Raphaël Pichon
Raphaël Pichon has had dual careers as a countertenor and later as the founder and director of the historically oriented choir Pygmalion. That group has developed into a major force in the performance of French Baroque opera.
Pichon was born in Paris on October 17, 1984. As a child, he sang in a famous youth choir, the Maîtrise des Petits Chanteurs in Versailles. Pichon studied the violin and piano at the Versailles Academy, but he told Télérama, "As a child, working on the [violin], alone in my room, put me off; I only rediscovered pleasure in making music by discovering the joy of building a sound together in a choir...." Moving on to the Paris Conservatory, Pichon began to come closer to his ultimate place, studying voice and conducting. As a countertenor, he performed under some of the leading early music conductors of the early 21st century, both French and foreign, including Jordi Savall, Jean Tubéry, and Ton Koopman. Pichon founded Pygmalion in 2006 and built it into one of the most successful choral ensembles oriented toward early music. For a time, Pichon also conducted the chamber choir OTrente, which specialized in Romantic and contemporary works, but he stepped down to devote full time to Pygmalion. That group made its debut recording on the Alpha label in 2010 with a release devoted to Bach's Missae Brevis, BWV 233 and BWV 236.
The group, accompanied by period instruments, has performed not only in France but around Europe and in China and Hong Kong. Pygmalion has especially been associated with productions of Baroque opera and has appeared on leading French stages, including the Opéra Royal de Versailles and a theater at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence. The group collaborated with the Bordeaux Opera in notable productions of Rameau's operas Castor et Pollux and Dardanus -- later becoming artists-in-residence with that company -- and also worked with the venerable Opéra-Comique in Paris. Pichon and Pygmalion recorded several more albums for the Alpha label. In 2014, the group moved to Harmonia Mundi for a recording of Bach's rarely performed Köthener Trauermusik, BWV 244a. Pichon and Pygmalion have continued to record for Harmonia Mundi, also backing soprano Sabine Devieilhe on the album Mozart: The Weber Sisters in 2015. In 2020, the ensemble released the album Johann Sebastian Bach: Motets on Harmonia Mundi. Pichon and Devieilhe teamed up once again on the album Bach, Handel on Erato in 2021, and the group returned to Harmonia Mundi for a recording of Bach's Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244. In 2023, Pichon and Pygmalion recorded Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
17 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine
Missen, passies, requiems - Released by harmonia mundi on 1 sep. 2023
Gramophone: Recording of the Month24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
J. S. Bach: Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244
Sacred Oratorios - Released by harmonia mundi on 11 mrt. 2022
Gramophone: Recording of the Month24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach & Handel
Sabine Devieilhe, Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 5 nov. 2021
Gramophone: Recording of the Month24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Enfers
Operafragmenten - Released by harmonia mundi on 23 feb. 2018
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Johann Sebastian Bach: Motets
Klassiek - Released by harmonia mundi on 25 sep. 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mein Traum. Schubert, Weber, Schumann
Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon, Stéphane Degout
Opera - Released by harmonia mundi on 7 okt. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravaganza d'Amore! Birth of Opera at the Medici Court
Klassiek - Released by harmonia mundi on 19 mei 2017
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Libertà ! Mozart & the opera
Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon, Sabine Devieilhe
Opera - Released by harmonia mundi on 30 aug. 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Missæ Breves, BWV 232-236 (Complete Recordings)
Missen, passies, requiems - Released by Alpha Classics on 24 sep. 2013
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J. S. Bach : Köthener Trauermusik, BWV 244a
Ensemble Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon
Koormuziek - Released by harmonia mundi on 6 okt. 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau : Castor et Pollux
Ensemble Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon
Volledige opera's - Released by harmonia mundi on 27 apr. 2015
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Dardanus (Live Recording at l'Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles)
Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
Klassiek - Released by Alpha Classics on 24 sep. 2013
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach : Missae Breves, BWV 233 & 236
Missen, passies, requiems - Released by Alpha Classics on 20 sep. 2010
Gramophone Editor's Choice16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rheinmädchen (Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wagner)
Ensemble Pygmalion, Bernarda Fink and Raphaël Pichon
Vocale muziek (wereldlijk en religieus) - Released by harmonia mundi on 18 mrt. 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Dardanus (Live Recording at l'Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles)
Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
Klassiek - Released by Alpha Classics on 24 sep. 2013
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Missae breves BWV 234 & 235 (Alpha Collection)
Missen, passies, requiems - Released by Alpha Classics on 28 aug. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scarlatti, A.: Giuditta (La) [Opera]
Sophie Landy, Raphaël Pichon, Carl Ghazarossian, Ensemble Baroque de Nice, Gilbert Bezzina
Opera - Released by Dynamic on 1 jan. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo