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The Scottish tenor, Paul Agnew, read music as a Choral Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford. After earning his degree, he became associated with the Consort of Musicke, and remained a member of this wonderful early music ensemble for many productive years. At these early stages of his career, he has also made numerous appearances with the Tallis Scholars, the Sixteen and the Gothic Voices, before finally striking out on his own as a soloist in the early 1990's.
In 1993 or 1994, Paul Agnew was noticed by William Christie, a celebrated early music conductor who had virtually single-handedly restored to prominence a whole page in the history of music: French Baroque. Christie, with a keen ear for young talent and a history of raiding the British Isles for soloists for his group Les Arts Florissants, didn't hesitate to add Paul Agnew to his list of hand-picked proteges. Since then, he has appeared in many acclaimed Les Arts Florissants productions, becoming Christie's most favourite tenor since the founding of Les Arts Florissants. He has sung with Les Arts Florissants more often than any other singer, male or female has. His biggest stage roles under Christie's direction were Jason in Charpentier's Médée and Hippolyte in Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie. Although both of these roles were recorded with another tenor, he did make a cameo appearance on the Hippolyte CD: singing Cupid's charming Plaisirs doux vainqueurs, one small aria that is almost worth the price of the entire CD! On disc, he got to shine in such gorgeous Les Arts Florissants recording as La Descente d'Orphee aux Enfers and Les Plaisirs de Versaille, both by M.A. Charpentier; Grands Motets by J.P. Rameau, Mondonville and Desmarest; award-winning Acis & Galatea by G.F. Händel, etc. His wonderful contribution was undoubtedly one of the reasons Rameau's Grands Motets won Gramophone's Best Early Music Vocal award in 1995. Orphee was also nominated for the 1995 award (in the opera category), but it was defeated by Christie's very own King Arthur.
In addition to appearances with Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew has become much in demand as a soloist. His live engagements have included, among others, Purcell's King Arthur with John Eliot Gardiner, Purcell's Fairy Queen, Dioclesian and Timon of Athens with the English Concert under Trevor Pinnock, Bach Cantatas with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Bach's B-Minor Mass (BWV 232) with the English Concert and with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Händel's Joshua with the Academy of Ancient Music, and Händel's Theodora with the Gabrieli Consort & Players, He has given a series of acclaimed recitals of English lute songs with lutenist Christopher Wilson in Paris, London, Montreux and Vienna.
Paul Agnew's many recordings, outside of Les Arts Florissants, include Mozart's Coronation Mass and Bach's B Minor Mass (BWV 232) and Cantatas with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Ton Koopman, Sally Beamish's In Dreaming with Fretwork, J.S. Bach's Saint John Passion (BWV 245) with the Brandenburg Consort and King's College Choir, Cambridge, Bach's St. John Passion (BWV 245) with Stephen Cleobury (also on video), Bach's St. Markus Passion (BWV 247) with Roy Goodman, Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ with Philippe Herreweghe, Händel's Solomon with Paul McCreesh and many others. Especially notable is his recent recording of Bach's Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) with Philip Pickett. According to Nicholas Anderson of Gramophone, Paul Agnew is the most naturally expressive Evangelist Anderson's ever heard (and he's heard all of them). He has also made a series of acclaimed medieval English songs recordings with lutenist Christopher Wilson.
Current operatic roles include, among others, Orfeo in Monteverdi's Orfeo in Toronto, Telemaco in Trevor Pinnock's production of Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, Rameau's Platee and Les Indes Galantes with the Opera de Paris, Händel's Theodora directed by Paul McCreesh and Monteverdi's Combattimento directed by Marc Minkowski. |
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Ton Koopman |
Tenor |
BWV 1, BWV 2, BWV 3, BWV 13, BWV 16, BWV 20, BWV 22, BWV 23, BWV 33, BWV 34, BWV 38, BWV 44, BWV 62, BWV 63, BWV 69, BWV 69a, BWV 73, BWV 75, BWV 76, BWV 92, BWV 93, BWV 96, BWV 101, BWV 104, BWV 110, BWV 119, BWV 122, BWV 123, BWV 126, BWV 130, BWV 133, BWV 134, BWV 134a, BWV 155, BWV 161, BWV 162, BWV 163, BWV 165, BWV 179, BWV 180, BWV 186, BWV 190, BWV 191, BWV 193, BWV 198, BWV 201, BWV 208, BWV 211, BWV 214, BWV 215, BWV 247
DVD: BWV 244, BWV 247 |
