Raphaël Pichon

Raphaël Pichon (born in 1984 in Paris) is a French countertenor, choral and orchestral conductor.

Biography[]

Raphaël Pichon was a member of the Maîtrise des Petits chanteurs de Versailles^[1] during his childhood. He then studied violin and piano at the  [fr] before joining the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studied singing and conducting. First of all a countertenor, he sang under the direction of Ton Koopman, Jordi Savall, Gustav Leonhardt, Laurence Equilbey, Paul Agnew, Jean Tubéry, Vincent Dumestre, Bruno Boterf, Michel Laplénie and Sébastien d'Hérin. He also collabored with  [fr] and Gabriel Garrido.^[2]

In 2006, during his studies at the Paris Conservatory, Raphaël Pichon created the "ensemble Pygmalion",^[3] dedicated to the repertoire on period instruments. Very quickly, their recordings received a very favourable reception from the critics: Missæ Breves, BWV 234 and 235 by Johann Sebastian Bach, in 2008, was awarded a golden Diapason, and an Editor's Choice of the British magazine Gramophone.^[4] In September 2012, their third album, Missa, a recording of the first version of the Mass in B minor by Johann Sebastian Bach was rewarded by the magazine Télérama. In 2015, appeared a remarkable version of Castor et Pollux by Jean-Philippe Rameau.

The Pygmalion ensemble is now associated with the Opéra de Bordeaux, where it performed Dardanus by Rameau, in a staged production by Michel Fau.

Raphaël Pichon has also directed the chamber choir "OTrente",^[5] turned towards the romantic and contemporary repertoire.

References[]

External links[]

• Portrait of Raphaël Pichon on Télérama
• Raphaël Pichon : sacré chef d’orchestre ! on Télérama
• Raphaël Pichon on Rayfieldallied.com
• Raphaël Pichon : La musique classique n'a rien de raisonnable on Télérama