© Nathanaël Mergui
Founder of the ensemble Les Talens Lyriques and an internationally acclaimed harpsichordist, Christophe Rousset is a musician and conductor inspired by his passion for opera and the rediscovery of Europe's musical heritage.
Studying the harpsichord at the Schola Cantorum in Paris with Huguette Dreyfus, then at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague with Bob van Asperen (at the age of 22 he won the prestigious 1st Prize at the 7th Bruges Harpsichord Competition), followed by the creation of his own ensemble, Les Talens Lyriques, in 1991, gave Christophe Rousset a perfect grasp of the richness and diversity of the Baroque, Classical and pre-romantic repertoires.
Today, Christophe Rousset is regularly invited to perform with Les Talens Lyriques throughout Europe: Opéra National de Paris, Opéra Comique, Dutch National Opera, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Philharmonie de Paris, Opéra de Lausanne, Teatro Real de Madrid, Theater an der Wien, Staatsoper de Vienne, Opéra Royal de Versailles, La Monnaie de Bruxelles, Wigmore Hall and Barbican Center de Londres, Bozar Bruxelles. ...as well as tours all over the world to Mexico, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, etc.
At the same time, he pursues an active career as a harpsichordist and chamber musician, performing and recording on the finest historical instruments. His recordings of works for harpsichord by Louis and François Couperin, Rameau, D'Anglebert, Royer, Duphly, Forqueray, Balbastre, Scarlatti and the various recordings devoted to works by J. S. Bach (Partitas, Goldberg Variations, Harpsichord Concertos, English Suites, French Suites, Klavierbüchlein, Well-Tempered Clavier) are considered to be benchmarks.
The educational dimension is of paramount importance to Christophe Rousset, who conducts and leads masterclasses and academies at the CNSMDP in Paris, the Académie d'Ambronay, the Fondation Royaumont, the Opera Studio in Ghent, OFJ Baroque, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Amici della Musica in Florence, and the Britten-Pears Orchestra. He also works energetically alongside the musicians of Les Talens Lyriques to introduce music to young schoolchildren in Paris and the Île-de-France region.
Christophe Rousset is also pursuing a career as a guest conductor: Barcelona's Liceu, Naples' San Carlo, Milan's Scala, Wallonia's Opéra Royal, London's Royal Opera House, the Spanish National Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre du Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and more. This season, he will conduct the Akademie für alte Musik Berlin in a new production of Cherubini's Médée at the Staatsoper.
He also devotes himself to musical research and writing, through critical editions and the publication of monographs devoted to Rameau (2007, Actes Sud) and François Couperin (2016, Actes Sud). His book of interviews on music conducted by Camille de Rijck (2017, La Rue Musicale / Philharmonie de Paris) was published under the title L'impression que l'instrument chante.
One of his latest recordings, François Couperin: The Sphere of Intimacy (Aparté, 2022), has been hailed by the critics: ‘Whether alone at the harpsichord, at the head of a few instrumentalists from his ensemble Les Talens Lyriques, or accompanying a singer, Christophe Rousset manages to reconcile qualities that are not obviously complementary: rigour and freedom, elegance and familiarity’ and ‘An exceptional musical moment, to be savoured far from the world and the noise’ (Opéra, December 2022). (Opéra, December 2022).
Aparté recently released Le manuscrit de Madame Théobon (Lully and others), Pièces de Viole with Atsushi Sakai and Marion Martineau (Marin Marais) and The Sphere of Intimacy with Cyrille Dubois (François Couperin and Others).
The same label plans to release Bach's Art of the Fugue in 2023-2024.
Christophe Rousset is a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Mérite.
