BiographyDominique Visse began his singing career at the age of 11 as a chorister in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. At the same time he began studying the organ and flute at the Versailles Conservatory.Already passionate about Renaissance and Mediaeval music, in 1976 he met the grand pioneer of the countertenor voice, Alfred Deller, and became his pupil. He also worked with Nigel Rogers, René Jacobs and William Christie. In 1978 Dominique Visse founded the Ensemble Clément Janequin with whom he has made a series of benchmark recordings of French polyphonic chansons of the 16th Century. The following year he became one of the founding members of Les Arts Florissants and edited much of the ensemble's repertoire in its early years. Since that time Dominique Visse has become one of the most popular lyric artists in the world of Baroque opera, working with René Jacobs, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Philippe Herreweghe, Ton Koopman, William Christie, Alan Curtis, Nicholas McGegan, Christophe Rousset, Ivor Bolton Robert King, Harry Bicket and Emmanuelle Haïm in the opera houses of Paris, Berlin, Cologne, Amsterdam, Lausanne, Tel-Aviv, Montpellier, Houston, Barcelona, Munich, Versailles, at the Monnaie in Brussels, at the Châtelet and the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, on tour in Japan and North America, and at the Festivals of Glyndebourne, Aix en Provence, Innsbruck and Edinburgh. Dominique Visse does not limit himself to Baroque and early repertoire. He has sung in Offenbach's Les Brigands, directed by Jérôme Deschamps and has recorded the role of La Marquise in Poulenc's Gendarme incompris for Decca. He sang the role of Oreste in Offenbach's La Belle Hélène staged by Herbert Wernicke at the Festival of Aix en Provence and revived in Salzburg. He also frequently performs contemporary music and has participated in Luciano Berio’s opera Outis at La Scala in Milan and at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Perela, l’Homme de Fumée by Pascal Dusapin at the Opéra de Paris, La Frontière by Philippe Manoury at the Bouffes du Nord in Paris, and Kagel’s Mare Nostrum with Jean-Claude Malgoire. His forthcoming opera productions include Handel’s Agrippina at the Staatsoper in Berlin in February 2010 with René Jacobs, Kagel’s Mare Nostrum in a production at the Péniche Opéra with Ensemble 2E2M in March 2010, Conti’s Don Chischotte in Amsterdam and Brussels with René Jacobs in June 2010, the role of Nireno in Handel’s Giulio Cesare directed by Emmanuelle Haïm at the Paris Opera in February 2011, followed by that of Ptolémée with Jean-Claude Malgoire in May 2011, a new work by Philippe Manoury in Strasbourg in October 2011, a revival of Jean-Claude Malgoire’s celebrated Vivaldi Montezuma in December 2011, Cavalli’s La Calisto at the Royal Opera House in London in September 2012 staged by David Alden, and a revival of L’Anfiparnaso / Gianni Schicchi with Jean-Claude Malgloire in November 2012. During the 2011- 2012 season Dominique Visse will take part in a a new Franco-Japanese work bringing together opera and Bunraku [Japanese puppet theatre] with the Japanese composer Kazuko Narita and the French staged director Michel Rostain. As well as his work in opera, Dominique Visse continues to perform and record with his Ensemble Clément Janequin that celebrated its 30th birthday in 2008 and whose extensive harmonia mundi discography has won numerous prizes. He also sing recitals with lute, or piano & accordion, of music ranging from Machaut to Berio via Dowland, Schubert, Offenbach, Massenet, Satie, Poulenc and Takemitsu. He has made more than fifty recordings, principally for harmonia mundi, most recently the Ensemble Clément Janequin’s ‘L’Écrit du Cri’ with music from the Renaissance to the present day. Dominique Visse has recently recorded ‘Parole e querele d’amore’ with Agnès Mellon and her ensemble Barcarole to be released by Zig-Zag. In 2011 he will be recording a Dowland recital for Satirino records. January 2010 |