Paul McCreesh
"…McCreesh's great and defining gift is a startling ability to marry erudition and imagination to revelatory effect..."
Paul McCreesh, founder and Artistic Director of Gabrieli Consort & Players, has established himself at the highest levels in both the period instrument and modern orchestral fields and is recognised for his authoritative and innovative performances on the concert platform and in the opera house. Together with the Gabrieli Consort & Players, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in the 2006/7 season, he has performed in major concert halls and festivals across the world and built a large and distinguished discography for Deutsche Grammophon.
McCreesh works regularly with the major European orchestras, which in recent and current seasons include the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Zürich Tonhalle, Danish Radio, Camerata Salzburg, MDR Leipzig, UBS Chamber Orchestra at the Verbier Festival and the orchestra of Santa Cecilia di Roma. He has also built strong relationships with several orchestras including the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in Paris, Orquesta Nacional de España, Netherlands Philharmonic and Kammerorchester Basel with whom he tours regularly. In the 08-9 season debuts include Finnish Radio Symphony and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras. McCreesh conducts a wide range of repertoire, including much of the standard orchestral repertoire, and is renowned for his expertise in choral works, especially those from the oratorio tradition.
McCreesh has established a strong reputation in the field of opera, and last season he conducted Handel's Tamerlano at the Teatro Real in Madrid, with a cast that included Plácido Domingo, and in 08-9 he returned there with Handel's Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno. For Welsh National Opera, he has conducted Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice and Handel's Jephtha, to considerable critical praise, and he has also conducted Mozart and Handel at the Royal Danish Opera and Komische Oper, Berlin
McCreesh's recent recordings for Deutsche Grammophon include Mozart's C Minor Mass and Gluck's rarely performed opera Paride ed Elena with Magdalena Kožená, Handel arias with Rolando Villazón and Handel's Saul, described in The Times as "one of the most roundly satisfying Handel oratorio performances for some time". The Road to Paradise, a collection of sacred choral music from the renaissance to the present day was released in June 2007, of which the Sunday Times said "There are riches here, superbly sung by the Gabrielis." His most recent recording, of Haydn's Creation received a 2008 Gramophone Award in the Record of the Year, choral category. Rave reviews described the disc as "thrilling, marvellously sung and characterised" (The Telegraph) and "awe-inspiring... exceptional" (BBC Music Magazine).
Paul McCreesh has been Director of Brinkburn Music (in Northumberland, UK) for many years, and in 2006 was appointed Artistic Director of the Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Wrocław, Poland, one of Eastern Europe's most prestigious and vital cultural events. McCreesh is also passionate about working with young musicians, and works regularly with Chetham's School of Music iin Manchester; and many international youth orchestras and choirs.
Paul McCreesh is represented by Jessica Ford at Intermusica.