Pygmalion is a choir and orchestra, playing on period instruments, which was founded in 2006 by Raphaël Pichon. It explores the links from Bach to Mendelssohn, Schütz to Brahms and Rameau to Gluck and Berlioz.
As well as reinterpreting major repertoire, including the Bach Passions, Rameau’s tragédies lyriques, Mozart’s ‘Great’ Mass in C minor, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine, Pygmalion strives to build original programmes that highlight links between different works. Its programmes include Mozart: The Weber Sisters, Miranda with music by Purcell, Stravaganza d’Amore! The Birth of Opera at the Medici Court, Enfers with Stéphane Degout, Bach en sept paroles at the Philharmonie de Paris and Libertà!.
On stage, Pygmalion collaborates with directors such as Romeo Castellucci, Katie Mitchell, Aurélien Bory, Simon McBurney, Jetske Mijnssen, Pierre Audi, Valérie Lesort, Christian Hecq and Michel Fau. In residence at the Opéra National de Bordeaux and as part of the Pulsations Festival, Pygmalion has, over the last few years, developed a season of chamber music and free workshops that are open to all.
Pygmalion regularly performs on the most prestigious French stages, including the Philharmonie de Paris, the Opéra de Versailles, the Opéra Comique, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and in Beaune, Toulouse, Saint-Denis, Royaumont, Nancy and Montpellier, as well as being resident at the Singer-Polignac Foundation. Internationally, the ensemble appears in Cologne, Frankfurt, Essen, Vienna, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Brussels and elsewhere.
Pygmalion has been recording for harmonia mundi since 2014, with a discography that has been distinguished in France and abroad with awards such as the Choc de Classica, the Gramophone Classical Music Award and the German Record Critics’ Prize.
Pygmalion is supported by the regional director of cultural affairs in Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the City of Bordeaux.
