Handel - La Resurrezione - Le Banquet Céleste

15 March 2025, 20:30

After an amazing fortnight of performances with the Aurora Orchestra (and a couple of days to rest at home), I travelled to Brittany to perform with Le Banquet Céleste: a French period-instrument orchestra based in Rennes. Before leaving home, I had a brief look at the list of musicians in the schedule and I did not see any names that I recognised. However, when I arrived (via Eurostar, Paris Metro, and TGV) I recognised a few players from other ensembles, and it was a good opportunity to meet many people for the first time. I met Jean Bollinger (2nd trumpet) and Abel Rohrbach (trombone), and we got on very well together. Abel even played a bass sackbutt made by Frank Tomes, who also made my trumpet.

Le Banquet Céleste gave two performances of Handel’s La Resurrezione (HWV 47), without a conductor, in the opera house in Rennes. The performance featured Nardus Williams (Angelo), Céline Scheen (Maddalena), Paul-Antoine Benos-Djian (Cleofe), Thomas Hobbs (San Giovanni) and Thomas Dolie (Lucifero). It was directed by Julien Barré (cello), with Marie Rouquié (violin) as the leader of the orchestra. It was great to revisit this wonderful work by Handel, having performed it twice during the pandemic with The English Concert, firstly for a television broadcast (Sky Arts) in March 2021 and then for a CD recording in April 2021.

Rennes was a beautiful city to spend time in, and it was great to have plenty of free time. The Aurora trip to Germany was certainly incredible, but we packed our bags, checked out of the hotel, and took trains almost every morning; so it was great to stay in the same place for a few days on this trip. The historic centre of Rennes was particularly appealing, with many characterful half-timbered buildings, open squares, quaint back streets, and stylish shops; the vitality of its hustle and bustle was partly thanks to the large student population. I had plenty of time to explore Rennes and its environs on foot, and I enjoyed exercising in the beautiful art deco swimming pool, Piscine Saint-Georges—just around the corner from the opera house. There was also a brilliant CD shop in Rennes called Les Enfants de Bohème; this was the first time that I have ever seen a CD that I have played on for sale in a shop, and there were two in the same view: La Betulia Liberata by Les Talens Lyriques and King Arthur by Vox Luminis. I am sure I would have found more in this fantastic shop if I had spent more time browsing!