Du bist schön und lieblich Capucine Keller, Maxime Melnik, Clematis

Capucine Keller
first completed her studies in musicology and religious history before receiving her BA in classical singing with distinction and the Award for Excellence from the Haute École de Musique in Lausanne in 2010. She completed a master's degree in interpretation with Brigitte Balley in 2012, and subsequently performed numerous operatic roles: Valetto (L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Monteverdi), Ninfa and Eurydice (Orfeo, Monteverdi), Eurydice (Orphée d'Enfers, Offenbach), Philidel and Venus (King Arthur, Purcell), La Folie and Clarisse (Platée, Rameau), as well as the leading roles in two contemporary works: Alice et les Sortilèges by Robert Clerc and Blaise n'Ubaldini's Psychoses 4.48.

In early music, she works with, among others, Capella Mediterranea, Camerata Geneva, Ensemble Clement Janequin, Correspondances, les Traversées Baroque, and especially with Chiome d'Oro, where she is a founding member. Her first solo album, Theatre du Monde, with Chiomo d'Oro, was released in 2014.

Maxime Melnik
is a young Belgian tenor born in 1994. He has already performed as a soloist at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Festival de Beaune and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in works by Handel, Mozart, Verdi, Thomas, Donizetti and Meyerbeer. Those collaborations gave him the opportunity to sing under conductors such as Alain Altinoglu, Nathalie Stutzmann, Speranza Scappucci and Sir Mark Elder. Member of the MM Laureates at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, he was also a finalist in 2018 edition of Voix Nouvelles competition.

Being also interested in early music, he is a laureate of Fondation Royaumont where he deepened his knowledge. He also recorded Renaissance works by Lassus and Arcadelt, roles of Philistine and Messenger in Samson (Handel) with Leonardo García Alarcón (Ricercar). Recently, he premiered the role of Apollon in Io, an unfinished opéra-ballet by Rameau, with Opera Lafayette in Washington DC and New-York, and sang Tenor II (solo and choir) in Bach St Matthew Passion with Ricercar Consort.

Next season, he’ll sing Le Petit Vieillard and La Rainette in a concert version of L’Enfant et les sortilèges with Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Dr.Blind in Die Fledermaus with Opéra Royal de Wallonie and Le Dancaïre in Carmen with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.

Clematis
The violinist Stéphanie de Failly founded Clematis in 2001 with the intention of concentrating on the lesser-known repertoire of the 17th century. Clematis is very much concerned with Italian instrumental music of the 17th century, and in particular with the development of the violin repertoire; this can be seen in their recordings of works by Carlo Farina, Giovanni Battista and Tomaso Antonio Vitali.

Stéphanie de Failly has also recorded Vitali’s famous Ciaconna for Ricercar; her interpretation was based on the original manuscript and revealed the extreme originality of its original baroque setting. A recording devoted to the works of Giovanni Legrenzi was released in 2016 and a CD of instrumental music of the court in Mantua in 2017, this last as part of the Monteverdi year. Another of Clematis’ concerns is German sacred and instrumental music from the beginning of the 17th century to the first works of J.S. Bach.

Such programmes of vocal music clearly require superb soloists such as Mariana Flores, Julie Roset, Paulin Bündgen, Zachary Wilder. The number of musicians involved with Clematis varies in number, as they are chosen in relation to the needs of the works being performed at any given moment; its musicians are all actively engaged with leading baroque ensembles throughout Europe. Clematis appears not only in Belgium but also performs frequently abroad: it has so far appeared in the Netherlands, France, Israel, Italy, Spain, Poland, Bolivia, Mexico and Russia.Clematis is directed by Stéphanie de Failly and by harpsichordist Brice Sailly.

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