Emmanuelle Haïm presents her trabajo Le Concert d’Astrée

Emmanuelle Haïm

In November 2021, Emmanuelle Haïm conducted two celebratory benefit concerts, one in Berlin and the other in his hometown, Paris, to commemorate the 20 years of his whole The Astrée Concert. Music, mostly operas, it was Handel's, Rameau, Purcell, Vivaldi and Campra, and the spectacular formation of more than 20 Vocal soloists included sopranos Natalie Dessay, Sabine Devieilhe, Emőke Baráth y Sandrine Piau, the mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre , the tenors Michael Spyres and Rolando Villazón, the bass-baritone Laurent Naouri and the bass Andrea Mastroni. In Berlin, a distinguished guest conducted excerpts from Rameau's Les Boréades: Sir Simon Rattle.

At the beginning of the new millennium, as an experienced harpsichordist and emerging conductor, Emmanuelle Haïm founded The Astrée Concert to interpret the baroque repertoire. The ensemble gave its first concert in 2001 and in 2002 released his first CD (on the Virgin Classics label, predecessor of the current Erato). This was a collection of vocal duets by Handel, a composer especially close to the heart of Emmanuelle Haïm, with Natalie Dessay among the soloists.

Simon Rattle, just like william christie, Christophe Rousset, Rene Jacobs and Marc Minkowski, acted as a mentor to Haïm as he expanded his acting activities towards directing. During the last 20 years, his focus has remained on the baroque repertoire, but now he has conducted many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestras.

Haïm's entire management approach is determined by the way he works with The Astrée Concert. “I like the collaboration”, dice, “and in baroque music the role of the conductor is more within the orchestra playing an instrument (in my case the harpsichord or the organ) and sharing with other musicians, being yourself part of the music. . At Le Concert d'Astrée everyone speaks very freely and it's not just me who says what to do. It's more like a mix of orchestral music and chamber music.".
She explains that, very early in his musical career, "I didn't want to be alone, I wanted to be in a group, be in an orchestra! I liked that baroque music doesn't really indicate in the score how it should be, that there are little unwritten beauties that you have to grasp from the special language of music itself, to find the answers yourself and play freely. I loved the baroque theatrical world and also the sound of the instruments”.
When it comes to the musical personality of The Astrée Concert, say what: “From the beginning I wanted our sound to be substantial and full-bodied.… Handel needs an orchestra that has an appetite for life, have fire, generosity and passion… I like richness and color. I like to capture the meaning in the sound without ever losing the narrative thread. … We are lucky to be making music, and it's wonderful to be able to share this joy with an audience. 20 years of existence and 20 years of success deserve a joyful celebration!”