Jean-Paul Fouchécourt

The French tenor Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, who was born in 1958 in Blanzy in France’s Burgundy region, initially studied saxophone at the Conservatoire de Paris, graduating with the 1^er Prix and winning several international competitions. In 1982, after an encounter with the singer Cathy Berberian, he decided to switch to a vocal career and rapidly advanced to become an internationally sought-after countertenor performing music of the French  Baroque. His collaborations with William Christie (since 1986) and Marc Minkowski (since 1987) have led to the rediscovery and recording of numerous works of Rameau and Lully; in particular he has won great acclaim for his interpretation of the title role in Rameau’s Platée, which he has presented at the Royal Opera House in London, the Opéra National de Paris, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, New York City Opera, and the Salzburg Whitsun Festival. Fouchécourt is also devoted in equal measure to the music of later eras. For example, he has performed in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges with the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle, appeared as Basilio in Mozart’s Figaro at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence, collaborated in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and has sung  Roi Ouf 1^er from Chabrier’s L’Étoile at the Berlin Staatsoper. Such conductors as Charles Dutoit, Niko-laus Harnoncourt, René Jacobs, James Levine, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Seiji Ozawa have been among his musical partners. Along with performances in opera and concert works, Fouchécourt is also deeply devoted to educational work and is Artistic Director of the Opera Studio at the Opéra de Lyon. His discography comprises more than 100 CDs featuring works by composers from André Campra to Benjamin Britten. He was named a Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite in 2000.

LUCERNE FESTIVAL debut on 4 September 1994 in Charpentier’s Les Vêpres aux Jésuites conducted by Michel Corboz.

August 2015