Paul Agnew
Encyclopedia
Paul Agnew is a Scottish opera
tic tenor
.
Agnew read music as a Choral Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford
. He became associated with the Consort of Musicke
, the Tallis Scholars
, the Sixteen
and the Gothic Voices
, before embarking on a solo career in the early 1990s.
Closely associated with William Christie
and Les Arts Florissants
, Paul Agnew has performed the roles of Jason in Charpentier
's Médée
and of Hippolyte in Rameau
's Hippolyte et Aricie
, as well as appearing on the recordings of La descente d'Orphée aux enfers
and Les plaisirs de Versailles
, both by Marc-Antoine Charpentier; Acis and Galatea by George Frideric Handel
, and Rameau's Grands Motets (Gramophone
's Best Early Music Vocal award in 1995). In 2007 Agnew conducted Les Arts Florissants
in a performance of Antonio Vivaldi
. He is the first person other than William Christie
to conduct the ensemble. He has since combined his conducting and singing careers.
Paul Agnew's other recordings include Mozart
's Coronation Mass, Bach cantata
s and Bach's Mass in B minor with Ton Koopman
and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
, Bach's St John Passion with Stephen Cleobury
(also on video), Bach's St Markus Passion
with Roy Goodman
, Berlioz
's L'enfance du Christ
with Philippe Herreweghe
, Handel's Solomon
with Paul McCreesh
, Bach's Christmas Oratorio
with Philip Pickett
and Rameau's Dardanus
with Pinchgut Opera
. He has played the title travesti
role in Rameau's Platée
, which has been released on DVD.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
.
Agnew read music as a Choral Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
. He became associated with the Consort of Musicke
The Consort of Musicke
The Consort of Musicke is a British early music group, founded in 1969 by lutenist Anthony Rooley, the ensemble's Artistic Director. Members of the group have included such well-known artists as sopranos Emma Kirkby and Evelyn Tubb, alto Mary Nichols, tenors Paul Agnew, Andrew King and Joseph...
, the Tallis Scholars
Tallis Scholars
The Tallis Scholars are a British vocal ensemble normally consisting of two singers per part, with a core group of ten singers.Formed in 1973 by their director Peter Phillips, they specialise in performing a cappella sacred vocal music written during the Renaissance by composers from all over Europe...
, the Sixteen
The Sixteen
The Sixteen are a choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers in 1979.The group's special reputation for performing early English polyphony, masterpieces of the Renaissance, bringing fresh insights into Baroque and early Classical music and a diversity of 20th century...
and the Gothic Voices
Gothic Voices
Gothic Voices is a United Kingdom based vocal ensemble specialising in repertoire from the 11th to the 15th century. The group was formed in 1981 by scholar and musician Christopher Page....
, before embarking on a solo career in the early 1990s.
Closely associated with William Christie
William Christie (musician)
William Lincoln Christie is an American-born French conductor and harpsichordist. He is noted as a specialist in baroque repertoire and as the founder of the ensemble Les Arts Florissants....
and Les Arts Florissants
Les Arts Florissants (ensemble)
Les Arts Florissants is a Baroque musical ensemble in residence at the Théâtre de Caen in Caen, France. The organization was founded by conductor William Christie in 1979. The ensemble derives its name from the 1685 opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The organization consists of a chamber orchestra...
, Paul Agnew has performed the roles of Jason in Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier, , was a French composer of the Baroque era.Exceptionally prolific and versatile, he produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres...
's Médée
Médée (Charpentier)
Médée is a tragédie mise en musique in five acts and a prologue by Marc-Antoine Charpentier to a French libretto by Thomas Corneille. It was premiered in Paris on December 4, 1693. Médée is the only opera Charpentier wrote for the Académie Royale de Musique...
and of Hippolyte in Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
's Hippolyte et Aricie
Hippolyte et Aricie
Hippolyte et Aricie was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, which opened to great controversy at the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris on October 1, 1733. The libretto, by Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, is based on Racine's tragedy Phèdre. The opera takes the traditional form of a tragédie en...
, as well as appearing on the recordings of La descente d'Orphée aux enfers
La descente d'Orphée aux enfers
La descente d'Orphée aux enfers is a chamber opera in two acts by the French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It was probably composed in early 1686 and probably was performed either in the private apartment of the Dauphin that spring, or at Fontainebleau in the fall...
and Les plaisirs de Versailles
Les plaisirs de Versailles
Les plaisirs de Versailles is a short opera by the French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It was intended for performance at the new courtly entertainment known as les appartements du roi devised by King Louis XIV and held in his own apartments at the palace of Versailles in 1682...
