Audio sample :

Il pianto di Maria (extr.) - Händel
(courtesy early-music.com)

Representation: Benelux & France
(co-op Station Bleue)

The French soprano Agnès Mellon entered in 1981 successively at the Chapelle Royale, directed by Philippe Herreweghe, and at Les Arts Florissants, directed by William Christie. Her career as a soloist has led her to sing under the direction of many noted conductors, such as: J.E. Gardiner, J.C. Malgoire, T. Koopman, G. Leonhardt, S. Kuijken and R. Jacobs. Agnès Mellon has performed in the most prestigious halls like Opéra de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Salle Pleyel, Carnegie Hall, Concertgebow and Opera of Amsterdam, and in most europeans festivals.

With all that experience in hand, she has founded BARCAROLE, an ensemble which specializes in the interpretation of baroque chamber music for voice and instruments. The american harpsichordist Kenneth Weiss is her main collaborator for Barcarole. With her ensemble, she performs mainly in Europe. The first Barcarole recording, LES DÉESSES OUTRAGÉES ( 4 french cantatas about heroins like Medea, Ariana, etc), has been released in February 2005 with the label ALPHA PRODUCTIONS (068).

Agnès Mellon is accompanied in her recitals of Lieder and French melodies by various pianists like Christian Ivaldi, Georges Pludermacher, François-René Duchâble, Jean-François Heisser and François Kerdoncuff.

Agnès Mellon’s impressive discography holds near 100 recordings.

One of her last CDs « Maria, Madre di Dio » (early-music.com) received the OPUS Prize for « Best Early Music CD of the year 2003 » (Toronto, Opus Magazine, April 2004)

She was also introduced to teaching a few years ago. Indeed, while teaching voice at the French Music Academy of Kyoto, since 1997, and giving Master Classes in Italy, she has completed a degree in Teaching at the Conservatoire de Paris and was granted a C.A. She teaches at the Conseratoire de Yerres (Île de France).