Jean-François Gardeil is a French

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. He is also the founder and

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of the ''Chants de Garonne''.''Chants de Garonne''
website

Biography

Originally from

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

, Gardeil, after studying at the Lycée Fermat and a Master of Arts at Toulouse University, studied singing at the

Lausanne Conservatory The Haute école de musique de Lausanne (HEMU, known as Institute of Advanced Musical Studies prior to 2010, founded in 1861 as Conservatoire de Lausanne) is a Swiss music school located in Romandy, the French-speaking western part of Switzerland ...

, then at the École d'Art Lyrique of the

Opéra de Paris The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

. A prizewinner of the Ravel Academy, the Toulouse International Competition (French Melody Prize) and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation, he was first known as a performer of

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Classical music, Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance music, Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Class ...

and Mozartian repertoire.

Baritone

With William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, he made manyconcert tours around the world, singing in thirty countries. In particular, he played one of the leading roles in '' Atys'' by Lully, at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

, Florence and New York in 1987, 1989 and 1992. He was also Straton in '' Alceste'' by Lully at Versailles and the

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

, production Martinoty- Malgoire, La Hire in '' La fée Urgèle'' by Favart at the Opéra-Comique, with Jean-Marie Villégier and

Christophe Rousset Christophe Rousset (; born 12 April 1961) is a French harpsichordist and conducting, conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on Authentic performance, period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and ...

, Saül in '' David et Jonathas'' by M.A. Charpentier (tour in concert version in France and England) with William Christie, also sang in Karlsruhe and Schwetzingen in ''Tarare'' by Salieri (prod Martinoty-Malgoire), played the title role in '' Les surprises de l'Amour'' by Rameau at Montpellier (Barrat-Christie)… He sang the three roles of ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'' (theater in Rennes), Leporello (

) and Masetto (

Angers-Nantes Opéra The Angers-Nantes Opéra was created in January 2003 through the fusion of the opera companies of Angers and of Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, At ...

) in the same year 1987. In the 1990s, he also sang Guglielmo then Don Alfonso (''

Cosi fan tutte COSI (), officially the Center of Science and Industry, is a science museum and research center in Columbus, Ohio. COSI was opened to the public on 29 March 1964 and remained there for 35 years. In 1999, COSI was moved to a facility, designed ...

'') in various productions. In French

opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular ''opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Théâtre de la foire, Fair Theatres of St Germain and S ...

, he has notably sung the roles of Moralès and Le Dancaïre in ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' (at Limoges and Besançon) Frédéric in '' Lakmé'' (Opéra-Comique, Nancy), Brétigny in ''

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was f ...

'' (Opéra-Comique). Gardeil also sang and recorded with

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...

Michel Corboz Michel Corboz (14 February 1934 – 2 September 2021) was a Swiss conductor. Life Corboz was born in Marsens, Switzerland, and educated in his native canton of Fribourg. He studied vocal performance and composition at the conservatory in Fribourg ...

Emmanuel Krivine Emmanuel Krivine (born 7 May 1947, Grenoble) is a French conductor. Biography The son of a Polish mother and a Russian father, Krivine studied the violin as a youth. He was a winner of the ''Premier Prix'' at the Paris Conservatoire, at age 16. ...

, Armin Jordan, Michel Plasson,

Serge Baudo Serge Baudo (born 16 July 1927) is a French conductor, the son of the oboist Étienne Baudo. He is the nephew of the cellist Paul Tortelier. Baudo was conductor of the Orchestra of Radio Nice from 1959 to 1962. He then served as permanent conduct ...

, Lothar Zagrosek, Alan Curtis, Friedman Layer, and worked with directors such as

Antoine Vitez Antoine Vitez (; 20 December 1930 – 30 April 1990) was a French actor, director, and poet. He became a central character and influence on the French theater in the post-war period, especially in the technique of teaching drama. He was also tr ...

, Pier-Luigi Pizzi, Jean-Marie Villégier, Jean-Louis Martinoty, Nicolas Joel, Pierre Barrat, Goran Järvefelt, Antoine Bourseiller, Christian Gangneron. Jean-François Gardeil is also fond of French melody: Associated with the pianist Billy Eidi, with whom he gives concerts in France and abroad, he has received the Grand Prix of the Académie Charles Cros, and that of the New Disk Academy for their integral of the melodies by Honegger (at

Timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

). A specialist in Poulenc, Ravel and Debussy, he is also a specialist in the music of

les Six "Les Six" () is a name given to a group of six composers, five of them French and one Swiss, who lived and worked in Montparnasse. The name has its origins in two 1920 articles by critic Henri Collet in '' Comœdia'' (see Bibliography). Their mu ...

. He performed the discographic creation of the Darius Milhaud cycle ''Tristesses'' (at Maguelone), and recorded the mélodies by

Ernest Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer. Life Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of a building contractor who made his fortune assisting Ba ...

, Maurice Delage, Guy Sacre, Aubert Lemeland and Henri Sauguet (Timpani).

Teacher

Interested in teaching, he founded in 1991 "Les Chants de Garonne", and in 2000 "Opéra de Gascogne", a light lyrical structure that contributes to the detection of singers and the broadcasting of shows in south-western France. He is also a jury member at the Conservatoire de Genève, of Toulouse and the Ravel Academy in Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

Director

Finally, Jean-François Gardeil is also passionate about

mise en scène Mise or Miše may refer to: * Mise (mythology), a deity addressed in the ''Orphic Hymns'' * Ante Miše (born 1967), Croatian footballer * Jerolim Miše (1890–1970), Croatian painter, teacher, and art critic * MISE, an abbreviation for Mean integ ...

. To his credit, a tour of ''

L'Orfeo ''L'Orfeo'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 318) (), or ''La favola d'Orfeo'' , is a late Renaissance music, Renaissance/early Baroque music, Baroque ''favola in musica'', or List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a li ...

'' by Claudio Monteverdi with Gilles Ragon, Claire Brua and Fernand Bernadi, first stage adaptation of ''La descente d'Orphée aux Enfers'' by

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'' ''H.146, Marche en rondeau''. This theme is st ...

, and ''

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

'' by Henry Purcell. In 2000, he created the opera ''La Voie Écarlate'' by Jacques Castérède and Michel Serres. In 2002 and 2003, two Offenbach works, ''

La Belle Hélène ''La belle Hélène'' (, ''The Beautiful Helen'') is an opéra bouffe in three acts, with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. The piece parodies the story of Helen of Troy's elopement with Paris (mythology ...

'' and ''

La Périchole ''La Périchole'' () is an opéra bouffe in three acts with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. The opera depicts the mutual love of two impoverished Peruvian street singers – too poor to afford a marriage ...

'', with Anna Holroyd. This latter work will be revived in 2004 in Toulouse and Tarbes. In January 2002, he also staged a chamber opera performance in Bordeaux and the Aquitaine Region, which brought together '' Le pauvre matelot'' by Darius Milhaud and Jean Cocteau, '' Le Piège de Méduse'' by Érik Satie, and '' The Telephone'' by Gian Carlo Menotti, in a coproduction

Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation) ...

-OARA- Chants de Garonne. 2004 saw the creation of ''Fleurs, flèches and flammes'', a show - of which he is the author. - after

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th centuries) and early Baroque (1580–1650) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the ...

s by

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string instrument, string player. A composer of both Secular music, secular and Church music, sacred music, and a pioneer ...

, but also a new production of '' Ciboulette'' by Reynaldo Hahn. In 2005 Gardeil staged '' L'Enfant et les Sortilèges'' by Maurice Ravel and Colette in Toulouse (production du CNR) and ''

Le voyage dans la lune ''A Trip to the Moon'' ( , ) is a 1902 French science-fiction adventure trick film written, directed, and produced by Georges Méliès. Inspired by the Jules Verne novel ''From the Earth to the Moon'' (1865) and its sequel '' Around the Moon' ...

'' by Jacques Offenbach at Condom, Toulouse (Cité de l’Espace) and Agen. In 2006, ''Masques'', creation by Marc Bleuse, ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque music, Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncer ...

'' by Henry Purcell with Guillemette Laurens, at Toulouse, Périgueux, Condom and Agen, as well as a new production of ''Trois coups'' by Fabien Prou and '' Monsieur Choufleuri'' by Offenbach in several cities in the southwest. The year 2008 saw the creation of ''Blanche'' at the Agen theatre, adapted by J.F Gardeil from the '' Dialogues des Carmélites'', by Francis Poulenc and Georges Bernanos, revived in summer 2008 in the

Gers Gers (; or , ) is a departments of France, department in the regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southwestern France. Gers is bordered by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques to ...

. Also the staging of '' Véronique'' by André Messager, a scenic adaptation of

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

s by

Giacomo Carissimi (Gian) Giacomo Carissimi (; baptized 18 April 160512 January 1674) was an Italian composer and music teacher. He is one of the most celebrated masters of the early Baroque or, more accurately, the Roman School of music. Carissimi established the ...

and

in the cathédrale Saint-Caprais d'Agen, and most recently ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'' by Mozart.

Discography

Under the direction of William Christie ( Les Arts Florissants)

* Célénus in ''Atys'' by Lully (

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is a record label that specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group, which is itself owned by Universal M ...

) * Saül in ''David et Jonathas'' by M-A. Charpentier (HM) * Dorilas in ''

Le Malade imaginaire ''The Imaginary Invalid'', ''The Hypochondriac'', or ''The Would-Be Invalid'' ( French title ''Le Malade imaginaire'', ) is a three- act ''comédie-ballet'' by the French playwright Molière with dance sequences and musical interludes ( H.495, H ...

'' by Charpentier-Molière (HM) * Comus in '' Les Plaisirs de Versailles'' by Charpentier (

Erato In Greek mythology, Erato (; ) is one of the Greek Muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes playfully sugge ...

) * Apollon and Titye in ''La Descente d'Orphée aux enfers'' by Charpentier (Erato) * ''Te Deum'' and ''Messe "Assumpta est"'' by Charpentier (HM) * Cantates de Campra (''Les Femmes'', ''Eneas and Dido'') (HM) * Cantates de Montéclair ( ''Pyrame et Thisbé'') (HM)

Under the direction of Jean-Claude Malgoire

* Straton in ''Alceste'' by Lully (Astrée) * Momus in ''Platée'' by Rameau (CBS) * ''Carmen Saeculare'' by Philidor (Erato) * ''Messe à quatre chœurs'' by Charpentier (Erato, reissued at Apex)

Others

* At Lira d'Arco, under the direction of Michel Laplénie: ''Messes des Morts'' by Charles Levens * At Ama Deus Musique Production, under the direction of Joël Péral: ''Cantate sur l'Europe'' by Jean-Paul Lécot * At Forlane with organist Jean-Paul Lécot: L'orgue "Renaissance" of Saint-Savin in Lavedan * At Cybélia (reissued at

Arion Arion (; ) was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb. The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant of Corinth. Although notable for his mu ...

), under the direction of Jonathan Darlington: the friend in '' Le pauvre matelot'' by Milhaud

French mélodie

With pianist Billy Eidi

* ''Hommage à Cocteau'' (melodies by Satie, Honegger, Milhaud, Sauguet, Auris, Sacre…) (Adda) (reissued at Accord) * ''Mélodies'' by Ravel and Poulenc (''Histoires naturelles'', ''Mélodies populaires grecques'', '' Don Quichotte à Dulcinée'' by Ravel, '' Banalités'', ''Montparnasse'' and other melodies by Poulenc on poems by

Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the early ...

) (Adda) * ''Mélodies'' by Debussy and Roussel (''Le promenoir des deux amants'', ''les ballades de Villon'', ''Les Fêtes Galantes'' by Verlaine, the sonnets by Mallarmé by Debussy and various melodies by Roussel) (Adda) * Integral of Arthur Honegger's melodies (Timpani label) * Integral of

's melodies (2 CD) (Timpani) * Integral of Maurice Delage's mélodies (Timpani) * ''Mélodies'' by Guy Sacre (Timpani) * ''Mélodies'' by Henri Sauguet (Timpani)

Others

* Chez Maguelone, with pianist Irène Kudela: ''Mélodies'' by Darius Milhaud (''Tristesses'', ''les soirées de Pétrogrades'' and ''Le catalogue de fleurs'') * Chez Intégral, with guitarist Alain Prévost: ''Mélodies'' by Aubert Lemeland

References

External links

"Les Chants de Garonne"

Site des Nuits musicales en Armagnac

Extrait "la Vie Parisienne... ou Presque" par les Chants de Garonne
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardeil, Jean Francois People from Agen French operatic baritones French theatre directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century French male opera singers 20th-century French male opera singers Lausanne Conservatory alumni