René Jacobs Edition - Secular & Sacred Music

This 10 CD Limited Edition was released in preparation for René Jacobs’ 65th birthday on 30th October 2011 and features complete recordings for Sony Classical and DHM combined for the first time in a truly unique edition.
René Jacobs came to fame as a countertenor and in recent years has become renowned as a conductor of Baroque and early Classical opera. The Kuijken brothers, Gustav Leonhardt and Alfred Deller all encouraged him to pursue a career as a countertenor, and he quickly became known as one of the best of his time. He recorded a large amount of Baroque music by such composers as Antonio Cesti, d'India, Ferrari, Marenzio, Lambert, Guédron, William Lawes and others. He also sang in much-acclaimed recordings of Bach’s major works such as the St Matthew Passion led by Gustav Leonhardt, which is also included in this set.
More recently, as a conductor, Jacobs has recorded numerous operas and sacred and secular works of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. His recordings have won numerous awards, including a Grammy Award, Gramophone’s "Record of the Year", the “III Premio Traetta”, and numerous European awards.
Jacobs regularly conducts such orchestras and ensembles as Concerto Köln, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Freiburger Barockorchester, Nederlands Kamerkoor and RIAS Kammerchor for recordings and concert tours. In 1992, Jacobs was invited to conduct the Berlin State Opera.


“Highlights from three Handel operas...reveal Jacobs's operatic pedigree. and although La Petite Bande plays well, it's a reminder of how much more instrumental verve Jacobs has brought to his own recordings as an opera conductor. And there has to be Bach: highlights from the Passions and the B minor Mass, showing why Jacobs was the natural heir to Alfred Deller.”