La Chapelle Rhénane

The French Baroque vocal-instrumental ensemble La Chapelle Rhénane has devoted itself to the reinterpretation of famed works by Schütz, Bach, and other Baroque composers. The group's explicit goal is to reveal the emotion and the humanity in works like Bach's St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, rather than to explore the unfamiliar repertory cultivated by many other Baroque groups. La Chapelle Rhénane ("The Rhenish Chapel," "The Rhine Chapel") was formed in 2001 by tenor Benoît Haller, who remains its director, with the intention of removing classical music from the realm of the past, and of learned elites. The group initially dedicated itself to the music of German composer Heinrich Schütz, and then, after finding success with its recordings of Schütz's Passion settings, that of J.S. Bach. La Chapelle Rhénane has also performed music by Handel, Monteverdi, Purcell, Buxtehude, and other composers including Charpentier, although the bulk of its repertory is not French. La Chapelle Rhénane has performed at major French venues including the Cité de la Musique de Paris, the Metz Arsenal, and Théâtre des Gémeaux de Sceaux. The group has been especially popular at festivals in France and abroad, with appearances at the Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg and Thüringer Bachwochen in Germany, the Bach Festival of Lausanne and Gruyères Music Workshop in Switzerland, and Resonanzen Wien in Austria. The ensemble was invited by the Leipzig Bach Festival to perform the St. Matthew Passion at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, the work's place of origin. In keeping with its mission of communicating directly with audiences, La Chapelle Rhénane has often held residencies in schools, lead sessions dedicated to young people, made tours in rural areas, and opened its rehearsals to the public. The group has recorded for the K.617, Christophorus, and Zig Zag Territoires. Its 2007 recording of the cantata cycle Membra Jesu nostri of Buxtehude, with the boychoir La Maîtrise de Garçons de Colmar, was reissued in 2019.
© James Manheim /TiVo