Le Messie de Handel avec Jonathan Cohen

Cellist and harpsichordist Jonathan Cohen is one of the most accomplished and sought-after British musicians of his generation. A fervent promoter of chamber music, he has mastered and explored repertoires ranging from baroque opera to the classical symphony. Cohen gained widespread recognition as associate conductor of Les Arts Florissants and, from 2010, as founder and artistic director of the Arcangelo ensemble. He has worked with Les Violons du Roy since 2014 and became their musical director in 2018. He also serves as artistic director of the Tetbury Music Festival and Boston’s prestigious Handel and Haydn Society.

A much-in-demand guest conductor, Cohen has appeared on both sides of the Atlantic with numerous ensembles, including the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the Liège Royal Philharmonic, the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, the New York Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.

Throughout the 24-25 season, he returns to Kammerorchester Basel and directs performances of St Matthew Passion with both Rotterdam Philharmonic and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He returns to Glyndebourne Festival for a revival of Barrie Kosky’s production of Handel Saul. He leads both Handel and Haydn Society and Houston Symphony Orchestra in Messiah, and with Handel and Haydn he also conducts Haydn The Seasons, Mozart Requiem and Beethoven Mass in C.

In addition to his impressive discography of almost 30 works as director of Arcangelo, he has recorded three albums with Les Violons du Roy, all of which have garnered national and international acclaim. His album devoted to Handel and Glass with American countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo earned Les Violons du Roy their first-ever Grammy nomination in 2019. Cohen has introduced several prestigious guest artists to audiences of Les Violons du Roy and has toured three times in Europe and North America with them.

A native of Bolivar, New York, soprano Joélle Harvey has established herself as a noted interpreter of a broad repertoire anchored by Handel, Mozart, and new music.

Her engagements during the 2021–2022 season include debuts at Opernhaus Zürich (Aristea in Pergolesi’s L’Olimpiade), the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, conducted by Jakub Hrůša), and the University Musical Society at University of Michigan (Handel’s Messiah). She joins Les Violons du Roy for further Messiah performances, returns to the North Carolina Symphony (Mahler’s Symphony No. 4), the Indianapolis Symphony (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9), and continues her close collaboration with Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society in two appearances: Vivaldi’s Gloria and CPE Bach’s Magnificat, conducted by Jonathan Cohen; and Haydn’s The Creation, led by Harry Christophers in his final performances as H&H Artistic Director.

During the 2020–2021 season, Joélle Harvey filmed a performance of Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 with the Cleveland Orchestra as part of their re-configured season, made her Cincinnati Symphony May Festival debut, performing Britten’s Les Illuminations and joined the Handel & Haydn Society for a filmed production of their annual Messiah concert. Additionally, she collaborated with Los Angeles Opera on Anna Clyne’s The Gorgeous Nothings, a setting of Emily Dickinson texts for their On Now initiative, and later in the summer joined the Elgin Symphony for Barber’s Knoxville Summer of 1915, and Bard Summerscape for performances of songs by Nadia Boulanger as well as excerpts of Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes.

Original engagements for Joélle Harvey’s 2019–2020 season included important debuts, as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with the Metropolitan Opera. She returned to the Cleveland Orchestra for Mahler’s 4th Symphony as well as Mozart’s Mass in C Minor. Mahler’s 2nd Symphony featured prominently as well, , with a return to the St. Louis Symphony. Her season also included appearances with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society for their Emerging Voices series, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for a concert in Alice Tully Hall featuring songs of Schubert, Chausson, and Harbison.

A unique vocal colour and commanding stage presence are the hallmarks of performances by mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy. Hailed by Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle as “a singer of enormous imagination and versatility,” she has appeared with the Paris Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Chicago Symphony, Toronto Symphony, St. Louis Orchestra, Glyndebourne Festival, San Francisco Opera, Boston Symphony, Canadian Opera Company, Les Violons du Roy, Warsaw Philharmonic, and Théâtre capitole du Toulouse. Adam Fischer, Seiji Ozawa, Jeremy Rohrer, Kent Nagano, Emmanuelle Haim, Bernard Labadie, Trevor Pinnock, Ludovic Morlot, Carlos Kalmar, and Johannes Debus are among the conductors with whom she has collaborated for performances of works such as La clemenza di Tito, L'enfant et les sortilèges, Hippolyte et Aricie, Mozart’s C minor Mass, Matthäus Passion, Das Rheingold, The Dream of Gerontius and Messiah. Ms. McHardy is a Prix Opus winner for Opéra de Montréal’s Dead Man Walking and Opéra de Québec’s Der Fliegende Holländer, and she was nominated for a Juno Award for the Canadian Art Song Project’s disc, Summer Night, featuring the music of Healey Willan.