, both by Marc-Antoine Charpentier; Acis and Galatea by George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
, and Rameau's Grands Motets (Gramophone
Gramophone Award
The Gramophone Awards are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry, often referred to as the Oscars for classical music. The winners are selected annually by critics for the Gramophone magazine and various members of the industry, including...
's Best Early Music Vocal award in 1995). In 2007 Agnew conducted Les Arts Florissants
Les Arts Florissants (ensemble)
Les Arts Florissants is a Baroque musical ensemble in residence at the Théâtre de Caen in Caen, France. The organization was founded by conductor William Christie in 1979. The ensemble derives its name from the 1685 opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The organization consists of a chamber orchestra...
in a performance of Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
. He is the first person other than William Christie
William Christie (musician)
William Lincoln Christie is an American-born French conductor and harpsichordist. He is noted as a specialist in baroque repertoire and as the founder of the ensemble Les Arts Florissants....
to conduct the ensemble. He has since combined his conducting and singing careers.
Paul Agnew's other recordings include Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Coronation Mass, Bach cantata
Bach cantata
Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....
s and Bach's Mass in B minor with Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...
and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir is a Dutch early-music group based in Amsterdam.The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir was created in two stages by the conductor, organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman. He founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979 and the Amsterdam Baroque Choir in...
, Bach's St John Passion with Stephen Cleobury
Stephen Cleobury
Stephen Cleobury CBE is an English organist and conductor. He was organ scholar at St John's College, Cambridge and sub-organist of Westminster Abbey before becoming Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral in 1979...
(also on video), Bach's St Markus Passion
St Mark Passion (Bach)
The St Mark Passion , BWV 247, is a lost Passion setting by Johann Sebastian Bach, first performed in Leipzig on Good Friday, 23 March 1731 and again on Good Friday 1744 in a revised version...
with Roy Goodman
Roy Goodman
Roy Goodman is a conductor and violinist, specialising in the performance and direction of early music...
, Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
's L'enfance du Christ
L'enfance du Christ
L'enfance du Christ , Opus 25, is an oratorio by the French composer Hector Berlioz, based on the Holy Family's flight into Egypt. Berlioz wrote his own words for the piece. Most of it was composed in 1853 and 1854, but it also incorporates an earlier work La fuite en Egypte...
with Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe is a Flemish conductor.In his school years at the University of Ghent, Herreweghe combined studies in medical science and psychiatry with a musical education at the Ghent Conservatory, where Marcel Gazelle, Yehudi Menuhin's accompanist, was his piano teacher...
, Handel's Solomon
Solomon (Handel)
Solomon, HWV 67, is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. Its libretto is based on the biblical stories of wise king Solomon and is attributed to Newburgh Hamilton...
with Paul McCreesh
Paul McCreesh
Paul McCreesh is an English conductor.Paul McCreesh is founder and artistic director of the Gabrieli Consort & Players, with whom he has established himself at the highest level in the period instrument field; he is recognised for his authoritative and innovative performances on the concert...
, Bach's Christmas Oratorio
Christmas Oratorio
The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...
with Philip Pickett
Philip Pickett
Philip Pickett is an English musician, recorder player and director of early music ensembles, notably The New London Consort.- Student days :...
and Rameau's Dardanus
Dardanus (opera)
Dardanus is an opera in five acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau. The French libretto was by Charles-Antoine Leclerc de La Bruère.-Performance history:It was first performed at the Académie de musique in Paris on November 19, 1739...
with Pinchgut Opera
Pinchgut Opera
Pinchgut Opera is a chamber opera company in Sydney, Australia, presenting opera from the 17th and 18th centuries performed on period instruments. Founded in 2002, the company's goal is to present operas not widely known and worthy of a wider audience...
. He has played the title travesti
En travesti
Travesti is a theatrical term referring to the portrayal of a character in an opera, play, or ballet by a performer of the opposite sex. Some sources regard 'travesti' as an Italian term, some as French. Depending on sources, the term may be given as travesty, travesti, or en travesti...
role in Rameau's Platée
Platée
Platée is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Adrien-Joseph Le Valois d'Orville. Rameau bought the rights to the libretto Platée ou Junon Jalouse by Jacques Autreau and had d'Orville modify it...
, which has been released on DVD.