Ensemble Pygmalion
Founded by Raphaël Pichon in 2006 for the Europa Bach Festival, Pygmalion was born from the encounter between a choir and an orchestra playing historical instruments. Their repertoire is set to reflect the heritage extending from Bach to Mendelssohn, from Schütz to Brahms, or else from Rameau to Glück or Berlioz.

After the Missae Breves, the Mass in B minor in its original 1733 version, and the Magnificat, in original programmes combining cantatas and contemporary creations, in 2011 Pygmalion set about further exploring the work of Johann Sebastian Bach by creating the first full reconstitution of the Köthener Trauermusik BWV 244a.

In 2011, Pygmalion also inaugurated a partnership with the Festival of Beaune and the Bordeaux and Versailles Operas around the unpublished revised versions of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s tragic operas: Dardanus, Hippolyte & Aricie, and then Castor & Pollux in 2014. At the same time, with its choir, Pygmalion initiated an independent project focused on the German romantics, beginning in 2011 with the sacred music of Brahms and Bruckner at the Folle Journée in Nantes, before moving on to Schubert, in particular at the Easter festival in Aix-en-Provence and Roque d’Anthéron.

Pygmalion’s first recordings for Alpha, devoted to four Missae Breves BWV 233-236 and the Missa 1733 by Johann Sebastian Bach then Dardanus (live) received a Diapason d'Or, a Diapason Découverte, a ffff from Télérama, as well as being the Editor’s Choice in Gramophone and named the “Cd des Monat” by Opern Welt.

Since 2014, Pygmalion has been recording for Harmonia Mundi: Bach’s Köthener Trauermusik BWV won a Victoire de la musique 2015 (recording of the year), a Choc from Classica and a ffff from Télérama; we are now awaiting the release in May 2015 of their live recording of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Castor & Pollux, as well as their first recordings of Mozart alongside the soprano Sabine Devieilhe (Erato-Warner Classics).

Pygmalion’s plans for 2015 are based around two major stage projects: Trauernacht with the work of Bach directed by Katie Mitchell, premiered at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence before going on tour, as well as a new production of Rameau’s Dardanus, directed by Michel Fau at the Bordeaux and Versailles Operas.

Around these projects, Bach, Mozart & Brahms have a predominant place, and are taking Pygmalion to the Philharmonie of Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse, St Denis, Amsterdam, Essen, Frankfort, Royaumont, Versailles, Metz, Caen, the Chaise-Dieu festival, and the Abbey of Lessay.

Since January 1st 2014, Pygmalion has been the ensemble in residence at the Opéra National of Bordeaux and been subsidised by the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles in Aquitaine and the town of Bordeaux.

Pygmalion also receives the support of the EREN Group, the Mécénat Musical Société Générale, the Foundation Orange, as well as the Ile-de-France region. Pygmalion is in residence at the Fondation Royaumont, the festival of Saint-Denis and the Fondation Singer-Polignac.

Pygmalion’s choir was awarded the 2014 Choral Prize from the Fondation Bettencourt-Schueller.

Raphaël Pichon
Born in 1984, Raphaël Pichon started his musical life in the children’s choir of the Petits Chanteurs of Versailles, before studying singing, violin and piano at the Conservatoire de Rayonnement Régional and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris. Starting out as a young countertenor, his career led him to sing under the direction of Jordi Savall, Gustav Leonhardt and Ton Koopman, but also Geoffroy Jourdain with whom he initiated work on contemporary creation.

In 2006, he founded and took the helm of the ensemble Pygmalion, a choir and orchestra devoted to a repertoire using authentic instruments. Their repertoire is set to reflect the heritage extending from Bach to Mendelssohn, from Schütz to Brahms, or else from Rameau to Berlioz. With this ensemble, which is now associated with the Opera of Bordeaux, he has been invited to the festivals of Chaise-Dieu, Beaune, Saint-Denis, Radio-France Montpellier, Ambronay or Saintes, and has had considerable success with his interpretation of the repertoire of Johann Sebastian Bach’s sacred choral music, as well as the cycle of tragedies Dardanus, Hippolyte et Aricie and Castor et Pollux (Jean-Philippe Rameau). The ensemble is a regular guest of the Opéra de Bordeaux, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Opéra Comique, the Bozar of Brussels, the Versailles and Rouen Operas, the Fondation Royaumont, the Grands Interprètes of Toulouse, but also the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, as well as the Musikfest in Bremen and the Philharmoniker of Hamburg.

Raphaël Pichon’s initiation into the operatic repertoire was marked in 2010 by Opera Seria (Florian Leopold Gassmann) in Nantes, then by a stage production of the St John Passion (Bach) with the Holland Baroque Society in Amsterdam. Since 2012, he can be found at the Stavanger Symfonikorkester, the Orchestre National de Montpellier, the Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique of Nancy, the Violons du Roy in Québec or else the Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne. He has thus developed his repertoire by taking on Noces (Stravinsky), the Great Mass in C minor (Mozart), a German Requiem (Brahms) or else Elias (Mendelssohn). In 2014, he premiered at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence with Trauernacht, directed by Katie Mitchell.

His recordings with Alpha include the four Missae Breves and the Mass in B minor (Bach) as well as Dardanus (Rameau), which received a Diapason d'Or, a Diapason Découverte, a ffff from Télérama, was named the “Cd des Monat” by Opern Welt as well as being the Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. In 2014, he joined Harmonia Mundi, who in autumn 2014 released the Köthener Trauermusik (Bach), which won the prize for the recording of the year at the Victoires de la Musique in 2015, as well as a Choc from Classica and 4FFFF from Télérama. Castor & Pollux will be released in 2015, and also his first recordings of Mozart alongside the soprano Sabine Devieilhe (Erato).

2015 is being marked by first performances at the Philharmonie of Paris, the Grand-Théâtre de Provence, in Amsterdam (DNO and Muziekgebouw), Lisbon (Gulbenkian Foundation), Metz (Arsenal), Caen (Théâtre), Essen (Philharmonie), Rio and Sao Paulo, as well as a first operatic production at the Bordeaux and Versailles Operas (Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Dardanus, directed by Michel Fau).