Pygmalion

When, in 1733, Voltaire, the most brilliant mind of his day, collaborates with Rameau, its greatest composer, in undertaking an ambitious reform of operatic practice, the result is the biblical opera Samson. But the libretto is condemned and the score lost – possibly reworked here and there in later compositions. Claus Guth and Raphaël Pichon, haunted by this interesting project that had turned into one of the most intriguing failures in operatic history, have tried, not to recreate the letter, but to revive the spirit: to marry a strong, noble libretto with the most eloquent music.

Raphaël Pichon and his Ensemble Pygmalion resonate with the humanity, hope and light that permeate Johann Sebastian Bach's most beautiful sacred scores. A concert full of emotion.

The Pygmalion Ensemble, led by conductor and countertenor Raphaël Pichon, is renowned for its refined sound on period instruments. Together with vocal stars Sabine Devieilhe, Lea Desandre, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Julian Prégardien, and Daniel Behle, the ensemble delves into rarely performed works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Raphaël Pichon and the Pygmalion ensemble join forces with a magnificent vocal ensemble to perform Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata Actus Tragicus, set to a work by Johann Michael Bach. Program : Johann Michael Bach - Unser Leben ist siebenzig Jahre Jean-Sébastien Bach - Cantate Actus Tragicus BWV 106 (extraits)

For their final concert on Les Chemins de Bach, Raphaël Pichon and the Pygmalion ensemble perform Bach's short masses and motets in Arnstadt's Bachkirche.

Raphaël Pichon, Pygmalion and Sabine Devieilhe celebrate Bach and love in the very church where the composer married his first wife, Maria Barbara. Program : J. S. Bach - Aria 1 de la cantate « Weichet nur betrübte Schatten » BWV 202