Agnès Mellon / Ensemble Barcarole

Territory represented: international

In 1981, soprano Agnès Mellon successively joined the Chapelle Royale under of P. Herreweghe and the Arts Florissants under W. Christie. As a soloist, she has had the opportunity to sing under the direction of many conductors: Gardiner, Malgoire, Koopman, Leonhardt, Kuijken and Jacobs, to name a few. She has sung in such prestigious venues as the Opéra de Paris, the Théâtre des Champs Élysées, Salle Pleyel, Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebow and the Amsterdam Opera, as well as in several halls in Tokyo. Some of Ms. Mellon’s opera roles: Sangaride in Lully’s Atys (in Paris and Montpellier), Télaïre in Castor et Pollux by J.P. Rameau (in Aix en Provence), and Creüse in Médée by M.A. Charpentier.

In 1997, she founded her own ensemble, Barcarole, in order to concentrate on the Baroque chamber music repertoire, which includes both sacred and profane works of infinite richness.

In 2005, Barcarole released Les déesses outragées with ALPHA Productions (featuring cantatas by Clérambault, de Blamont and Courbois).

In addition to performing works from the Baroque repertoire, Agnès Mellon also gives recitals with pianist Christian Ivaldi, recital-spectacles (staged by Mireille Larroche) with the pianist François Kerdoncuff Esquisses de la vie d’une femme and, for Family audience, Chante-moi une histoire.

Agnès Mellon’s discography—which includes over sixty recordings—covers a large repertoire, from the great lyric tragedies of the Baroque era to French mélodie. In 2003, her recording entitled Maria, Madre di Dio with the Ensemble Arion (label early-music.com), was awarded Best album of the year - Early music (OPUS MAGAZINE, Toronto, March/April 2004).

Holder of a CA teaching certificate, Agnès Mellon also devotes a great deal of time to another of her passions: teaching. She has participated in many master classes, including those organized by the Académie de musique française de Kyoto and the CNSM de Paris.

Ensemble Barcarole

Soprano Agnès Mellon founded Ensemble Barcarole in 1997 to fulfil a desire to create an ensemble group devoted exclusively to the Baroque chamber repertoire for voice and instruments. Motets with organ accompaniment, airs de cour, profane cantatas (which are really miniature operas), the sacred repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries — all are part of this repertoire, whose infinite variety and richness have allowed Ms. Mellon to create highly varied programs requiring anywhere from two to ten instrumentalists. In 2005, Alpha produced the ensemble’s first album, Les déesses outragées, which gives expression to the passions of the great heroines and goddesses of mythology as interpreted by the French composers of the Baroque era. The press warmly acknowledged this recording. In addition to Festival des Musiques d’automne de St-Genest-Lerpt who invites the ensemble just about every year, Barcarole was recently heard in 7 cities in Holland and Belgium. In France, let us mention Barcarole’s concerts at Académie d’Arques-la-Bataille, Festival Jean-Sébastien Bach de St-Donat, Musicales du Lubéron, Salle Poirel in Nancy and Société de musique de chambre of Marseille.

European TV channel MEZZO signed in December 2007 for a three year broadcast of a Barcarole concert at the festival Journées musicales d’automne à Souvigny.

What the media says…

“Mellon, […] brings into play the voluptuousness and pliancy that has made her one of the finest interpreters of French Baroque music. These are, in short, performances of infinite tenderness, profound affection and mature insight.” — BBC Music Magazine, April 2008

“Agnès Mellon […] un sens inouï du prononcé d’un texte et un art qui touche immédiatement l’auditeur.” — Le Monde de la musique, mars 2008

> her website