About this Artist
JEAN-PAUL FOUCHÉCOURT is universally acknowledged as one of the main interpreters of the French Baroque repertoire. Although his performances and over 65 recordings of works by Rameau, Lully, and Campra have received huge acclaim, he has also in the last few years developed repertoire from Berlioz to Offenbach, Britten, and Verdi.
His career has taken him to major opera houses and orchestras around the world. He has performed numerous roles with Les Arts Florissants under the baton of artistic director William Christie, Les Musiciens du Louvre conducted by Marc Minkowski, Netherlands Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Antwerp Opera, Paris Opera, the Aix en Provence Festival, Choregies d’Orange, Theatre des Champs Elysees, Edinburgh Festival, Opera de Lyon, Geneva Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Berlin Philharmonic, Opera de Bordeaux, the Saito Kinen Festival, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and BBC Proms. Conductors with whom he has worked include James Levine, Marc Minkowski, William Christie, René Jacobs, Charles Dutoit, Seiji Ozawa, Myung-Whun Chung, Valery Gergiev, James Conlon, and Sir Simon Rattle.
Fouchécourt is well known for his portrayal of the title role of Rameau’s Platée, having performed the part at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Opera de Bordeaux, Geneva Opera, New York City Opera, and with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. In 1996, William Christie invited him to join Les Arts Florissants, and with this orchestra he performed in Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie, Les Indes galantes, Les fêtes d’Hébé, and a highly acclaimed production of Lully’s Atys, which was recorded. He has also performed extensively with Marc Minkowski’s orchestra Les Musiciens du Louvre; highlights include Hippolyte et Aricie, Lully’s Phaeton, Marais’ Alcyone, Mondonville’s Titon et l’Aurore, and Handel’s Resurrection.
Highlights of past engagements include Purcell’s The Fairy Queen at the Aix en Provence Festival; Monteverdi’s Orfeo at the Salzburg Festival; Arnalta in L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Netherlands Opera, conducted by Christophe Rousset; Opernhaus Zurich conducted by Harnoncourt and Opera du Rhin in Strasbourg; Torquemada in L’heure espagnole at the Paris Opera and Saito Kinen Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa; Il Ritorno di Ulisse at the Geneva Opera; Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro at the Aix en Provence Festival and Theatre des Champs Elysees; La Callisto at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels, conducted by René Jacobs; Le Mari in Les mamelles des Tirésias at the Paris Opera, Saito Kinen Festival, and Metropolitan Opera; the Four Servants in Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Geneva Opera, and Choregies d’Orange; L’enfant et les sortilèges with the Paris Opera, BBC Proms, and Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Sir Simon Rattle; Britten’s Les Illuminations with the Orchestre du Capitole Toulouse conducted by Michel Plasson and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Berlioz’ Huit scènes de Faust with Orchestre de Radio France; Orphée aux enfers with Opera de Lyon, Frick in La vie parisienne at the Opera de Lyon; the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas at the Monnaie in Brussels; Remendado in Carmen at Metropolitan Opera; and Blind in Die Fledermaus with the Saito Kinen Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa.
Recent engagements include the title role in Platée at Paris Opera; King Ouf in L’étoile with the Geneva Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, New York City Opera, and at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin; Socrate with Mark Morris Dance Group; a concert of Offenbach with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; and Frantz in a film of Les contes d’Hoffmann for France Televisions. Future projects include Monsieur Triquet in Eugene Onegin at Paris Opera, Berlioz’ Romeo et Juliette with Boston Symphony Orchestra, and his return as King Ouf in L’étoile at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin.