Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem Sabine Devieilhe, Stéphane Degout, Pygmalion & Raphaël Pichon

• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45:
• 1 Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: I. Chorus. Selig sind, die da Leid tragen 10:52
• 2 Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: II. Chorus. Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras 13:33
• 3 Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: III. Solo Baritone and Chorus. Herr, lehre doch mich, daß ein Ende mit mir haben muss 08:48
• 4 Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: IV. Chorus. Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen, Herr Zebaoth 04:57
• 5 Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: V. Soprano and Chorus. Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit 06:47
• 6 Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: VI. Baritone and Chorus. Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt 10:19
• 7 Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: VII. Chorus. Selig sind die Toten, die in dem Herrn sterben 09:57
• Total Runtime 01:05:13

Info for Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem

When music becomes a guide to life: Johannes Brahms's A German Requiem is a monument to humanity. Instead of threats and the Last Judgement, it focuses on consolation, tenderness, and hope. In their new recording, Raphaël Pichon and his Ensemble Pygmalion demonstrate why this work seems more relevant today than ever before – at a time when many people are searching for direction.

"This music is like a balm. There is this infinite tenderness. It is full of beauty and depths," says conductor Pichon. Brahms's gaze toward the South also shapes his interpretation: "Brahms was enthusiastic about Italian music and studied Italian Baroque music. Flexible tempi, frequent rubato – these also play a major role in the Requiem and give it its humanity."

The solo parts are performed by Sabine Devieilhe (soprano) and Stéphane Degout (baritone), flanked by the choir and orchestra of the Ensemble Pygmalion. The recording was made in December 2024 at the Philharmonie de Paris on period instruments. When the ensemble recently performed Brahms' Requiem in Vienna under the direction of Raphaël Pichon, the newspaper Die Standard described it as "a feast for the heart and ears."

With this release, Pichon continues his string of exceptional and highly acclaimed recordings. Most recently, his recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor was on the German Record Critics' Award's Best 03/25 list ("Even a repertoire piece can teach us wonder.").

Sabine Devieilhe, soprano
Stéphane Degout, baritone
Ensemble Pygmalion Choir and Orchestra
Raphaël Pichon, conductor

Sabine Devieilhe
The soprano Sabine Devieilhe comes from Normandy, and studied the cello and musicology before beginning her singing training at the Paris Conservatoire. Her repertory stretches from early music to contemporary works. Shortly after graduating, she was invited to appear at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as Serpetta (La finta giardiniera) and in Lyon as the Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte). Since then, she has sung at numerous leading opera houses, among them the Paris Opéra, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Opéra Comique, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Zurich Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, La Scala, Milan, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the Bavarian State Opera.

Highlights of 2024/25 included Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) at La Scala, Milan, Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande) at the Paris Opéra and Sophie and Zdenka (Arabella) at the Vienna State Opera. She has also performed with I Giardini at Kissinger Sommer and at the Festival Pulsations in Bordeaux, and appeared at numerous major music venues throughout Europe performing her new song-recital programme with Mathieu Pordoy.

Her recent triumphs have included Morgana (Alcina), Ophélie (Hamlet), the title role of Délibes’ Lakmé, Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Ilia (Idomeneo), Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias and, in 2023, Sœur Constance (Dialogues des Carmélites) in her debut at the Metropolitan Opera.

In the 2025/26 season, her engagements will include Dalinda in Handel’s Ariodante and Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) at the Paris Opéra, the title role of the French version of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at the Opéra Comique and a European tour with Jakub Józef Orliński and the ensemble il Pomo d’Oro in Handel’s Giulio Cesare. She made her Glyndebourne Festival debut in 2016 and in 2018 made her debut at the Salzburg Festival, where she returned in 2023 as Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro).

On the concert platform she has performed with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, under renowned conductors such as Maxim Emelyanychev, Pablo Heras-Casado, Vladimir Jurowski, Klaus Mäkelä, Simon Rattle and Lorenzo Viotti. In the 2025/26 season, she will give recitals in Utrecht, at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, and in Compiègne, Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg.

Since 2012, Sabine Devieilhe has been an exclusive artist with Erato / Warner Classics. Her discography includes the albums Mozart & The Weber Sisters and Bach — Handel with Pygmalion under Raphaël Pichon, Mirages with Les Siècles, Chanson d’amour with Alexandre Tharaud and, in 2024, Mozart & Strauss: Lieder with Mathieu Pordoy. A recording of Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol, in which she sings the title role with Les Siècles under François-Xavier Roth, was released in February 2025.

Stéphane Degout
The French baritone Stéphane Degout studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon and was a member of the opera studio of the Opéra National de Lyon. Following his debut at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) he soon celebrated successes at the world’s leading opera houses, and made a name for himself as a concert singer in Baroque, Classical and Romantic repertory. In addition, thanks to his varied interpretations of French mélodies and German Lieder (a repertory that he has worked on with Ruben Lifschitz) he performs to international acclaim as a recitalist.

The opera houses and festivals at which Stéphane Degout has performed include the Paris Opéra, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Berlin State Opera, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Theater an der Wien, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Milan, the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Bavarian State Opera, and the Salzburg, Glyndebourne and Ravinia Festivals. His roles include Thésée (Hippolyte et Aricie), Hercule in Lully’s Alceste, Oreste (Iphigénie en Tauride), Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Valentin (Faust), Raimbaud (Le Comte Ory), Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Albert (Werther), Rodrigue (Don Carlos), Chorèbe (Les Troyens), Ford (Falstaff) and the title roles of Hamlet, Eugene Onegin, L’Orfeo, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and Wozzeck. He has also appeared in numerous world premieres, including Benoît Mernier’s La Dispute, Philippe Boesmans’s Au Monde and Pinocchio and George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence.

His engagements of the 2024/25 season include Wozzeck in Lyon and Michael in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s new opera Festen at Covent Garden. He will also appear in numerous recitals and concerts, including performances with Ensemble Pygmalion and the Munich Philharmonic.

In 2012 Stéphane Degout was awarded the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. At the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2012 and 2019 he was named Opera Singer of the Year.

Alongside several DVD recordings, his discography includes CD recordings for the label B Records (the Poulenc / Ravel album Histoires Naturelles and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde) and for Harmonia Mundi (including Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Berlioz’s Le Nuits d’été and the albums Enfers, Mein Traum, Harmonie du soir and Epic).

Stéphane Degout is Master in Residence of the vocal section of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo.

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