian composer of the Baroque era, he was also a singer , and organist. He was "the most celebrated Italian musician of his generation".- Biography :...
, d'India
Sigismondo d'India
Sigismondo d'India was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was one of the most accomplished contemporaries of Monteverdi, and wrote music in many of the same forms as the more famous composer.-Life:D'India was probably born in Palermo, Sicily in 1582, though...
, Ferrari, Marenzio, Lambert, Guédron, William Lawes
William Lawes
William Lawes was an English composer and musician.-Life and career:Lawes was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire and was baptised on 1 May 1602...
and others. He also sang in much-acclaimed recordings of the major works of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
(such as the St Matthew Passion led by Gustav Leonhardt
Gustav Leonhardt
Gustav Leonhardt is a highly renowned Dutch keyboard player, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. Leonhardt has been a leading figure in the movement to perform music on period instruments...
and Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe 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...
).
Jacobs as conductor
More recently, as a conductor, Jacobs has recorded numerous operas and sacred and secular works of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. His recording of Mozart's The Marriage of FigaroThe Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
is especially renowned, having won such awards as Gramophones Record of the Year for 2004, "Le Monde de la Musique"'s Choc of the Year for 2004, a Grammy Award for "Best Opera recording of
2005", and two Midem
Midem
-MIDEM:Short for Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale, MIDEM is the world's largest music industry trade fair, which has been held annually at and around the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, since 1967...
Classical Awards in 2004. Other award-winning recordings include George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
’s Rinaldo
Rinaldo (opera)
Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1711. It is the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill. The work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's...
(Cannes Classical Award, 2004), and Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
’s Die Jahreszeiten
The Seasons (Haydn)
The Seasons is an oratorio by Joseph Haydn .-Composition, premiere, and reception:Haydn was led to write The Seasons by the great success of his previous oratorio The Creation , which had become very popular and was in the course of being performed all over Europe...
(Diapason d’Or of 2005). The partial discography below lists some of the many other awards won by Jacobs' recordings.
His recordings and work have won numerous awards, including the Grammy Award
Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording
The Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording has been awarded since 1961. The award was originally titled Best Classical Opera Production. The current title has been used since 1962....
for "Best Opera", Gramophone 's "Record of the Year", the "III Premio Traetta 2011", and numerous European awards. His recording of Mozart's Magic Flute was Record of the Year at the inaugural International Classical Music Awards in April 2011.
He is particularly noted as a singer's conductor, and for his handling of recitative.
Jacobs regularly conducts such orchestras and ensembles as the Concerto Köln, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and has its headquarters at Kings Place...
, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Freiburger Barockorchester
Freiburger Barockorchester
Freiburger Barockorchester is a German orchestra founded in 1987, with the mission statement: "to enliven the world of baroque music with new sounds"...
, Nederlands Kamerkoor and RIAS Kammerchor
RIAS Kammerchor
The RIAS Kammerchor is a professional chamber choir of the RIAS in Berlin, founded originally for contemporary music, with an international reputation.-History:...
for recordings and concert tours. In 1992, the Berlin State Opera
Berlin State Opera
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
invited Jacobs to conduct.
From 1991 to 2009, Jacobs was the artistic director of the opera programs at Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
's Festwochen der Alten Musik
Festwochen der Alten Musik
The Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik is an early music festival founded in 1976.In the year 1963, to celebrate the 600th anniversary of Tyrolean apartenage to Austria, the Innsbruck musician Prof...
(Innsbruck Festival of Early Music). He also teaches the interpretation and the Baroque singing style at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, and focusing on early music and historically informed performance....
.
Partial discography as a conductor
- Bach - Mass in B minor
- Bach - Christmas OratorioChristmas OratorioThe Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...
(Choc du Monde de la Musique; ClassicsToday.com) - Bach - The Motets (award: Diapason d'or)
- Bach - Secular cantataBach cantataBach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....
s - Blow - Venus and AdonisVenus and Adonis (opera)Venus and Adonis is an opera in three acts and a prologue by the English Baroque composer John Blow, composed in about 1683. It was written for the court of King Charles II at either London or Windsor. It is considered by some to be either a semi-opera or a masque, but The New Grove names it as the...
