Hervé Niquet
Hervé Niquet is a rare musician: while some composer/performers are also conductors, few have also managed a successful career as a singer, as has Niquet. Moreover, he has not only conducted instrumental ensembles but choral groups as well. As a composer, he has received prestigious commissions, including one from Princess Caroline of Monaco. As a conductor, Niquet is generally associated with French Baroque music -- particularly the works of Boismortier, Charpentier, and Rameau -- but it would be unfair to typecast him as a specialist in that vein. He has not only performed and recorded much Handel and Purcell but has developed a repertory reaching into the 19th and 20th centuries, taking on works by Chabrier, Gounod, Poulenc, and many others. Niquet is the founder and director of Le Concert Spirituel, which he led on a recording of Mozart's La Flûte Enchantée on the Château de Versailles label in 2021.
Niquet was born on October 28, 1957, and grew up in Abbeville, France. Following extensive studies of harpsichord, organ, composition, conducting, and singing, Niquet was appointed choir master of the Paris Opéra in 1980. 1985 was a pivotal year for the young musician: he received a commission from Princess Caroline to write a ballet (24 Hours in the Life of a Woman), and he joined Les Arts Florissant as a tenor. Meanwhile, he continued branching out as a conductor, leading major ensembles across Europe, mostly in Baroque fare. In 1987, Niquet founded the orchestra he has been most closely associated with, Le Concert Spirituel. He derived the name from the ensemble founded in Paris in 1725 that disbanded in 1790. Consisting of about 50 players, the group has come to be regarded as one of the foremost Baroque orchestras in Europe, and Niquet has been closely identified with Le Concert Spirituel since its founding.
Niquet founded another ensemble in 2002, the Montreal-based La Nouvele Sinfonie. This orchestra is made up of about 40 musicians and, like Le Concert Spirituel, mainly focuses on French Baroque repertory. Niquet has been instrumental in the performances of lesser-known operas through his work with the Palazzetto Bru Zane - Centre de Musique Romantique Française foundation. Rediscovered works include Félicien David's Herculanum and Fromental Halévy's La Reine de Chypre. Niquet served as the music director of the Vlaams Radiokoor from 2011 until 2019, and the artistic director of the Festival de l’Abbaye de Saint-Riquier Baie de Somme from 2013 until 2017.
In concert and on tape, Niquet often performs both as conductor and harpsichordist or organist. He has appeared on countless recordings in various roles since the 1980s, often as a headlining performer. His albums are available on a variety of labels, including EMI, Naïve, and Naxos. The Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra and Vlaams Radiokoor, with Niquet leading, earned an ECHO Klassik award in 2016 for a recording of David's Herculanum. In 2021, Niquet led Le Concert Spirituel on a Château de Versailles recording of Mozart's La Flûte Enchantée.
© Robert Cummings & Keith Finke /TiVo
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Les grandes eaux musicales 2007 du Château de Versailles
Le Concert Spirituel, Hervé Niquet, Unknown Artist
Classical - Released by Glossa on Jul 10, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod : Cantates et musique sacrée
Flemish Radio Choir, Brussels Philharmonic, Hervé Niquet
Cantatas (sacred) - Released by Bru Zane on Jan 12, 2018
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Rédemption
Eve-Maud Hubeaux, Hervé Niquet, Vlaams Radio Koor, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège
Classical - Released by Musique en Wallonie on Oct 25, 2019
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
La Tombelle: Musique chorale, de chambre, symphonique
Brussels Philharmonic, Flemish Radio Choir, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Bru Zane on Nov 8, 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Charpentier : Leçons de Ténèbres (Marc-Antoine Charpentier)
Sacred Vocal Music - Released by Glossa on Jan 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Desmarets, H.: Dominus Regnavit / Te Deum (Henry Desmarets - Saint Ambrose)
Classical - Released by Glossa on Jan 1, 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bouteiller : Requiem pour Voix d'Hommes (Le Concert Spirituel - Hervé Niquet, direction)
Masses, Passions, Requiems - Released by Glossa on Nov 4, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Benevolo: Missa Azzolina / Magnificat / Dixit Dominus
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on May 23, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grands Motets, vol. 2
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jan 31, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry : Andromaque
Full Operas - Released by Glossa on Jun 29, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johann Christoph Vogel : La Toison d’or
Classical - Released by Glossa on Nov 25, 2013
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Charpentier : Messe des Morts
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on Nov 3, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell, H.: Dido and Aeneas [Opera] (Henry Purcell - Nahum Tate)
Full Operas - Released by Glossa on Jan 1, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Michel: Lecons De Tenebres
Le Concert Spirituel Soloists, Hervé Niquet
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Naxos on Dec 31, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Victorin Joncières : Dimitri
Flemish Radio Choir, Flanders Opera Children's Chorus, Brussels Philharmonic, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Bru Zane on Jun 29, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ballets de Village et Sérénade
Concert Spirituel Orchestra, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on May 19, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Motets - Litanies a la Vierge
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jan 17, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vespres à la Vierge
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jul 27, 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
David: Herculanum
Flemish Radio Choir, Brussels Philharmonic, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Bru Zane on Sep 4, 2015
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Music for the Prix de Rome (Claude Debussy - Emile Moreau - Alphonse Marie Louis de Lamartine)
Classical - Released by Glossa on Nov 5, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paolo Lorenzani : Motets
Concert Spirituel Chorus, Hervé Niquet
Classical - Released by Naxos on Nov 24, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo