The Ensemble Les Talens Lyriques takes its name from the subtitle of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera Les Fêtes d’Hébé (1739). They were formed in 1991 by the harpsichordist and conductor Christophe Rousset.
Les Talens Lyriques champion a broad vocal and instrumental repertoire, spanning from early Baroque to the beginnings of Romanticism. Its musicological and editorial mission is a priority for the Ensemble.
The repertory of Les Talens Lyriques includes works by Monteverdi (L’incoronazione di Poppea, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, L’Orfeo), Cavalli (La Didone, La Calisto), Landi (La morte d’Orfeo), Pallavicino (Le amazzoni nell’isole fortunate), Handel (Scipione, Riccardo Primo, Rinaldo, Admeto, Giulio Cesare, Serse, Arianna in Creta, Tamerlano, Ariodante, Semele, Alcina, Agrippina, Saul), Lully (Persée, Roland, Bellérophon, Phaéton, Amadis, Armide, Alceste, Isis), Desmarest (Didon, Vénus et Adonis), Mondonville (Les Fêtes de Paphos), Cimarosa (Il mercato di Malmantile, Il matrimonio segreto), Traetta (Antigona, Ippolito ed Aricia), Jommelli (Armida abbandonata), Martin y Soler (La capricciosa corretta, Il tutore burlato), Mozart (Mitridate, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte), Salieri (La grotta di Trofonio, Les Danaïdes, Les Horaces, Tarare, Armida), Rameau (Zoroastre, Castor et Pollux, Les Indes galantes, Platée, Pygmalion), Gluck (Bauci e Filemone, Alceste, Orphée et Eurydice), Beethoven, Cherubini (Médée), García (Il Califfo di Bagdad), Berlioz, Massenet, Gounod (Faust), Spontini (La vestale) Saint-Saëns, and others.
The ensemble collaborates regularly with stage directors and choreographers such as Pierre Audi, Jean-Marie Villégier, David McVicar, Eric Vigner, Ludovic Lagarde, Mariame Clément, Jean-Pierre Vincent, Macha Makeïeff, Laura Scozzi, Natalie van Parys, Marcial di Fonzo Bo, Claus Guth, Robert Carsen, David Hermann, Christof Loy, Jetske Mijnssen, Alban Richard, David Lescot, Phia Ménard, Calixto Bieito and many more.
In the 2023/24 season, Les Talens Lyriques perform five operas, notably Così fan tutte at the Théâtre du Châtelet, and Atys which will be given on the occasion of the release of the 13th volume of Lully’s complete collection, recorded at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, followed by Armide directed by Lilo Baur at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. In April, Les Talens Lyriques present in Vienna the sixth opera of their Salieri cycle, with the world recreation in an original Italian version, Cublai Gran Kan De’ Tartari. Finally, in honor the Olympic year, Les Talens will offer the rare piece Olimpiade by Domenico Cimarosa, with a discographic production to boot.
In addition, there will be numerous concerts and a plethora of new discographic releases throughout Europe, with in particular a residency in May to June 2024 at the prestigious Mozartfest in Würzburg, Germany.
Their rich discography now includes more than 100 recordings on Erato, Fnac Music, Auvidis, Decca, Naïve, Ambroisie, Virgin Classics, Ediciones Singulares (PBZ), Outhere, Château Versailles Spectacles (CVS), and Aparté. The Ensemble also produced the famous soundtrack to Gérard Corbiau’s film Farinelli (1994), which has sold over a million copies.
In addition, five new releases join their catalog in 2023/24: Thésée (Aparté) and Atys by Lully (CVS), Fausto by Louise Bertin (PBZ), L’Olimpiade by Domenico Cimarosa (CVS), as well as The Art of the Fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach (Aparté).
The Ensemble Les Talens Lyriques receives subsidies from the French Ministry of Culture-Drac Ile-de-France and the City of Paris, and the generous support from their Circle of Patrons.
The Ensemble wishes to thank their principal Patrons, the Annenberg Foundation / GRoW – Gregory and Regina Annenberg Weingarten, Madame Aline Foriel-Destezet and Fondation Société Générale C’est vous l’avenir.
The Ensemble is regularly supported by the Centre National de la Musique for their national and international development and their recordings.
Since 2011 Les Talens Lyriques have been associate artists, in residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation in Paris.
Les Talens Lyriques is a founding member of FEVIS (Federation of Specialised Vocal and Instrumental Ensembles) and of PROFEDIM (Professional Union of Music Producers, Festivals, Ensembles, and Independent Distributors).
