Upcoming events
In 2024, Thomas Hengelbrock and the Balthasar Neumann Choir and Ensemble will continue to take over the Château de Fontainebleau. Their residency unfolds each season around masterclasses, interactions with visitors through rehearsals that are open to the public and concerts in the grand spaces of the chateau.
The residence in 2024
Program:
Handel: Dixit Dominus
Bach: Mass in G minor BWV 235
Music director: Thomas Hengelbrock
Performers: Balthasar Neumann Choir, Balthasar Neumann Orchestra
The Balthasar Neumann Choir and Orchestra present one of the most exuberant and jubilant masterpieces of Baroque sacred music, the Dixit Dominus. Composed in Rome by the young Handel, this work offers a flamboyant combination of German counterpoint and Italian expressivity. At the head of his two superb ensembles, Thomas Hengelbrock performs it with J. S. Bach’s Missa Brevis in G.
Friday May 3, 7.30pm
Saturday, May 4, 7.30pm
Sunday May 5 at 3 pm
Running time: 1h10
Salle de Bal
Program:
At the heart of three European countries, Roland de Lassus is the keystone of a program of madrigals, chansons and airs de cour.
France: Roland de Lassus (1532 – 1594), Antoine de Boësset (1587 – 1643)
Germany: Roland de Lassus (1532 – 1594), Johann H. Schein (1586 – 1630)
Italy: Roland de Lassus (1532 – 1594), Claudio Monteverdi (1567 – 1643)
Artists:
Soloists Balthasar Neumann: Agnes Kovacs & Bobbie Blommsteijn, Soprano / Christian Rohrbach, Alto / Jakob Pilgram, Tenor / Matthias Helm, Baritone
Continuous bass of the Balthasar Neumann Orchestra
Roland de Lassus, immensely famous in his day, links French, German and Italian styles in this program. A major Franco-Flemish figure of the Renaissance, de Lassus wrote madrigals and songs in all three languages. His works are presented alongside those of Antoine de Boësset (France), Johann Hermann Schein (Germany) and Claudio Monteverdi (Italy), in order to fully highlight these three different styles. The program is divided into three parts, each beginning with an improvisation on a well-known melody – in the appropriate style. A truly European journey !
Friday, September 27 at 7.30pm
Saturday, September 28 at 7.30pm
Sunday, September 29, 3pm
Duration 1h10
Ballroom
Program:
Monteverdi (1567-1643) : Magnificat a sei voci
Other excerpts from Monteverdi’s Vespers: Ave Maris stella, Gloria
Mendelssohn (1809-1847): “Mein Herz erhebet Gott, den Herrn” op. 69 No.3 Other romantic a capella works by Mendelssohn and Rheinberger
Performers:
Balthasar Neumann Choir and Soloists
Members of the Balthasar Neumann Academy and Orchestra
Conductor: Thomas Hengelbrock
Description:
Thomas Hengelbrock, who reunites his renowned Balthasar Neumann Choir with soloists from the orchestra and members of the Balthasar Neumann Academy for the Christmas season, offers a singular program of sacred works dedicated to the Virgin Mary spanning three centuries. From Monteverdi’s “Magnificat a sei voci” or famous “Vespers to the Virgin”, to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s “German Magnificat” and Rheinberger’s works for a capella choir, the beauty of this music will transport you !
Friday, December 13 at 7.30pm
Saturday, December 14, 7:30pm
Sunday, December 15, 3pm
Duration 1h30
Chapelle de la Trinité and Salle de Bal
Online booking coming soon
Thomas Hengelbrock, an internationally renowned conductor
Thomas Hengelbrock is the founder and director of the Balthasar Neumann Orchestra and Choir and one of the most renowned conductors of our time. Since 2005, he has repeatedly worked with orchestras in France – such as the National Orchestra of France and the Orchestre de Paris, and performs regularly at the Paris Opera (this 2021-2022 season, he conducted Iphigénie en Tauride by C.W. Gluck, Alcina by G.F. Händel and Faust by C. Gounod) as well as at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (where he will conduct Orphée et Eurydice by C.W. Gluck in 2022-2023). He is also the guest of some of the most prestigious groups and major international stages. (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra)
The Balthasar Neumann ensembles — prestigious singers and musicians
In 1991, Thomas Hengelbrock founded the Balthasar Neumann Choir to execute his artistic ideas with musicians who shared his vision. Four years later, he added an orchestra, the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, to the choir.
