Agnès Mellon

Agnès Mellon (born 17 January 1958) is a French soprano who specializes in baroque music.^[1]^[2]

Biography

Agnès Mellon started her career in 1981 with the baroque ensemble Les Arts Florissants, directed by William Christie, with whom, between 1981 and 1993, she interpreted Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Monteverdi, Luigi Rossi, Michel Lambert, Henry Purcell, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Michel Pignolet de Montéclair, Jean-Philippe Rameau and others. During the 1980s, she was one of the ensemble's regular singers, together with Guillemette Laurens, Jill Feldman, Dominique Visse, Étienne Lestringant, Michel Laplénie, Philippe Cantor, Gregory Reinhart, and François Fauché.

Starting in 1985, Mellon also worked under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe, with La Chapelle Royale (1985–1990) and the Collegium Vocale Gent (1990–1996), interpreting Charpentier, Heinrich Schütz, Monteverdi, Jean Gilles, and Johann Sebastian Bach.

At the end of the 1980s, she worked regularly with the Belgian ensemble Ricercar Consort, under the artistic direction of the Belgian musicologist Jérôme Lejeune [fr]. She also worked with various conductors, including Dominique Visse, René Jacobs, Marc Minkowski, John Eliot Gardiner, Christophe Rousset, and Gérard Lesne.

Beginning in the 1990s, she dedicated herself to teaching. She also participates in master classes in (Paris, Montreal, and Kyoto). In 1992, she gave an exceptional interpretation of Henry Purcell's songs, traditionally interpreted only by countertenors such as Alfred Deller and James Bowman. In 1997, she founded her own baroque ensemble, Barcarole, whose first recording was released in 2005.

Mellon is married to French countertenor and conductor Dominique Visse.

Recordings

Mellon has made many recordings, most of them in the field of baroque music.

With Les Arts Florissants

1981 : Pastorale sur la Naissance de N.S. Jésus-Christ H.483, In Nativitatem D.N.J.C. Canticum H.414, Marc-Antoine Charpentier
1981 : Altri Canti, Claudio Monteverdi
1982 : Antienne "O" de l'Avent H.37- 43, Marc-Antoine Charpentier
1982 : Les Arts Florissants H.487, Marc-Antoine Charpentier
1982 : Actéon H.481, Marc-Antoine Charpentier
1982 : Oratorios (Il pecator pentito, O Cecità del misero mortale), Luigi Rossi
1983 : Un Oratorio de Noël "In nativitatem Domini canticum" H.416, Sur la Naissance de N.S. Jésus-Christ H.482, Marc-Antoine Charpentier
1983 : Il Ballo delle Ingrate, Claudio Monteverdi
1984 : Airs de Cour, Michel Lambert
1984 : Médée H.491, Marc-Antoine Charpentier
1985 : Le Reniement de Saint Pierre H.424, Marc-Antoine Charpentier
1986 : Dido and Aeneas, Henry Purcell
1987 : Atys, Jean-Baptiste Lully
1988 : La Mort de Didon, Michel Pignolet de Monteclair
1989 : Oratorio per la Settimana Santa, Luigi Rossi
1991 : Orfeo, Luigi Rossi
1993 : Castor et Pollux, Jean-Philippe Rameau

These recordings were all published by Harmonia Mundi France.

With La Chapelle Royale

1985 : "Motet Pour l'Offertoire de la Messe Rouge" H.434, "Oculi omnium" H.346, "Pour la seconde fois que le Saint Sacrement vient au même reposoir" H.372 and Miserere H.219, Marc-Antoine Charpentier
1987 : Musikalische Exequien, Heinrich Schütz
1987 : Vespro della Beata Vergina, Claudio Monteverdi (Chapelle Royale, Collegium Vocale, Saqueboutiers, Toulouse)
1990 : Requiem, Jean Gilles
1990 : Magnificat BWV 243, Johann Sebastian Bach

These recordings were all published by Harmonia Mundi France.

With Ricercar Consort

1988 : Deutsche Barock Kantaten (III) (Schein, Tunder, Buxtehude)
1989 : Deutsche Barock Kantaten (V) (Hammerschmidt, Selle Johann Hermann Schein, Heinrich Schütz, Franz Tunder, Weckmann, Lübeck)
1989 : Motets à deux voix, Henri Dumont

These recordings were all published by Ricercar.

With Collegium Vocale Gent

1990 : Missae, BWV 234 & 235, Sanctus, BWV 238, Johann Sebastian Bach
1991 : Missae, BWV 233 & 236, Johann Sebastian Bach
1993 : Kantaten, BWV 39, 93 & 107, Johann Sebastian Bach
1996 : Geistliche Chormusik, Heinrich Schütz

These recordings were all published by Virgin Classics.

With Barcarole, founded and directed by Agnès Mellon

2005 : Les Déesses outragées, cantatas of Louis-Nicolas Clérambault, Philippe Courbois and François Colin de Blamont
2011 : Parole e querele d'amore

Recordings

1987: Marc-Antoine Charpentier: "Vêpres Solennelles" H.540, H.190, H.50, H.149, H.52, H.150, H.51, H.161, H.191, H.65, H.77, John Elwes, Ian Honeyman, tenors, Agnès Mellon, Brigitte Bellamy, sopranos, Dominique Visse, Jean Nirouet, countertenors, Philippe Cantor, Jacques Bona, baritones, Choeur régional- Nord Pas de Calais, La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy, Odile Bailleux, organ, conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire (2 CD CBS Sony 1987)
1987 : Die sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreuz by Heinrich Schütz, Ensemble Clément Janequin (dir. Dominique Visse), Saqueboutiers, Toulouse
1987 : Duos et Cantates, Giacomo Carissimi, Concerto Vocale, dir. René Jacobs
1988 : Les Comédies-Ballets, Lully-Molière, Les Musiciens du Louvre, dir. Marc Minkowski
1988 : Scylla et Glaucus, Jean-Marie Leclair, Monteverdi Choir & English Baroque Soloists, dir. John Eliot Gardiner
1992 : Songs from Orpheus Britannicus, Henry Purcell, interpreted by Agnès Mellon, Christophe Rousset and Wieland Kuijken
1993 : Cantiques Spirituels de Jean Racine, Pascal Colasse, Les Talens Lyriques, dir. Christophe Rousset
1993 : Motets à une ou deux voix, Daniel Danielis, Les Talens Lyriques, dir. Christophe Rousset
1993 : Leçons de Ténèbres, Office du Vendredi Saint H.105, H.95, H.140, H.133, H.130, H.99, H.100, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Il Seminario Musicale, dir. Gérard Lesne
2003 : Maria, Madre de Dio (Handel, Ferrandini, Scarlatti), ensemble Arion, dir. Monica Huggett
1997 : Chabrier mélodies (with Franck Leguérinel); Françoise Tillard (piano) - Timpani

Opera roles

Agnès Mellon has played several opera roles, all of them in the field of baroque music:

Actéon, Marc-Antoine Charpentier (Diane)
Médée, Marc-Antoine Charpentier (Créuse)^[3]
Atys, Jean-Baptiste Lully (Sangaride)
Orfeo, Luigi Rossi (Orfeo)
Castor et Pollux, Jean-Philippe Rameau (Télaïre)
Scylla et Glaucus, Jean-Marie Leclair (Vénus)

References

^ RadioFrance concert Archived 2012-12-14 at the Wayback Machine "En 1981, Agnès Mellon entre successivement à la Chapelle Royale de P. Herreweghe et aux Arts Florissants de W. Christie. Puis elle croise les chemins de nombreux chefs : Gardiner, Malgoire, Koopman, Leonhardt, Kuijken, Jacobs (Opéra de Paris, Festival d’Aix en Provence, Théâtre des Champs Élysées, Salle Pleyel, Carnegie Hall, le Concertgebow et Opéra d’Amsterdam, salles de concert à Tokyo…)"
^ RadioFrance CD Review Archived 2013-01-21 at the Wayback Machine "On parle Madrigaux matrimoniaux : bienvenue à l'ensemble Barcarole emmené par notre couple Agnès Mellon et Dominique Visse."
^ Rothstein, Edward (21 May 1994). "A 'Medee' That Turns Antiquity Into Life". The New York Times

External links

Agnès Mellon, la voie éclectique

[1] RadioFrance concert Archived 2012-12-14 at the Wayback Machine "En 1981, Agnès Mellon entre successivement à la Chapelle Royale de P. Herreweghe et aux Arts Florissants de W. Christie. Puis elle croise les chemins de nombreux chefs : Gardiner, Malgoire, Koopman, Leonhardt, Kuijken, Jacobs (Opéra de Paris, Festival d’Aix en Provence, Théâtre des Champs Élysées, Salle Pleyel, Carnegie Hall, le Concertgebow et Opéra d’Amsterdam, salles de concert à Tokyo…)"

[2] RadioFrance CD Review Archived 2013-01-21 at the Wayback Machine "On parle Madrigaux matrimoniaux : bienvenue à l'ensemble Barcarole emmené par notre couple Agnès Mellon et Dominique Visse."

[3] Rothstein, Edward (21 May 1994). "A 'Medee' That Turns Antiquity Into Life". The New York Times

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