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
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Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (Intégrale)
René Jacobs, Rias Kammerchor, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Oper - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 07.10.2010
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
Messen, Passionen, Requiems - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 13.05.2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: St John Passion, BWV 245 (Johannes-Passion)
RIAS Kammerchor, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and René Jacobs
Messen, Passionen, Requiems - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 25.03.2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Weber: Der Freischütz
Oper - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 29.04.2022
OPUS Klassik24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Leonore
Freiburger Barockorchester, René Jacobs
Oper - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 25.10.2019
5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Stabat Mater
Klassik - Erschienen bei Pentatone am 17.03.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach : St Matthew Passion (Matthäus-Passion)
René Jacobs, RIAS Kammerchor and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Messen, Passionen, Requiems - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 07.10.2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart : Die Entführung aus dem Serail
RIAS Kammerchor, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and René Jacobs
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 15.10.2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
Oper - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 01.01.2004
Gramophone Record of the Year16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Requiem, K. 626 (Süssmayr - Dutron 2016 Completion)
René Jacobs, RIAS Kammerchor and Freiburger Barockorchester
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 27.10.2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Unfinished and Great Symphony
B'Rock Orchestra, René Jacobs, Tobias Moretti
Symphonien - Erschienen bei PentaTone am 08.12.2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: St John Passion, BWV 245 (Johannes-Passion) (Deluxe Edition)
Rias Kammerchor, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 25.03.2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach : St Matthew Passion (Édition 5.1)
René Jacobs, RIAS Kammerchor and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 07.10.2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Multicanal 5.1 -
Handel: Messiah
René Jacobs and Freiburger Barockorchester
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 02.10.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Idomeneo
René Jacobs and Freiburger Barockorchester
Gesamtaufnahmen von Opern - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 22.05.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Così fan tutte
Concerto Köln, René Jacobs and Kölner Kammerchor
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 26.02.1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice
René Jacobs, Freiburger Barockorchester and RIAS Kammerchor
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 28.09.2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6
Klassik - Erschienen bei Pentatone am 30.10.2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Joseph Haydn : Les Saisons
René Jacobs and Freiburger Barockorchester
Weltliche Oratorien - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 01.01.2004
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto
René Jacobs, Bernarda Fink, Jennifer Larmore, Barbara Schlick, Marianne Rørholm, Concert Köln
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 01.12.1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi : Septem verba a Christo (Les sept paroles du Christ)
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and René Jacobs
Geistliche Vokalmusik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 11.03.2013
Qobuzissime24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo