Les Épopées, Les Pages etz les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles & Stéphane Fuget
Biography Les Épopées, Les Pages etz les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles & Stéphane Fuget
Les Épopées
Created in 2018 by Stéphane Fuget, the lyric company Les Épopées (The Epics) find its place very quickly in the historically informed musical landscape.
The French and international press regularly praises the concerts and recordings of Les Épopées, highlighting its innovative interpretative gesture and the emotional force of its interpretations.
Les Épopées takes its name from the ancient poetic sagas that still inspire our imaginations today. Led by conductor Stéphane Fuget, the ensemble weaves a rich and emotive musical journey that goes far beyond the notes on the page.
Indeed, the score is merely a frame to work from, a kind of optical illusion. Its interpretation is brought to life through more than the notes themselves: the melodic line of baroque singing, although adorned with profuse ornamentation, is fundamentally declamatory.
In terms of ornamentation, the music should be a reflection of the baroque world. At this time, architecture, sculpture, painting, fashion, food culture - every element of life - was filled with ornament. Music was no exception, but for practical notation reasons, most of these ornaments were left out of the written scores. It is the artist's task, using the sources as a guide, to restore this extraordinary profusion. Thus embellished, the music sparkles through interpretation, just as the sun enhances the shimmering of the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles.
In terms of declamation, the voice rings out the text by enriching the musical line with a multitude of micro-intervals, infinite inflections. No longer note pitches, but declamatory intonation. Rhetoric is given free reign, and the text, suddenly comprehensible, takes centre stage. More accessible and freely conveyed by the emotion of song, it pierces straight to the heart of the listener.
The resulting sound is at once intensely modern, unexpected, arresting and charged with an irresistible emotion.
Recognising the artistic potential in combining renowned international performers with emerging artists, the ensemble welcomes and nourishes the most brilliant young musicians in the field of ancient music.
Since July 2020 Les Épopées are in residency at the Château de Versailles, for both religious music (the complete cycle of Lully's Grands Motets before 2024) and opera (the entirety of Monteverdi's opera). A video recording of the first volume of the great motets was made for Arte.
Les Épopées are also in residency in Arques-la-Bataille performing airs de cour, and at the International Opera Festival of Beaune for Monteverdi's operatic trilogy. A video recording of the Orfeo given in July 2022 was made by France.TV.
At the same time, Les Épopées are regularly invited in France and abroad : Austria (Konzerthaus in Vienna, Theater an der Wien), Belgium (Bozar in Brussels), Germany (Berlin Philharmonie, Rheinvokal Festival, Potsdam...), Latvia (Great Amber Hall in Liepaja), Poland (Gorczycki Festiwal), Norway (Barokkfest in Trondheim), Mexico (Mexico City, San Luis Potosi), Singapore (L'Esplanade), Japan (Sakura Hall in Tokyo, Kyoto, Sendai, Hiroshima. ..), Philharmonie de Paris, Invalides Cathedral, Metz Arsenal, etc...
The Épopées are strongly anchored in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, their region of origin. Since August 2021, the company has created its summer academy there, under the direction of Claire Lefilliâtre, and its festival: Au coeur de l'Yonne.
Les Epopées regularly receive support, for various projects, from : DRAC Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Région Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Département de l’Yonne, Adami, Spedidam, Sacem, Centre National de la Musique and lnstitut français. With the support of Caisse des Dépôts, main patron of Les Épopées. Les Épopées receive support from Fondation Orange and Société Charot.
Stéphane Fuget
is a harpsichordist, pianist and conductor.
He studied piano with Catherine Collard and Jean-Claude Pennetier, harpsichord with Christophe Rousset and Pierre Hantaï.
He was awarded a first prize for harpsichord and continuo at the Paris CNSM. He is a graduate of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and laureate of the 2001 International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges.
Stéphane Fuget spent his early professional years devoted to his career as a vocal coach in the world's greatest opera houses. Alongside conductors such as Christophe Rousset, Jean-Christophe Spinosi and Marc Minkovski, he worked on the greatest international stages: Staatsoper and Theater an der Wien (Vienna), DNO (Amsterdam), Liceu (Barcelona), La Monnaie (Brussels), Leipzig Opera, Royal Theatre of Drottningholm (Sweden), Lotte Concert Hall (Seoul), Palais Garnier, Opéra Bastille, Châtelet, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Paris), Capitole (Toulouse), Strasbourg Opera, Bordeaux, Rennes, Lille, Nancy, Montpellier, etc. Over the years this led to close ties with some of the world's most prestigious artists: Anne-Sophie von Otter, Jennifer Larmore, Véronique Gens, Sandrine Piau, Gaële Arquez, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Kurt Streit, Julian Prégardien, Jeremy Ovenden, Nathan Berg, Max Emanuel Cencic, Philippe Jaroussky…
Sophie Von Otter requested his presence as a specialist of French Baroque music for a production of Charpentier's Médée at Frankfurt Opera.
At the same time, he developed his career as a guest conductor. In this capacity he directed Emmanuelle Haïm's Le Concert d'Astrée at Lille Opera, The Magic Flute with Opelescences ensemble, Rameau's Les Paladins with the Joy Ballet Orchestra in Tokyo, Couperin's Leçons de Ténèbres with Versailles Opera Royal orchestra...
Inspired by his desire to work with young artists, he developed and transformed the vocal coaching and baroque opera classes at the CRR conservatoire in Paris, the only classes of their kind in France. In this way he was able to hone and develop his vision of baroque declamation and ornamentation in several productions: The Coronation of Poppea and Ulysses by Monteverdi, Semele and Rodelinda by Handel, La Calisto by Cavalli, Titus by Cesti, Psyché by Lully, Orfeo by Rossi, Le Jugement de Midas by Gretry, Euridice by Peri and the European revival of Ariane et Bacchus by Marais....
After many years researching repertoire and treatises, Stéphane Fuget, ever inquisitive and convinced that a new era of historical interpretation was dawning, decided to create his own ensemble, Les Epopées. He and his company offer a decidedly new vision of baroque interpretation.
