Paul Agnew
One of the world's foremost tenors specializing in Baroque opera and choral music, Paul Agnew has a long vocal résumé that includes works of many nationalities and time periods. He has also turned to conducting in the second half of his career, becoming the first conductor other than founder William Christie to lead the noted French Baroque ensemble Les Arts Florissants.
Agnew was born in Glasgow on April 11, 1964. He attended Magdalen College at Oxford University as a choral scholar, performing in the school's famous chapel choir in addition to his academic studies. When he graduated, London's early music scene was burgeoning, and there were plenty of opportunities for a young singer. He performed in the Consort of Musicke and also sang at various times with The Sixteen, Gothic Voices, and The Tallis Scholars. Launching a career as a soloist in the early '90s, Agnew attracted Christie's attention and was offered the chance to move to France to perform with Les Arts Florissants. He was soon the group's lead vocal soloist, performing lead roles in such operas as Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, in a production that traveled around France and as far as New York. Agnew was a tenor, but he also sang in a high register in a voice known in French as the haute-contre. He has sometimes been described as a countertenor as well as a tenor, but the haute-contre, of which Agnew was one of the few exponents when he began taking such roles in the '90s, has a different vocal quality that involves less falsetto than a true countertenor voice. Although Agnew has devoted much of his career to Les Arts Florissants, he has also sung in English and has recorded a wide variety of material, including songs of Ivor Gurney and, in 2001, Beethoven's settings of English-language folk songs. He has also performed in large choral works by Bach and others and recorded English voice and lute music with lutenist Christopher Wilson.
In 2007, Agnew began leading Les Arts Florissants as associate conductor; he began to conduct the group more and more often, and later, he was named joint music director. In 2018, conducting Les Arts Florissants, he released an album devoted to little-known French Baroque motet composers Sébastien de Brossard and Pierre Bouteiller. Christie remains the artistic director of Les Arts Florissants, but Agnew has begun to conduct the group more often. He has led music from beyond the French Baroque, initiating recorded series of the madrigals of Monteverdi and Gesualdo in the 2010s and 2020s. In 2023, the Gesualdo series concluded with recordings of the composer's Fifth and Sixth Books of Madrigals and the Tenebrae Responsories.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Diskografie
23 Album, -en • Geordnet nach Bestseller
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Gesualdo: Tenebræ Responsoria, Feria Quinta
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
Geistliche Vokalmusik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 10.03.2023
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri quinto & sesto
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
Französische Mélodies und Kunstlieder - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 10.03.2023
Gramophone: Recording of the MonthVerfügbar in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Gesualdo : Madrigali, Libri primo & secondo
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 25.10.2019
Verfügbar in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Vivaldi: The Great Venetian Mass
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew, Sophie Karthäuser, Lucile Richardot
Messen, Passionen, Requiems - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 24.06.2022
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri terzo & quarto
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
Französische Mélodies und Kunstlieder - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 05.02.2021
Verfügbar in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Dowland: Lachrimae
Thomas Dunford, Ruby Hughes, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Paul Agnew
Klassik - Erschienen bei Alpha Classics am 26.03.2013
Verfügbar in24-Bit/88 kHz Stereo -
Schütz: Italian Madrigals
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
Französische Mélodies und Kunstlieder - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 06.10.2023
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Claudio Monteverdi : Madrigali Vol. 2 (Mantova)
Les Arts Florissants and Paul Agnew
Weltliche Vokalmusik - Erschienen bei Les Arts Florissants am 22.09.2014
Gramophone: Recording of the Month5 Sterne Fono Forum KlassikVerfügbar in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Monteverdi: Madrigali Vol. 3, Venezia (Live)
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
Oper - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 17.02.2017
Gramophone AwardVerfügbar in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Monteverdi: Madrigali: Cremona Vol. 1
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
Klassik - Erschienen bei Les Arts Florisants am 18.05.2015
Gramophone AwardGramophone Editor's ChoiceVerfügbar in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Monteverdi : Madrigali (Cremona), Vol. 1
Les Arts Florissants and Paul Agnew
Klassik - Erschienen bei Les Arts Florissants am 18.05.2015
Gramophone AwardGramophone Editor's ChoiceVerfügbar in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Les Maîtres du Motet (Live)
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 28.09.2018
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
J. S. Bach: A Life in Music (Vol. 2) - The Weimar Years (1708-1717)
Paul Agnew, Les Arts Florissants, Benjamin Alard
Klassik - Erscheint am 14.03.2025 bei harmonia mundi
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
J. S. Bach: Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12: I. Sinfonia
Paul Agnew, Les Arts Florissants
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 07.02.2025
Verfügbar in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Claudio Monteverdi : L'Orfeo
Emmanuelle Haïm, Le Concert d'Astrée, Ian Bostridge, Natalie Dessay, Véronique Gens, Paul Agnew
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 14.03.2011
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo
Emmanuelle Haïm, Le Concert d'Astrée, Ian Bostridge, Natalie Dessay, Véronique Gens, Paul Agnew
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 14.03.2011
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Les Arts Florissants: Sacred Music
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie, Paul Agnew
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 05.04.2019
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Les Arts Florissants: Secular Music
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie, Paul Agnew
Klassik - Erschienen bei harmonia mundi am 05.04.2019
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Vivaldi: Arie d'opera
Sandrine Piau, Paul Agnew, Antonio Vivaldi
Klassik - Erschienen bei naïve classique am 19.09.2011
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Antonio Vivaldi : Arie d'Opera (Opere teatrale, vol. 5)
Federico Maria Sardelli, Modo Antiquo, Sandrine Piau, Paul Agnew, Ann Hallenberg
Opernauszüge - Erschienen bei naïve classique am 19.09.2011
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Knightly Passions: The Songs of Oswald von Wolkenstein
Catherine Bott, Paul Agnew, MICHAEL Georges, New London Consort, Philip Pickett
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1996
Verfügbar in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo