Jean-Christophe Spinosi has for many years pursued a highly original musical journey. He endeavours to uncover the profound dramatic meaning of every piece, conducting ardent performances which give new life to the genre and unleash hidden passion. Both with the Ensemble Matheus, which he founded, and as a guest conductor, he regularly performs in Europe, in Asia and in the United States, where he made his debut at the Carnegie Hall in 2008, and at Boston Symphony Hall in 2009.
He tackles repertoire from the past four centuries up to the present day with equal vitality and dedication. This season, he will conduct Ravel Daphnis and Chloe, Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, Handel Xerxes, Shostakovich Chamber Symphony, Dvořák New World Symphony (with the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo), Fauré Requiem, Beethoven Triple Concerto, in which he also plays the violin solo part, and Haydn Seven last words of Christ with the Quatuor Mattheus, in which he plays first violin.
His collaborations with artists such as Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Philippe Jaroussky, Natalie Dessay and Cecilia Bartoli have led to extended musical partnerships. For the past five years, with the Ensemble Matheus, he has conducted one new production each year at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris: Rossini La Pietra del Paragone, Messager Véronique, Monteverdi Vespers of the blessed virgin, Bellini Norma, Rossini Barber of Seville and Haydn Orlando Paladino.
In recent years, operatic engagements include Handel Alcina at the Opéra de Paris, Vivaldi La fida ninfa as part of a European tour, Mozart Magic Flute at the Theater an der Wien with the Wiener Symphoniker, Mozart Cosi fan tutte at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and a new staging of Handel Messiah at the Theater an der Wien. In 2011, Spinosi also conducted Vivaldi Orlando furioso at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, at the Opéra de Nice and at the Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy.
Last season, Spinosi made his much acclaimed débuts with the Wiener Staatsoper, with the Orchestre de Paris at the Salle Pleyel, and with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at Stockholm Concert Hall. Earlier this year, he also made his debuts at the Berlin Philharmonie with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester (conducting Beethoven), with the Spanish National Orchestra, and with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, touring Scotland. Later this season, he will make his debut with the Hannover NDR Radiophilharmonie.
His success as a guest conductor leads to many repeat engagements, and he works regularly with orchestras such as the Radio Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo. Spinosi is very involved in taking the classical repertoire to new audiences, and will be performing with the Ensemble Mattheus at the Festival des Vieilles Charrues, the largest rock festival in France, in July 2012.
Spinosi has a large discography with the Ensemble Mattheus, including a number of previously unrecorded operas by Vivaldi (La verità in cimento, Orlando furioso, Griselda and La fida ninfa), and Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater and Nisi Dominus with Philippe Jaroussky and Marie-Nicole Lemieux with Naïve records. He also recorded the double gold disc Heroes for EMI–Virgin Classics.
Jean-Christophe Spinosi is represented by Intermusica.
2011/12 season / 527 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.
Opera arias / Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
“Mozart’s overture to Così fan Tutte [was] sculpted lavishly by Spinosi and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on particularly pert form.”
“Mozart’s Haffner Symphony (No. 35) ranged expansively from proud grandeur in the first movement to a deeply affectionate intimacy in the second.”
Sarah Unwin Jones, The Times, May 2011
Conducting Ensemble Matheus in Vivaldi's Orlando Furioso
Barbican, London
"The Ensemble Matheus and the other singers were excellent, and there was a characteristically mellifluous turn from Philippe Jaroussky."
Hugo Shirley, The Daily Telegraph, March 2011
“One notable feature was the periodic endorsement by conductor and orchestra of the events among the singing characters. Jean-Christophe Spinosi was the conduit between the two. He would often turn towards the singer with a beaming smile to acknowledge a particularly felicitous effect achieved. This was a truly ensemble performance. The players showed such joy in their work.”
Richard Nicholson, Classical Source, March 2011
“What really made this performance come alive were the fizzing recitatives, accompanied by alert continuo playing of the highest standard … At one point, Spinosi took up the violin himself to provide a demented version of La Follia to accompany Orlando’s madness.”
Mark Pullinger, Opera Britannia, March 2011
Orlando Furioso
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris
“The energetic conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi has long championed Vivaldi operas. He and his crack period-instrument band Ensemble Matheus … do themselves and the music proud.”
George Loomis, New York Times
“Nul ne dépare dans cette distribution idéale menée avec une énergie indéfectible par Jean-Christophe Spinosi qui, à la tête de son Ensemble Matheus, tient le rythme effréné des violons de Vivaldi tout au long des trois bonne heures de musique étourdissante.”
(“The musical team gave a firework display of virtuosity...None detracted from this ideal line-up, led with unshakeable energy by Jean-Christophe Spinosi. At the head of his own Ensemble Mattheus, Spinosi upheld the frenetic rhythm of Vivaldi's violins throughout three hours of stunning music.”)
Noel Tinazzi, www.ruedutheatre.eu, March 2011
Barber of Seville
Châtelet, Théâtre Musical de Paris
“Today [Spinosi] is an essential figure of the Châtelet. His conducting is fitting to his image: lively, fast and energetic.”
“Il est aujourd’hui devenu une figure incontournable du Châtelet. Sa direction est d’ailleurs à son image: enlevée, rapide et énergique.”
Edouard Brane, OperaAria.rf
Vivaldi, Handel
Ensemble Matheus / the Holy Trinity, Lyon
"C'est de cette Chapelle de la Trinité de Lyon que l'Ensemble Mattheus dirigé par Jean-Christophe Spinosi interprètent Haendel et Vivaldi.
Jean-Christophe Spinosi nous fait partager sa passion pour ces deux compositeurs et sa vision éclairée des oeuvres." (Translation: "It's in this Chapel of the Holy Trinity in Lyon that the Mettheus Ensemble, conducted by Jean-Christophe Spinosi, interpret Handel and Vivaldi for us. Jean-Christophe Spinosi shares with us his passion for thse two composers as well as his enlightened vision of these works.")
TV14, January 2011
Vivaldi, Haydn, Rossini
Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt / Sonia Prina
“Corsican conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi is certainly one of the most lively, spirited and impulsive of the early music specialists, and so his reinvitation to the hr Sinfonieorchester after his unforgettable début there was a given. His second concert at the Funkhaus was once again a high point of the musical calendar; this was obvious from the sparkle with which Spinosi began the four Vivaldi pieces at the beginning of this … entertaining and exciting concert."
Harald Budweg, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, December 2010
“Under Jean-Christophe Spinosi’s effervescent conducting, the hr Sinfonie Orchester played with flexibility and joy. (...) The performance of Haydn’s Symphony was lively and witty.”
Von Ulrich Boller, Frankfurter Neue Presse, December 2010
Haydn, Mozart
Orchestra de Paris / Salle Pleyel
“The piece, commissioned by Archbishop Colloredo, was still performed with vocal opulence (a chorus of over one hundred singers, prepared by Michael Gläser) and a very baroque brilliance. The interpretation was certainly dramatic and dynamic, even theatrical and fierce, but this ‘brief mass’ blossomed under this operatic approach.
Simon Corley, The Classical Music Network, November 2010
Barber of Seville / Wiener Staatsoper / dir. Günther Rennert, Richard Bletschacher
“Dance-like and energetic, yet shaped with care”
Marion Eigl, Wiener Zeitung, November 2010
Vivaldi, Handel, Telemann & Porpora
Ensemble Matheus / Philippe Jaroussky & Marie-Nicole Lemieux
BBC Proms
“Its guiding spirit was the mercurial Baroque violin virtuoso Jean-Christophe Spinosi, leaping round like a demented cricket. His period-instrument Ensemble Matheus is forged in his image: incredibly nimble, fond of wild speeds, elaborate ornamentation and melodramatic dynamic extremes — and addicted to having fun… this band’s brilliantly characterised performance of Telemann’s Concerto for Recorder, Flute and Strings, with its astonishing gypsy finale (cue stamping and shouting from all the players), had me joyously revising my lifelong aversions.”
Richard Morrison, The Times, September 2010
“…the charismatic Corsican conductor-violinist Jean-Christophe Spinosi and his wonderful Ensemble Matheus... With an exceptional ability to communicate the joy he takes in making music, Spinosi seems to dance and whirl in front of his players, rather than simply conduct them... A classy, sexy entertainment and pure pleasure from start to finish.”
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, September 2010
“…Jean-Christophe Spinosi and his period-instrument Ensemble Matheus made their Proms debut, royally redeemed the evening… the joy of this concert lay as much in how Spinosi and his band of string players interacted with the singers, and with their brilliant flute and recorder soloists; surrounded by the delicate tracery of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins.”
Michael Church, The Independent, September 2010
Rossini Il Barbiere di Siviglia Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León / Centro Cultural Miguel Delibes de Valladolid
“As musical director, Jean-Christophe Spinosi was, in effect, the major protagonist of the opera. His reading was full of joy and sparkle. Spinosi showed himself a most original conductor, full of life and energy and the orchestra gave an outstanding performance. Not only did they provide a very good performance musically, but played a full role in the playfulness of the occasion and surely enjoyed themselves just as much as the audience.”
José M Irurzun, Seen and Heard, May 2010
Bellini Norma / Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris / Dir. Peter Mussbach
“In the orchestra pit, the spirited Vivaldi champion Jean-Christophe Spinosi conducted his own Ensemble Matheus (on period instruments) in a “historical” performance of the piece, both delicately sculpted and varied, with the acknowledged instrumental colours that would have been heard when the piece was first performed… This production restored the balance between drama and music: there was not a single ornament or reprise of an aria that did not add to the intensity and resolution of the plot. In uncovering Bellini’s theatrical flair and the original orchestral colouring, this new production of Norma at the Châtelet has made its mark.”
Alexandre Pham, Classic News.com, January 2010
Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt / Haydn, Telemann, Vivaldi & Mozart
"Spinosi adds a little cabaret spice to early music. Visually, delaying his downbeat in order to move the music stands out of the way; acoustically, stringing out the false endings in the growling finale to Haydn’s 82nd Symphony (‘The Bear’) so deceptively that noone dared to clap at the actual end. He also proved his versatility, playing the violin part in Telemann’s concerto. Luis Beduschi (recorder) and Clara Andrada de la Calle (flute) sounded beautifully harmonious.
But Spinosi can also hold back when appropriate. In the four arias from Antonio Vivaldi’s “Orlando Furioso”, Serbian alto Marijana Mijanovic was firmly in the spotlight. She began her journey through the emotions with almost masculine depth, singing of furious clouds, gruesome gods and a world bereft of light with fantastically assured coloratura.
The performance of Mozart’s works was also fantastic. The emancipated woodwinds in the Overture to “Cosi fan tutte” were refined in every detail, and the Haffner Symphony in D major KV 385 was vigorous and never dry, despite the historical performance practice. Both the audience and the hr Symphony Orchestra were thoroughly carried away. We shouldn’t have to wait long for Spinosi to be invited back."
Offenbach Post, September 2009
Ensemble Matheus & Philipe Jaroussky / ‘Farinelli’ programme
"[Jaroussky] is "Singer of the Year" and he fulfilled his role as superstar of the high falsetto in an impressive way with coloratura and tender lyric singing carried along and supported by the brilliant Ensemble Matheus under the direction of Jean-Christophe Spinosi."
Ruhr Nachrichten, June 2009
Vivaldi la fida ninfa / Naïve
"One aria of scorching invention follows another, often bedecked with nimbly illustrative orchestral finery. An aria addressed to gentle breezes? The orchestra whispers, just above the level audibility. An aria hinged on the metaphor of a serpent? Bring on fast-curling, encircling strings. In the hands of Jean-Christophe Spinosi’s bubbly Ensemble Matheus, every effect hits home, uncrippled by arch mannerisms of rhythm or tone…In the hands of Spinosi’s crack team, La fida ninfa is a spectacular baroque rediscovery, and resistance is pointless."
The Times, June 2009
“This excellent [recording of La Fida Ninfa] is the first to include all the music, to retain all the vocal roles at their intended pitches and to realise, often irresistibly, the pastoral charm of Vivaldi’s music. There are several outstandingly effective numbers of which, the most precious jewel is the vitally motivated wheel of fortune trio which concludes Act I. Altogether a splendid achievement by Jean-Christophe Spinosi and his musicians.”
BBC Music Magazine, Music Choice, 5 stars, March 2009
“The most constant joy of the disc is to be found in Jean-Christophe Spinosi’s conducting, always emotionally powerful, and ever full of surprising details and wonderfully infectious energy.”
Classic FM Magazine, March 2009
Mozart Cosi fan tutte
"...the performance of ‘Cosi fan tutte’ was nothing less than a dream... a splendid band, the Ensemble Matheus, received one ovation after another. Spinosi wedded the rhythms of the 18th century with the blossoming sounds of the 19th century and the sovereignty of contemporary lovers – an absolute dream."
Suddeutsche Abendzeitung, November 2008
“Spinosi and his fabulous period orchestra, unforgettably named Matheus, gave the music all that it required. Sometimes eccentric, other times cheeky, then sentimental and austere once again – Spinosi stubbornly avoided the established pomp and circumstance of the Mozart which the older members of the audience may have preferred to hear, with leaps and bounds à la Bernstein.”
Munich Abendzeitung, November 2008
Vivaldi Nisi Dominus / Philippe Jaroussky / Naïve
"Jean-Christophe Spinosi directs Ensemble Matheus with brio and style."
Financial Times, April 2008
“…Jaroussky’s expressive delicacy is beguiling and he is everywhere accompanied with acute sensibility by Ensemble Matheus.”
BBC Music Magazine, April 2008
“The period-instrument Ensemble Matheus here numbers 20 string players… The playing is both eloquent and sprightly, and Jean-Christophe Spinosi directs the performances with fine feeling for Vivaldi’s colour and textures…”
International Record Review, March 2008
Jean-Christophe Spinosi / Jennifer Larmore / Ensemble Matheus
"George Frideric Handel doesn't usually come across as particularly sexy. Stately, sure. Dignified, without a doubt. But in a fast-paced, edge-of-the-seat concert...mezzo Jennifer Larmore and the Ensemble Matheus brushed the dust off Handel and showed that there's more furious, passionate life in baroque music than you might suspect."
The Washington Post, February 2008
"...the Ensemble Matheus was no mere backup orchestra. Its members may be renowned for their intensive scholarship, but there was nothing prissy or academic about their playing, which was aggressive, vibrant and focused to an absolutely electrifying pitch."
The New York Sun, February 2008
Vivaldi 'Heroes' / Virgin Classics
"... exquisite playing from the Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi."
The Guardian, January 2007
Vivaldi Griselda / Naïve
"The Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi develop palpable tension in this swirling baroque opera."
The Times, September 2006
"The Ensemble Matheus plays with supercharged energy, but also with precision, vibrant colours and elegant articulation."
The Times, September 2006
"This performance is sublime. Jean-Christophe Spinosi leads a dramatically taut reading, with his period-instrument Ensemble Matheus underpinning the vocal theatrics with snap and a huge range of dynamics all its own. ... a feast for the ears."
Classics Today, November 2006
"Young French violinist and conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi sets his Ensemble Matheus on this exuberant music, stimulating a sumptuous delivery."
La Croix, September 2006
Vivaldi L'Orlando Furioso / Naïve
"Spinosi and his excellent team of musicians have revised history's judgement of Orlando Furioso by their compelling presentation."
Opera Award Winner, BBC Music Awards 2006
"Spinosi sets a cracking pace and his fine Ensemble Matheus play with fierce commitment. Stylish and scintillating, this is high Baroque as thrilling as it comes."
Classical CD of the Week, The Observer, January 2005
"Jean-Christophe Spinosi heads his Ensemble Matheus into the battle. Contrasts, nuances, vitality, theatricality - what music!"
Les Echos, December 2004
Vivaldi La Verita in cimento / Naïve
"The Ensemble Matheus's playing is exceptional."
BBC Music Magazine, September 2003
"One has to highlight the key role Jean-Christophe Spinosi and his Ensemble Matheus play in this recording. Few conductors have understood how the orchestra in its ensemble and the instrumentists that make it up are the major players of the drama. Hence the exceptional depth of what can no longer be called mere accompaniment."
Opéra International, July 2003
"Jean-Christophe Spinosi and the Ensemble Matheus deliver the goods in stunning style, thrusting the music forward with an assertive elegance that sometimes takes the breath away."
The Times, July 2003
"The music is superbly interpreted with ardour and passion. This Verita in cimento sure deserved to be freed from its silence."
Le Monde de la Musique, June 2003
"The fantastic phrasing and the extremely refined technique of the Ensemble Matheus under Christophe Spinosi make for a splendid production."
Musica, May 2003
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