The ensembles perform regularly in some of the most prestigious theatres in France such as the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Palais Garnier as well as major European concert halls and at renowned festivals – at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, the Teatro Real de Madrid, the Konzerthaus in Dortmund, the Essen Philharmonie and at the Salzburg Festival.
Music at the Château de Fontainebleau
A centre of artistic production since the Renaissance
The Château de Fontainebleau has always resounded with music. To the traditional music that filled the daily lives of the sovereigns, many creations were added.
During the reign of Louis XV, The Village Soothsayer by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Anacréon by Rameau, l’Amour et Psyché by Mondonville and Zémire et Azor by Grétry were performed in the Belle Cheminée wing.
In the 19th century, more works were presented to the Court, royal or imperial. In 1853-1854, Hector Lefuel’s construction of a new auditorium – the magnificent theatre of Napoleon III – provided a large-scale setting for musical festivities. Since 1921, with the initiative of Charles-Marie Widor, the Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts have promoted the Bellifontaine musical tradition by organising masterclasses and concerts each summer. These have been conducted by Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Nadia Boulanger, Arthur Rubinstein, Robert Casadesus, Léonard Bernstein, Philip Glass…
The Salle de Bal
The splendid Salle de Bal is one of the most remarkable rooms in the Château de Fontainebleau.
Decorated in the 16th century during the reign of Henry II, it offered the palace a permanent and impressive function room dedicated to the festivities of the Valois court. The rich coffered ceiling is covered with lunar emblems and the king’s motto. As for the mythological frescoes, they were painted by Nicolo dell’Abbate under the direction of Primaticcio. Its gilded bronze chandeliers and sconces were completed in 1837 during the reign of Louis-Philippe.
Musical residency of Thomas Hengelbrock and the Balthasar Neumann ensembles
The Four Seasons
The Château de Fontainebleau intends for the arts to regain the place that they have occupied throughout its history, during the stays of the court. It will reconnect with its centuries-long tradition as a centre of artistic creation in a new and contemporary way. Giving free rein to the arts and placing them in dialogue with the rich history of Fontainebleau through a varied artistic programme, such is the project being carried out by the residency. The castle wished to entrust this for three years to the German conductor Thomas Hengelbrock and the Balthasar Neumann Choir and Ensemble.
An educational and social project
This residency of internationally renowned artists has an important educational component: its masterclasses. This project brings together young talent from all over Europe to share their skills and passion. The residency is part of a dynamic of artistic and cultural education aimed at a wide variety of audiences. It is embodied particularly through the partnerships that have been established with the association Orchestre à l’École and with the Conservatoire de Fontainebleau.
Since the launch of the residency in October 2020, students from the Music Conservatory and both the orchestra of the Lycée François Ier de Fontainebleau and the Orchestre à l’École association have been attending rehearsals of the ensemble. They also interact with Maestro Hengelbrock and his ensembles to learn about musical practise, classical repertoire and instruments.
They benefit from the experience of internationally renowned musicians, and they participate in joint concerts, which are the results of several months of work and meetings. Thomas Hengelbrock and his ensembles also give concerts in centres for people with disabilities, hospitals and social care facilities, such as the Nelly Kopp retirement home last September or the Villa Alzheimer’s Centre Baucis in December.
Sponsored by the Conny Maeva Foundation, with the support of Carigest
Sous le patronage de l’UNESCO.