This coming season, Allyson McHardy looks forward to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Handel’s The Resurrection with Opera Atelier, Messiah with Nicholas Kramer for Music of the Baroque in Chicago, and Riders to the Sea in a co-production with BOP and Opéra de Montréal. In 2019–2020 her schedule included performances of Bach cantatas for Music of the Baroque, Messiah with the Florida Orchestra and Newfoundland Symphony, and Flight for Pacific Opera Victoria.

Allyson McHardy’s discography includes the Juno-nominated Summer Night-Healey Willan with the Canadian Art Song Project (Centrediscs). Other CDs include the Juno-nominated Orlando by George Frideric Handel with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra and Alexander Weimann (ATMA), the Juno- and ADISQ-nominated recording of Caldara’s La Conversione di Clodoveo, Re di Francia (ATMA), Bellini’s Norma with the Warsaw Philharmonic (Philharmonia Narodowa), two works by Harry Somers—Serinette and A Midwinter Night’s Dream (Centrediscs)—and Ukrainian art songs by composer Mykola Lysenko in a six-disc collection on the Musica Leopolis label.

A prolific concert performer, Andrew Staples has appeared with Berliner and Wiener Philharmoniker, Akademisten Berlin, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with Sir Simon Rattle; Orchestre de Paris, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra with Daniel Harding; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; the Gävle Symphony with Robin Ticciati; Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, Orcherstre Métropolitain, and the Philadelphia Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and Accademia Santa Cecilia with Semyon Bychkov.

Andrew Staples made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Jacquino (Fidelio), returning for Flamand (Capriccio), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Tichon (Katya Kabanova), and Narraboth (Salome). He has also appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, the National Theatre in Prague. La Monnaie in Brussels, Salzburger Festspiele, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, the Lucerne Festival, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Recent and future engagements include his Metropolitan Opera debut as Andres (Wozzeck), Nicias in concert performances of Thais with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Das Lied von der Erde with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and Budapest Festival Orchestra. Further future engagements include returns to Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Bayerischer Rundfunk Munich.

Neal Davies studied at King's College, London, and the RAM, and won the Lieder Prize at the 1991 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. He has appeared with the Oslo Philharmonic under Jansons, the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Boulez, the Cleveland and Philharmonia orchestras under Dohnanyi, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Harnoncourt, the OAE under Brüggen, the English Concert with Harry Bicket, the Gabrieli Consort under McCreesh, the Hallé Orchestra with Elder, Concerto Koeln under Bolton, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with Adam Fischer, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra with Edward Gardner, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin with David Zinman, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with Sir Andrew Davis, and the London Symphony and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras under Harding. He has been a regular guest of the Edinburgh Festival and BBC Proms.

Recent concert appearances include Shostakovich 14 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Kirill Karabits, a return to Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin for King Arthur, concert performances of Peter Grimes with the Bergen Philharmonic, and Messiah with the Lucerne Symphony. Previous seasons highlights include the Edinburgh Festival with Edward Gardner (Creation) and the BBC Proms (Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem), as well as concerts with David Afkham and the Spanish National Orchestra, and with Maxime Pascal conducting the Hallé Orchestra. The 2018/19 season saw appearances with Les Violons du Roy and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (Jonathan Cohen), the Bach Collegium Japan (Masaaki Suzuki), Music of the Baroque (Jane Glover), and the Philadelphia Orchestra (Bernard Labadie).

Neal Davie’s wide discography includes Acis and Galatea under Christian Curnyn (BBC Music Magazine Award, 2019), Messiah, Theodora, Saul and Creation (Gramophone Award, 2008) under McCreesh, Jenufa and Makropulos Case under Sir Charles Mackerras, Barber’s Vanessa under Leonard Slatkin, Messiah under René Jacobs, the Hyperion Complete Schubert Edition with Graham Johnson, and Britten’s Billy Budd with Daniel Harding (Grammy Award, 2010).

Created in 1985 by founding conductor and music director Bernard Labadie, La Chapelle de Québec is one of North America’s premiere voice ensembles. The group is made up exclusively of professional singers who are hand picked from all over Canada. This unique chamber choir specializes in the choral/orchestral repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries. The choir performs regularly with its other half, chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy, and as a guest choir with some of the finest orchestras in North America. Its  interpretations of the oratorios, requiems, masses, and cantatas of Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Haydn, as well as Fauré and Duruflé, are frequently hailed in the Canadian and international press.

La Chapelle de Québec is heard regularly at Palais Montcalm in Quebec City and Maison symphonique in Montreal, as well as at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, at Carnegie Hall with Les Violons du Roy and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and in Ottawa with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. The choir’s concerts are often broadcast by the CBC and Radio-Canada in Canada and by National Public Radio in the United States.

La Chapelle de Québec is also known for its role in Chemin de Noël, an annual event that brings music lovers from throughout the Québec City region together every December. The Chemin de Noël was recorded on an ATMA disc released in November 2021.