The Ensemble

Its repertoire embraces both celebrated masterpieces and hidden gems that accompanied daily life and ceremonies in France, often at Versailles (with Lully, Couperin, Charpentier and others), in Baroque Italy from Monteverdi to Pergolesi, and in Purcell's England. These inventive and demanding programmes re-contect the secular and the sacred, weaving together classical music and popular sources, but also combining music with theatre, dance and circus. In opera, the ensemble is recognised as a world leader for its interpretations of works by Lully, Cavalli and Monteverdi, and its long-term artistic partnership with director Benjamin Lazar has yeilded performances that have been unanimously acclaimed by critics and audiences alike.

 

Le Poème Harmonique continues to surprise audiences by revealing forgotten treasures (in autumn 2024, L'Homme-Femme, an irresistible comedy by Galuppi, directed by Agnès Jaoui - Dijon Opera House, Théâtre de Caen and Opéra Royal de Versailles ), offering a unique approach to great masterpieces (Il Nerone and L'Incoronazione di Poppea, first with the Académie de l'Opéra National de Paris, then with the Teatro Mayor de Bogota), or incorporating processions and striking spatial effects into its concerts.

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With around sixty performances each year, Le Poème Harmonique is a familiar sight at the world's greatest festivals and venues – Opéra-Comique, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Philharmonie de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Ambronay, Beaune and Sablé Festivals, Teatro Real (Madrid), Wigmore Hall (London), NCPA (Beijing), Philharmonie de Berlin, Wiener Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw de Bruges, BOZAR (Brussels), Oji Hall (Tokyo), Columbia University (New York), Teatro San Carlo (Naples), Accademia Santa Cecilia (Rome), Philharmonie de Saint-Pétersbourg, and the BBC Proms…  all while remaining deeply committed to Normandy, its home region - the birthplace of many of its creations and the setting for its educational and social outreach work, as well as for the career developement of emerging professional musicians.

 

The Poème Harmonique discography now includes some fifty recordings that have been regularly praised by critics and enjoyed great public success. In 2023, the ensemble released Cavalli's L'Egisto – a world premiere – on Château de Versailles Spectacles, which was awarded a Choc de Classica and the prestigious Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, followed in autumn 2024 by Monteverdi's Testamento - Vespro della Madonna, which was awarded the TTTT Télérama and Diapason d'Or of the year 2025. His recording of Hail! Bright Cecilia, Purcell's famous ode for choir and orchestra, was released in autumn 2025 by CVS, while L'Uomo Femina will be released on the same label in the second half of 2026.