- BuxtehudeDieterich BuxtehudeDieterich Buxtehude was a German-Danish organist and composer of the Baroque period. His organ works represent a central part of the standard organ repertoire and are frequently performed at recitals and in church services...
- Membra Jesu NostriMembra Jesu NostriMembra Jesu Nostri , BuxWV 75, is a cycle of seven cantatas composed by Dieterich Buxtehude in 1680, and dedicated to Gustaf Düben. The full Latin title Membra Jesu nostri patientis sanctissima translates to "The most holy limbs of our suffering Jesus". This work is known as the first Lutheran... - 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...
- Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo (awards: Gramophone Award; Diapason d'or) - CavalliFrancesco CavalliFrancesco Cavalli was an Italian composer of the early Baroque period. His real name was Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni, but he is better known by that of Cavalli, the name of his patron Federico Cavalli, a Venetian nobleman.-Life:Cavalli was born at Crema, Lombardy...
- La CalistoLa CalistoLa Calisto is an opera by Francesco Cavalli with a libretto by Giovanni Faustini. The libretto was published in 1651 by Giuliani and Batti. The opera received its first performance on 28 November 1651 at the Teatro San Apollinare, Venice...
(awards: Cannes Classical Award; Diapason d'or) - CestiAntonio CestiAntonio Cesti , known today primarily as an Italian composer of the Baroque era, he was also a singer , and organist. He was "the most celebrated Italian musician of his generation".- Biography :...
- Cantatas - CharpentierCharpentierCharpentier is the French word for carpenter and a French surname. A variant spelling is Carpentier. In English the name is spelled Carpenter while in German it is Zimmermann....
- Leçons de Ténèbres du Jeudy Sainct - Charpentier - Salve Regina
- CouperinCouperinThe Couperin family were a musical dynasty of professional composers and performers. They were the most prolific family in French musical history, active during the Baroque era...
- Leçons de TénèbresLeçons de ténèbres (Couperin)The Leçons de ténèbres pour le mercredi saint are a series of three vocal pieces composed by François Couperin for the liturgies of Holy Week, 1714, at the Abbaye royale de Longchamp... - GluckChristoph Willibald GluckChristoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
- Orfeo ed EuridiceOrfeo ed EuridiceOrfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck based on the myth of Orpheus, set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing...
(awards: Cannes Classical Awards) - Grandi - Vulnerasti cor meum and other sacred music
- Handel - Giulio CesareGiulio CesareGiulio Cesare in Egitto , commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is an Italian opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel in 1724...
- Handel- MessiahMessiah (Handel)Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
- Handel - RinaldoRinaldo (opera)Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1711. It is the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill. The work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's...
((awards: Cannes Classical Award) - Handel- SaulSaul (Handel)Saul is an oratorio in three acts written by George Frideric Handel with a libretto by Charles Jennens. Taken from the 1st Book of Samuel, the story of Saul focuses on the first king of Israel’s relationship with his eventual successor, David; one which turns from admiration to envy and hatred,...
((awards: Editor's choice Gramophone; Choc du Monde de la musique; BBC Music Magazine Disc of the Month (October 2005)) - Cavalli - XerxesSerseSerse is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It was first performed in London on 15 April 1738. The Italian libretto was adapted by an unknown hand from that by Silvio Stampiglia for an earlier opera of the same name by Giovanni Bononcini in 1694...
- (awards: Choc du Monde de la Musique; Diapason d'or; Un événement Télérama (ffff)) - Haydn - Die Jahreszeiten (awards: Choc du Monde de la Musique; Edison Classical Music Award; Gramophone Award)
- Haydn - Die Schöpfung
- Haydn - Symphonies 91Symphony No. 91 (Haydn)The Symphony No. 91 in E-flat major, Hoboken 1/91, is written by Joseph Haydn. It was completed in 1788 as part of a three-symphony commission by Comte d'Ogny for the Concerts de la Loge Olympique...
and 92Symphony No. 92 (Haydn)Joseph Haydn completed his Symphony No. 92 in G major, Hoboken 1/92, popularly known as the Oxford Symphony, in 1789 as one of a set of three symphonies that Haydn had been commissioned by the French Count d'Ogny to compose.-Background:...
