Dominique Visse

French countertenor Dominique Visse has participated in the early music revival in France since its inception. Although he became a chorister at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris at the age of 13, he pursued studies on organ and flute at the Versailles Conservatory. As an instrumentalist, he developed an interest in medieval and Renaissance repertories, only occasionally singing as a countertenor. It was only after studies with Alfred Deller and René Jacobs between 1976 and 1978 that he decided to specialize in singing. In 1978, he founded the Ensemble Clément Janequin and joined the newly formed period-instrument group Les Arts Florissants under William Christie. In 1982, he made his opera debut at Tourcoing in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. Other notable performances included the title role of Charpentier's Actéon at Edinburgh (1985), Annius in Gluck's La clemenza di Tito at Tourcoing (1987) and at Lausanne (1991), Cupid in Charpentier's Orphée aux enfers at the Paris Opera (1987), and Delfa in Cavalli's Giasone at Innsbruck (1988). He created the role of Geronimo in Claude Prey's Le rouge et le noir at Aix-en-Provence in 1989. Visse has recorded Cavalli's Xerse and Giasone; Charpentier's Actéon, Les arts florissants, David et Jonathas, and Le malade imaginaire; Campra's Tancrède; Rameau's Anacréon; and Hasse's Cleofide. In 2010 the album Monteverdi, Sances, Strozzi, Rognoni…Parole e Querele D’amore: Madrigali a due voci was released, featuring Visse and his wife, the soprano Agnès Mellon.
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