NICOLAS ACHTEN
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Nicolas Achten

baritone
lute | harp | harpsichord
Nicolas Achten
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Nicolas Achten

baritone
lute, harpsichord, historical harp
Baritone, harpsichordist, lute player, harpist and conductor, Nicolas Achten (Brussels, 1985) made a very young place for himself in the world of early music: winner of the VIIth International Chimay Baroque Song Competition in 2006, he was elected Classical Artist of the Year 2009 at the Octaves de la Musique and "Young Musician of the Year Prize 2009" awarded by the Belgian Music Press Union.

Nicolas Achten studied singing, lute, harpsichord and ancient harp at the Royal Conservatories of Brussels and The Hague; he completed his training in various masterclasses, notably at the Baroque Academy of Ambronay and at the Centre de la Voix de Royaumont.

Since 2004 he has been invited by prestigious early music ensembles, including Arpeggiata, Fenice, La Petite Bande, Ausonia, Les Agrémens, Akadêmia, Les Talens Lyriques, Il Fondamento, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Il Seminario Musicale, le Poème Harmonique, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and under the direction of conductors such as Jean Tubéry, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marc Minkowski, Christophe Rousset and René Jacobs.

Today he is one of the few classical singers to accompany himself, returning to historical practice. Eager to deepen this approach and to put his research into practice, he founded the ensemble Scherzi Musicali, whose concerts throughout Europe and 10 recordings aroused the unanimous enthusiasm of the public and the international press (Diapason d'or découverte, Choc (Classica), Crescendo Joker, La Clé (ResMusica), Prelude Classics Award 2009, Golden Muse, Classic Ring Info, "Outstanding" in the International Record Review, Pix Cæcilia...).

In the margins, Nicolas also explores atypical encounters, in duet with folk accordionist Dider Laloy, or in trio with jazz saxophonist Manu Hermia or pop/rock singer Kris Dane.

Nicolas Achten teaches singing, lute and applied early music theory at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He was musical director of the summer courses of Muziektheater Transparant from 2007 to 2015, and is regularly invited for masterclasses throughout Europe (Operastudio Vlaanderen, SIMAW in Namur, University of East Anglia, the Yorke Trust in Norfolk, Conservatorio Milano, ...).

Video playlist

Discography

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​Cavalieri : La Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo
L’Arpeggiata, dir. Christina Pluhar
Alpha, 2003
baritone (Piacere)

Monteverdi : Teatro d’Amore
l’Arpeggiata, dir. Christina Pluhar
Virgin, 2005
baritone

Torri : Le Martyre des Macchabées
Les Agrémens, dir. Jean Tubéry
Musique en Wallonie, 2008
theorbo, guitar

Caccini : L’Euridice
Scherzi Musicali, dir. N. Achten
Ricercar, 2008
baritone (Orfeo), theorbo

Bach : Matthaüs Passion 
La Petite Bande, dir. S. Kuijken
 Challenge, 2010
baritone (Judas, Pontifex)
​
Sances : Dulcis Amor Iesu
Scherzi Musicali, dir. N. Achten
Ricercar, 2010
baritone, theorbo, harp, harpsichord

Fiocco : Motets
Scherzi Musicali, dir. N. Achten
Musique en Wallonie, 2011
baritone, archlute, harpsichord

Mazzocchi : La Catena d’Adone
Scherzi Musicali, dir. N. Achten
Alpha, 2012
baritone, archlute, harp, harpsichord

Bach : Johannes Passion
La Petite Bande, dir. S. Kuijken
Challenge, 2012
baroque lute

Purcell : How pleasant ’tis to Love!
Scherzi Musicali, dir. N. Achten
Alpha, 2013
baritone, harpe, gut-strung virginals

Il pianto d’Orfeo — Monteverdi, Caccini, Peri, Rossi, Sartorio… 
Scherzi Musicali, dir. N. Achten
DHM, 2014
baritone, theorbo, harp, harpsichord

Cavalieri : La Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo
AKAMUS, dir. René Jacobs
Harmonia Mundi, 2015
chitarrone, ceterone

Natale in Italia
La Fenice, dir Jean Tubéry
Ars Produktion, 2015
harp, archlute, baritone 


Les musiciens au temps de Rubens
La Fenice , dir Jean Tubéry
Ars Produktion, 2015
guitar, theorbo, harp


La Maddalena — Bertali, Mazzocchi, Monteverdi...
Scherzi Musicali, dir. N. Achten
Ricercar, 2016
baritone, harp, theorbo 


Petits Motets, vol II, Joseph-Hector Fiocco
Scherzi Musicali, dir. N. Achten
Musique en Wallonie, 2016
baritone, harp, theorbo


Natura Amorosa
La Fenice, dir Jean Tubéry
2016
baritone, tiorbino, guitar, harp, chitarrone


Sances : Dialoghi Amorosi
Scherzi Musicali, dir. N. Achten
Ricercar, 2017
baritone, harp, chitarrone, harpsichord

Instruments

HARP
Triple harp (Arpa Barberini, Roma, ca. 1605-1620) Dario Pontiggia, Milano, 2016
Double harp (Arpa Estense, Modena 1584) Dario Pontiggia, Milano, 2019

LUTES
Chitarrone (Mattheus Buechenberg, Roma, 1610) Hendrick Hasenfuss, Köln, 1988
Chitarrone (Mattheus Buechenberg, Roma, 1608) Klaus T. Jacobsen, London, 2015
Theorbo (Matteo Sellas, Venezia, ca. 1630) Klaus T. Jacobsen, London, 2002
Tiorbino (Italian model) Didier Jarny, Tours, 2012 
Archlute (Magno Tieffenbrucker, Roma, ca. 1600) Hendrick Hasenfuss, Eitorf, 2008

7ch discant lute (d') ( Anonymous
6ch lute (a) Anna Radice
7ch lute (g) Guiseppe Tumiati, Cremona
10ch tenor Lute (f) Hendrick Hasenfuss
9ch Bass lute (d) Pascal Desjardins
10ch Contrabass-lute (G/chitarrone) Dirk De Hertog, Westrode-Wolvertem, 2018

11ch baroque lute Stephen Murphy
13ch baroque lute (Wieger) Hendrick Hasenfuss, Eitorf

Baroque guitar (Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, ca. 1639) Dirk De Hertog, Westrode-Wolvertem, 2012

KEYBOARDS
Harpsichord (Anonymous maker, Paris, 1667) Alan Gotto, Norwich, 2006
Harpsichord (Giambattista Boni, Cortona, 1619) Alan Gotto, Norwich, 2008
Spinet virginals (Giovanni Baffo, Venezia, 1594) Alan Gotto, Norwich, 2012
Harpsichord (Mattia de Gan, Roma, ca. 1700) Alan Gotto, Norwich, 2018
​
Organo di legno, Etienne Fouss, Périgeux, 2015-2017 (Principale 8', Gedackt 8', Open flute 4').

Teaching

Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles :

Singing Departement
  • Singing (professor) - speciality early music
Next admission audition : 02/09/20

Early Music Department
  • Lute & plucked instruments: all lute-type instruments - early harp
  • Tuning & temperaments
  • Music theory - solfège (Early Musique)
Next admission audition  : 07/09/20

More info?
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  • Nicolas Achten
    • FR
    • EN
    • NL
  • Agenda
  • Pictures
  • Contact