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Emmanuelle Haïm

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Emmanuelle Haïm is a French harpsichordist and conductor with a special interest in early music and the Baroque. She was born in Paris in 1962 and had her first musical experience when her father bought a grand piano. For thirteen years she studied at the Conservatoire in Paris, where she learned the organ with André Isoir and the harpsichord with Kenneth Gilbert and Christophe Rousset. She won five first prizes. William Christie then invited her to work with Les Arts Florissants.

Music and breakthrough

After a few years she left Les Arts Florissants to become a conductor. In 2000 she founded her own Baroque ensemble, Le Concert d'Astrée, with which she performs regularly. In 2001 she made her debut as a conductor with Glyndebourne Touring Opera in Handel's Rodelinda, which made her name. In 2006 she returned to Glyndebourne for Giulio Cesare, and in 2008 she conducted at the Proms for the first time. Her recordings include Dido and Aeneas (2003), L'Orfeo (2004), Delirio (2005), Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (2007) and Lamenti (2008). In 2023 she conducted Handel's Giulio Cesare in Amsterdam, Purcell's The Indian Queen in Luxembourg and Mozart's Don Giovanni in Lille.

Influence

Haïm conducts Baroque music with great energy and a dramatic feeling for the theatre. She is one of the best-known female conductors of early music.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Dido's Lament from Dido and Aeneas in the recording by Emmanuelle Haïm and notice the descending bass line that keeps returning. Can you hear how the voice slowly rises above it?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists