Raphael Pichon conducting Ensemble Pygmalion on the stage

Ensemble Pygmalion

Introduction

Founded by Raphaël Pichon in 2006, Pygmalion is the product of the union between a choir and a period-instrument orchestra. Its repertoire is founded on the connections that link Bach to Mendelssohn, Schütz to Brahms, and Rameau to Gluck and Berlioz.

Currently in residence at the Opéra National de Bordeaux, the ensemble 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. Bach’s Köthener Trauermusik and Passions, the late versions of Rameau’s tragédies lyriques, Mozart’s C minor Mass and a programme of his music for the Weber sisters, Stravaganza d’Amore (the birth of opera at the court of the Medici), Mendelssohn’s Elias, and a choral trilogy devoted to the canon from the Romantic era to the twentieth century.

Pygmalion also works regularly with stage directors and collaborators including Romeo Castelluci, Katie Mitchell, and Aurélien Bory and has recorded for Harmonia Mundi since 2014. The ensemble’s discography has received prizes in France and abroad, including a Gramophone Award in 2022 for Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion, an Edison Klassiek Award 2016, a Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros for 2016, and Best Classical Recording 2016 on Forbes.

As a result of the pandemic, in July 2020, Pygmalion launched a new festival based in Bordeaux, an for classical music, around the themes of musical conveyance and transmisson.

In September 2023, Askonas Holt were delighted to bring Ensemble Pygmalion for the BBC Proms for a sold-out performance of Mozart's Requiem.

Tours

  • Sep 2023 - Sep 2023
    Royal Albert Hall, London [BBC Proms]

    Askonas Holt were delighted to be present Ensemble Pygmalion under the direction of Raphaël Pichon for their return to the BBC Proms for the first time since 2017. Founded in 2006 by Pichon, Pygmalion are famed for their exciting realisations of period repertoire, and this all-Mozart programme is no exception. Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, K. 626 forms the backbone of the programme, interspersed with other works from his vast oeuvre. Joined by star soloists Sandrine Piau (soprano), Beth Taylor (mezzo-soprano), Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Alex Rosen (bass) and the young Malakai Bayoh the orchestra presented the programme without interval in the dazzling surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall. Askonas Holt are delighted to be presenting Ensemble Pygmalion under the direction of Raphaël Pichon for their return to the BBC Proms for the first time since 2017.

  • Jul 2017
    London

    Ensemble Pygmalion Raphael Pichon (conductor) Pierre Audi (stage Director) Soloists: Giuseppina Bridelli, Deborah Cachet, Eva Zaicik, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, MONTEVERDI Vespro della beata Vergine BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, London

Video

Photos

Press

  • BBC Proms

    Royal Albert Hall
    Sep 2023 - Sep 2023
    • "Playing and choral singing had terrific immediacy – Pygmalion are an outstanding ensemble – and the solo quartet in the Requiem were comparably fine." Tim Ashley