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The French baritone, Benoît Arnould, studied singing at the Conservatoire in Metz before going to work with Christiane Stutzmann at the Conservatoire in Nancy, where he obtained a in June 2007, and won a gold medal and a first and an advanced first prize in lyrical singing. During this time he also studied the organ at Metz Conservatoire and concluded his official study of Baroque singing in the early music class of Monique Zanetti, after being awarded a highly-commended gold medal in June 2003. He also obtained a Licence de musicology at the Sorbonne University (Paris IV). He won the prize as "Classical lyric revelation of Adami 2007".
Benoît Arnould's career as a soloist began with the Academie de Musique de Porrentruy in Switzerland, conducted by Michael Radulescu, in J.S. Bach's B minor Mass (BWV 232) and Magnificat (BWV 243). He made his operatic debut roles with Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel in Charpentier's Médée and Lully's Proserpine. He later worked with the Concert Spirituel in 2001, conducted by Hervé Niquet, and took part as a member of the chorus in several productions, including Haydn's Nelson Mass, Charpentier's Te Deum, Daphnis et Chloe by Boismortier and Purcell's King Arthur, and later as soloist at the Chaise-Dieu Festival, the Chapelle Royale in Versailles; and the Festival of Sacred Music organised by the city of Paris, where he sang in Les Grands Motets by Desmarest and the Miserere des Jesuites by Charpentier.
Benoît Arnould has performed many oratorios including Christ and Arias in the J.S. Bach's Passions, Petrus in L.v. Beethoven's Christ on the Mount of Olives, W.A. Mozart's Masses and Requiem, L'Enfance du Christ by Berlioz, Messiah and Lucifer in George Frideric Handel's La Resurrezione, Haydn's Seasons, and Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, and Gabriel Fauré's Requiem. He as appeared in concerts and oratorios under the baton of Franck-Emmanuel Comte, Vincent Dumestre, Leonardo García-Alarcón, Martin Gester, Emmanuelle Haïm, Benoît Haller, Philippe Herreweghe, Ton Koopman, Françoise Lasserre, Marc Minkowski, Peter Neumann, Hervé Niquet, Raphaël Pichon, Christophe Rousset, at different festivals as La Chaise Dieu, Festival de St Denis, Sablé sur Sarthe, Ambronay, Beaune, Saintes (France); Rheingau Musik Festival, Musikfest Bremen, Schwetzingen (Germany), Klagenfurt (Austria), Pavo do Varzim (Portugal), Seville (Spain), Fes (Morocco); as well as important venues as Salle Pleyel (Paris), Barbican Center (London), KKL Luzern, Milano and Madrid Auditoriums, Victoria Hall (Geneva), deSingel (Belgium), and the Library of Congress (Washington).
In 2004 Benoît Arnould sang the roles of La Musique and the Marchand d'Orvietan (the quack doctor) in the comedie-ballet L'amour medecin by Moliere / Lully, produced by Vincent Tavernier. He also sang Arcas and La Vengeance in Medée by Charpentier, conducted by Herve Niquet with Le Concert Spirituel at the Arsenal in Metz, the Opera Royal in Versailles, the Auditorium at Lyon and in May 2005 at the Salle Gaveau (Paris) and the Rouen opera company. He sang with them also Ascalaphe in Lully's Proserpine at Cité de la musique. He has taken part in several recordings made by the same ensemble, including Purcell's King Arthur and Boismortier's Daphnis et Chloe. In 2005 he took part in La Bellissima Speranza by Stradella with Le Concert de l'Hostel Dieu. He was also Giulio in the Martirio di Sant'Orsola by Alessandro Scarlatti with Le Concert de l'Hostel Dieu, Brander in the Faust’s Damnation by Berlioz conducted by Jacques Mercier. He created the role of the Lieutenant in the opera Les Sacrifiées by Thierry Pecou, produced by Christian Gangneron and directed by Laurent Cuniot with TM + at La Maison de la musique de Nanterre and on tour in the operas of Rouen, Reims and Massy.
On opera stage, Benoît Arnould has also sung Papageno in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte staged by Pet Halmen / Eric Vigil, Tancrède (title-role) by Campra in Avignon and Versailles opéras; Don Alvar in Rameau’s Indes Galantes staged by Laura Scozzi in Bordeaux opéra, Arcas in Charpentier's Médée with Emmanuelle Haïm and staged by Pierre Audi in Paris Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Lille opéra; Guglielmo in W.A. Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte (semi-staged version) with Marc Minkowski; King Arthur with Ton Koopman; Jupiter in Rameau's Platée conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire and later in Stuttgart Staatsoper staged by Calixto Bieto, etc.
In 2010 Benoît Arnould performed in Paris and on tour in several European venues (Hamburg, Krakau, Cuenca...) J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion (BWV 245) with Marc Minkowski. In 2010-2011 season, he made his debut under the baton of Ton Koopman with J.S. Bach's Cantatas and Purcell’s King Arthur. He also made his debut with Kammerorchester Basel under the baton of Winfried Toll sinhing the bass arias in J.S. Bach’s Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244). Recently, he sang Cindor in Rameau’s Zaïs at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Vienna Theater an der Wien, and also J.S. Bach's Matthäus Passion (BWV 244) on tour with the Nederlandse Bachvereniging.
Among his upcoming projects should be mentioned mention: G.F. Handel's Messiah with Václav Luks & Collegium 1704, J.S. Bach and Zelenka with Le Banquet Céleste conducted by Damien Guillon, Le legrime di San Pietro with Collegium Vocale Gent in Canada and the USA, and J.S. Bach at the new Paris Philharmonie with Raphaël Pichon.
Benoît Arnould has taken part in several recordings including Les Grands Motets by Desmarest (2005), Charpentier's Médée (DVD), Lully's Proserpine and Missa Assumpta Est Maria by Charpentier with Concert Spirituel, Cavalli's Ormindo with the Paladins conducted by Jérôme Correas, Musikalische Exequien and Historia der Auferstehung Jesu Christi by Heinrich Schütz, Dietrich Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri with La Chapelle Rhénane. The disc of Capricornus Theatrum M, conducted by Benoît Haller, received the best reward of the French press (Diapason d'Or, 10 de Classica-Répertoire and Choc du Monde de la Musique). He has taken part in several other recordings, including: Campra Tancrède, Anténor in Rameau's Dardanus with Ensemble Pygmalion (Director: Raphaël Pichon), Florestan in Lully's Amadis with Les Talens Lyriques (Director: Christophe Rousset). DVD of Les Indes Galantes at Bordeaux opéra in planned for release in fall 2015. |
