| Biography | Founded by Raphaël Pichon in 2006, Pygmalion is the product of the union between a choir and a period-instrument orchestra. Its repertory is nurtured by the filiations that link Bach to Mendelssohn, Schütz to Brahms, and Rameau to Gluck and Berlioz.
Pygmalion is in residence at the Opéra National de Bordeaux and appears regularly at the leading venues in France (Philharmonie de Paris, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Aix-en-Provence, Beaune, Toulouse, Saint-Denis, La Chaise-Dieu, Royaumont, Nancy) and internationally (Cologne, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Barcelona, Brussels).
Among its recent projects to have earned public and critical attention are J. S. Bachs Köthener Trauermusik and Passions, the late versions of Rameaus tragédies lyriques, Mozarts C minor Mass and a programme of his music for the Weber sisters, Stravaganza dAmore (the birth of opera at the court of the Medici), Mendelssohns Elias, and a choral trilogy devoted to the canon from the Romantic era to the twentieth century.
Pygmalion works with stage directors such as Katie Mitchell, Michel Fau and Jetske Mijnssen, who have brought an innovative approach to works including the Bach cantatas (Trauernacht), Rameaus Dardanus and Luigi Rossis Orfeo.
After releasing the complete Missae breves of Bach and a version of Dardanus for Alpha, Pygmalion has recorded for harmonia mundi since 2014, a collaboration that has so far produced Bachs Köthener Trauermusik, Rameaus Castor et Pollux, Rheinmädchen, a new version of Dardanus, Rossis Orfeo (both on DVD), and the present release, Stravaganza dAmore. Also released recently was Mozart and the Weber Sisters with Sabine Devieilhe (Erato).
The ensembles discography has received prizes in France and abroad, including a Gramophone Award 2016, CD des Monats (Opernwelt), Diapason dOr de lAnnée, Choc de Classica, ffff de Télérama, a Victoire de la Musique 2015, an Edison Klassiek Award 2016, a Grand Prix de lAcadémie Charles Cros for 2016, and Best Classical Recording 2016 on Forbes. |