Carnegie Hall

Harpsichordist, conductor, musicologist, and teacher William Christie is the inspiration behind one of the most exciting musical adventures of the last 40 years. A pioneer in the rediscovery of Baroque music, he has introduced the repertoire of 17th- and 18th-century France to audiences around the globe. Born in Buffalo, New York, and educated at Harvard and Yale, Mr. Christie has lived in France since 1971. The turning point in his career came in 1979, when he founded Les Arts Florissants. Major public recognition came in 1987 with the production of Lully’s Atys at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Les Arts Florissants has been ensemble in residence at the Philharmonie de Paris and is recognized as a Heritage Site for Culture.

From Charpentier to Rameau through Couperin and Mondonville, Mr. Christie is the uncontested master of tragédie-lyrique as well as opéra-ballet, and is just as comfortable with the French motet as with music of the court. But his affection for French music does not preclude him from exploring other European repertoire such as Monteverdi, Rossi, Scarlatti, Landi, Purcell, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, or J. S. Bach. Notable among his recent operatic work are Handel’s Jephtha at the Opéra de Paris, Ariodante at the Vienna State Opera, The Beggar’s Opera on European tour, Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Salzburg Festival, Rameau’s Platée at the Theater an der Wien, Mondonville’s Titon et l’Aurore at the Opéra Comique, and Handel’s Partenope on international tour.

As a guest conductor, Mr. Christie often appears alongside the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at opera festivals such as Glyndebourne and at the Metropolitan Opera, Zurich Opera House, and Opéra National de Lyon. His extensive discography includes more than 100 recordings. The most recent—J. S. Bach’s B-Minor Mass; Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea; N’espérez plus, mes yeux; Générations: Senaillé—Leclair; Platée; and Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato—are issued by harmonia mundi.

An ensemble of singers and instrumentalists specializing in the performance of Baroque music on period instruments, Les Arts Florissants is renowned the world over. Founded in 1979 by William Christie, the ensemble—named for a short opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier—has played a pioneering role in the revival of a Baroque repertoire that had long been neglected (including the rediscovery of countless treasures in the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France). Today that repertoire is widely performed and admired: not only French music from the reign of Louis XIV, but also more generally European music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Since 2007, the ensemble is also conducted by the British tenor Paul Agnew, who was appointed musical co-director in 2019.

Each season, Les Arts Florissants performs in concert and opera productions in France at the Philharmonie de Paris, where they are artists in residence, Théâtre de Caen, Opéra Comique, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Château de Versailles, as well as at numerous festivals.

Since the 1987 production of Lully’s Atys at the Opéra Comique in Paris, it has been on the opera stage that Les Arts Florissants has enjoyed its greatest successes, including works by Rameau, Charpentier, Handel, Purcell, Mozart, Monteverdi, and less-frequently performed composers such as Landi, Cesti, Campra, and Hérold. Les Arts Florissants enjoys an equally high profile in the concert hall, as illustrated by its many acclaimed concert or semi-staged performances of operas and oratorios, secular and sacred chamber-music programs, and approach to large-scale choral works. Les Arts Florissants has been ensemble in residence at the Philharmonie de Paris and is recognized as a Heritage Site for Culture.