(awards: Choc du Monde de la Musique; Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik; Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik) - KeiserReinhard KeiserReinhard Keiser was a popular German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas, and in 1745 Johann Adolph Scheibe considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg Philipp Telemann , but his work was largely forgotten for many...
- CroesusCroesus (opera)Der hochmütige, gestürzte und wieder erhabene Croesus is a three-act opera composed by Reinhard Keiser...
(awards: Edison Classical Music Award; Diapaison d'or) - MonteverdiClaudio MonteverdiClaudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...
- L'Orfeo (awards: Choc 2006) - Monteverdi - Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patriaIl ritorno d'Ulisse in patriaIl ritorno d'Ulisse in patria is an opera in a prologue and five acts , set by Claudio Monteverdi to a libretto by Giacomo Badoaro. The opera was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice during the 1639–1640 carnival season...
(Diapason d'or; Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik) - Monteverdi - L'incoronazione di PoppeaL'incoronazione di PoppeaL'incoronazione di Poppea is an Italian baroque opera comprising a prologue and three acts, first performed in Venice during the 1642–43 carnival season. The music, attributed to Claudio Monteverdi, is a setting of a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello...
- Monteverdi - Vespro della beata Vergine
- Monteverdi - Madrigals
- MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
- Così fan tutteCosì fan tutteCosì fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
(Cannes Classical Awards; Diapason d'or; Edison Classical Music Award) - Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro (awards: 47th Grammy Award; Choc du Monde de la Musique; Edison Classical Music Award; Gramophone Record of the Year 2004; Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik
- Mozart - La clemenza di TitoLa clemenza di TitoLa clemenza di Tito , K. 621, is an opera seria in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Metastasio...
(awards: Critics award at the Brits Classics 2007; 10 de Classica-Répertoire; Jahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik; Un événement Télérama (ffff) - Mozart - Don GiovanniDon GiovanniDon Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
(awards: Gramophone Record of the Month, October 2007; Classics Today 10/10) - Mozart - Symphonies Nos. 38Symphony No. 38 (Mozart)The Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in late 1786. It was premiered in Prague on January 19, 1787, a few weeks after Le nozze di Figaro opened there. It is popularly known as the Prague Symphony...
and 41Symphony No. 41 (Mozart)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, on 10 August 1788. It was the last symphony that he composed.The work is nicknamed the Jupiter Symphony...
(awards: 10 de Classica-Répertoire; Diapason d'Or Arte) - Mozart - IdomeneoIdomeneoIdomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, which had been set to music by André Campra as Idoménée in 1712...
(awards: Scherzo, Choc de Classica, Un événement Télérama (ffff) - 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...
- Stabat Mater - 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...
- Dido and AeneasDido and AeneasDido and Aeneas is an opera in a prologue and three acts by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell to a libretto by Nahum Tate. The first known performance was at Josias Priest's girls' school in London no later than the summer of 1688. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid...
; (awards: Editor's choice Gramophone; Un événement Télérama (ffff) - ScarlattiAlessandro ScarlattiAlessandro Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. He was the father of two other composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti.-Life:Scarlatti was born in...
- Il primo omicidio (overo caïn) (awards: Diapason d'or; Editor's choice Gramophone; Gramophone Award; Le Timbre de Platine - Scarlatti - GriseldaGriselda (A. Scarlatti)Griselda is an opera seria in three acts by the Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti, the last of Scarlatti’s operas to survive completely today. The libretto is by Apostolo Zeno, with revisions by an anonymous author...
(awards: 10 de Répertoire; Diapason d'or; Le Timbre de Platine) - Schutz - Christmas Oratorio (awards: Diapason d'or; Un événement Télérama (ffff))