In the snake pit: Les Accents and Thibault Noally

Biographies

Les Accents & Thibault Noally

Les Accents, the ensemble founded by Thibault Noally in 2014, presented the world premiere of Nicola Porpora’s sacred oratorio Il Trionfo della Divina Giustizia, explored the realm of Italian opera seria, and staged a new reconstruction of Vivaldi’s Tamerlano. Specialising in early music, the group is dedicated to the vocal repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as to the violin literature of Venice, Germany, and France. Its repertoire stretches from works by Albinoni, Caldera, and Torelli, through Biber, Buxtehude, and the Bach family to Leclair and Mondonville.

Carlo Vistoli

Countertenor Carlo Vistoli studied in Ferrara and Bologna, making his stage debut in 2012 as the Sorceress in Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. In 2015, he was selected for William Christie’s training project Le Jardin de Voix, with which he has since collaborated frequently. He participated in John Eliot Gardiner’s project marking the 450th anniversary of Claudio Monteverdi’s birth, which toured internationally. In 2022, Carlo Vistoli made his debut at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino opera festival as Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina alongside Cecilia Bartoli. More recently, he has appeared at the Salzburg Festival, in Rome in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice directed by Robert Carsen, and in Paris, London, and Milan.

Bruno de Sá

Bruno de Sá studied in São Carlos and São Paulo. During this time, the Brazilian countertenor made his operatic debut as Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito at the Teatro São Pedro. In 2016, he won first prize at the 14th Maria Callas Competition in São Paulo. He made his German debut that year in Handel’s Messiah and Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle. In the 2019/20 season, Bruno de Sá joined the opera studio at Theater Basel. He also appeared as Isacio in Johann Adolf Hasse’s Irene with Aapo Häkkinen and the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra at the Theater an der Wien, and made his debut at the Drottningholm Festival as Nerone (Agrippina).

David Hansen 

David Hansen studied with Andrew Dalton at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The Australian countertenor made his European debut in 2004 in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and his US debut singing the title role in Handel’s Fernando at the Spoleto Festival. Hansen’s repertoire spans from Monteverdi to Adès. He has performed in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at the Staatsoper Berlin, as Athamas in Handel’s Semele at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, and as Prince Gogo in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre at Zurich Opera. He has collaborated with renowned conductors including Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Emmanuelle Haïm, Andrea Marcon, and Sir Simon Rattle.

Christophe Dumaux

Christophe Dumaux studied voice at the Conservatoire de Paris. At the age of 22, he made his debut under René Jacobs at the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier as Eustazio in a production of Handel’s Rinaldo. This production was later revived at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music and the Staatsoper Berlin, and released on CD. Today, the French countertenor is a frequent guest on the world’s major opera stages, performing leading roles  at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Opéra de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Vienna State Opera, Theater an der Wien, Chicago Opera, and at festivals such as Glyndebourne and the BBC Proms.

Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian

Countertenor Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian studied in Montpellier and Versailles before continuing at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris. He is a laureate of the HSBC Révélation competition at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and later received the Gabriel Dussurget Prize at the same festival, as well as the Prix-Grand-Avignon at the first Concours Jeunes Espoirs at the Opéra d’Avignon. He has performed numerous Handel roles — including Ottone (Agrippina), Unulfo (Rodelinda), Alessandro (Tolomeo, Rè d’Egitto), Rinaldo, and Giulio Cesare — as well as other roles on some of the most prestigious stages. He has worked with ensembles such as Marc Minkowski’s Les Musiciens du Louvre, Christophe Rousset’s Les Talens Lyriques, and Emmanuelle Haïm’s Le Concert d’Astrée.

Mélissa Petit

Mélissa Petit studied in her hometown of Saint-Raphaël and in Nice before joining the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera in 2010. From 2015 to 2017, she was a member of the ensemble at Zurich Opera, where she performed roles such as Marzelline (Fidelio), Ännchen (Der Freischütz), and Créuse in Charpentier’s Médée. Her recent successes include acclaimed debuts at Theater an der Wien (in the title role of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen) and at the Staatsoper Berlin (as Ilia in Idomeneo), as well as her return to the Salzburg Festival (as Servilia in La clemenza di Tito) and a European tour with Cecilia Bartoli.