René Jacobs
René Jacobs began his career as a countertenor and quickly earned the reputation as one of the finest of his time. He gradually turned to conducting and, since the turn of the new century, has rarely sung in concert. As a countertenor, Jacobs championed a string of forgotten Baroque composers on his recordings: Antonio Cesti, Sigismondo d'India, and Luca Marenzio, to name a few, but he also sang, in both concert and opera, many standards by Monteverdi, J.S. Bach, and Handel, among others. As a conductor, he has led many performances of sacred music by Bach and Buxtehude and has focused heavily on the operas of Monteverdi, Handel, and Mozart. He has conducted purely orchestral music as well, notably symphonies by Haydn and Mozart. In 2021, Jacobs issued a recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, conducting the Freiburger Barockorchester and Berlin RIAS Kammerkor.
Jacobs was born in Ghent, Belgium, on October 30, 1946. As a child, he was a chorister at St. Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent. After obtaining a degree in philology from Ghent University, he studied voice with Louis Devos and Lucie Frateur. Later, he took master classes with countertenor Alfred Deller. Already active on the concert stage, Jacobs made his operatic debut in Amsterdam in 1974, singing Clerio in Francesco Cavalli's Erismena. In 1977, Jacobs founded Concerto Vocale, an ensemble he would appear with in many concerts, operatic productions, and recordings. By the 1980s, Jacobs was steeped in conducting commitments, though he continued to sing, often in the same concerts. He was also editing performing editions of operas, as he famously did for the 1989 performance he led at the Opera de Montpellier of Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. In the 1990s, Jacobs established his credentials as one of the finest conductors on record of Mozart's operas. His 1998 Così fan tutte, for Harmonia Mundi, became one of the label's best-selling recordings, but it wasn't just his Mozart that drew attention: Jacobs' performances of Haydn's Il mondo della luna at the 2001 Innsbruck Early Music Festival and at the Staatsoper unter den Linden the following year drew lavish critical praise. Jacobs served as the artistic director of the Innsbruck Early Music Festival from 1996 until 2009.
He hasn't slowed down his performing and recording pace in the 21st century, and his more than 200 releases are available on a variety of labels, including Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, and Berlin Classics, among others. Jacobs has earned many awards in his career, including several Cannes Classical Awards (one for his recording of Handel's Rinaldo in 2004), the prestigious Diapason d'Or more than ten times (one for his recording of Haydn's The Seasons in 2005), and a Grammy Award in 2005 for his recording of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. In 2021, he led the Freiburger Barockorchester and Berlin RIAS Kammerkor in a recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, on Harmonia Mundi.
© Robert Cummings /TiVo
-
Schubert: Unfinished and Great Symphony
B'Rock Orchestra, René Jacobs, Tobias Moretti
Symphonies - Released by PentaTone on 8 Dec 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach : Motets
RIAS Kammerchor and René Jacobs
Sacred Vocal Music - Released by harmonia mundi on 28 Feb 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach : St Matthew Passion (Édition 5.1)
René Jacobs, RIAS Kammerchor and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 7 Oct 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Multicanal 5.1 -
Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3
Classical - Released by PentaTone on 18 Sep 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Georg Friedrich Händel : Agrippina
René Jacobs, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Full Operas - Released by harmonia mundi on 29 Sep 2011
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : La finta giardiniera
René Jacobs and Freiburger Barockorchester
Full Operas - Released by harmonia mundi on 9 Oct 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Keiser: Croesus
René Jacobs, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Dorothea Röschmann, Roman Trekel, Werner Güra
Opera - Released by harmonia mundi on 20 Oct 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo (René Jacobs)
Opera - Released by harmonia mundi on 22 Aug 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies No. 91 & 92 "Oxford" & Scena di Berenice
Freiburger Barockorchester, Bernarda Fink, René Jacobs
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 24 Feb 2005
Choc de Classica16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Christmas Oratorio
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 20 Oct 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (Famous Scenes)
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 29 Dec 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Caldara: Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 8 Oct 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Joseph Haydn : La Création (The Creation)
Sacred Vocal Music - Released by harmonia mundi on 6 Oct 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Saul
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 31 Jul 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Symphonies n°38 "Prague" & n°41 "Jupiter" (René Jacobs)
Symphonic Music - Released by harmonia mundi on 15 Aug 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 22 Aug 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies No. 91 & 92 "Oxford": Scena di Berenice
Freiburger Barockorchester, René Jacobs, Bernarda Fink
Symphonies - Released by harmonia mundi on 24 Feb 2005
Choc de Classica16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cavalieri: Rappresentatione di anima et di corpo
René Jacobs, Marie-Claude Chappuis, Johannes Weisser, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Chor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 16 Feb 2015
Choc de Classica5 de Diapason24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Zelenka: Magnificat & Lamenti
Classical - Released by Deutsche Harmonia Mundi on 1 Jan 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cesti: Orontea
René Jacobs and Concerto Vocale
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 20 Oct 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cavalli: Xerse
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 1 Jan 2000
The Qobuz Essential Discography4F de TéléramaChoc du Monde de la MusiqueDiapason d'or16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo