Programme
Johan Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Cantatas BWV 12, 127 & 99
BWV 12 – Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen
Sinfonia
Choeur
Récitatif Alto
Aria Alto
Aria Basse
Aria Ténor
Choral. Choeur
BWV 127 – Herr Jesu Christ, Wahr’ Mensch und Gott
Choeur
Récitatif Ténor
Aria Soprano
Récitatif et Aria Basse
Choral. Choeur
BWV 99 – Was Gott tut, das ist Wohlgetan
Choeur
Récitatif Basse
Aria Ténor
Récitatif Alto
Aria Duetto Soprano & Alto
Chorale. Choeur
Performers
Soloists
Hannah Ely, Soprano
Paul-Antoine Bénos, Alto
Thomas Hobbs,Tenor
Romain Bockler, Bass
Musicians
Kati Debretzeni (1st Violin), Ugo Gianotti, Noyuri Hazama, Violins
Fanny Paccoud, Alto
Emilia Gliozzi, Cello
Christian Staude, Double Bass
Julien Martin, Marine Sablonnière, Recorders
Annie Laflamme, Traverso
Emmanuel Laporte, Oboe
Loris Barrucand, Organ
Director
Olivier Spilmont
Programme Notes
"From the shock at Christ's announcement to his disciples of his impending death (Cantata BWV12, Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen), to the visceral, carnal, physical fear of human beings faced with their own annihilation (BWV 127, Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott), to the doubt that plagues man, and finally to the luminous and totally liberating abandonment that comes from total trust in a higher intelligence and its goodness with Cantata BWV 99 (Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan), a cantata radiant with joy. Bach invites us to follow our own twists and turns of suffering, doubt, then enlightenment and trust. He comes to talk to us about ourselves."
Biographies
Alia Mens
The baroque ensemble Alia Mens, directed by Olivier Spilmont, brings together singers and instrumentalists performing on historical instruments.
Their debut recording La Cité Céleste (2017), dedicated to three of J.S. Bach’s Weimar cantatas (BWV 12, 18, 161), was met with critical acclaim from Gramophone, France Musique, RTBF, WDR, and the BBC, which broadcast one of the ensemble’s concerts in its “Best European Concerts of the Year” series. Their second album, Anti-Melancholicus (2023), featuring cantatas BWV 131, 13, and 106, received similar praise from Diapason, Le Monde, Forum Opera, the BBC, and France Musique. Critics and audiences alike have highlighted the ensemble’s ability to shed new light on Bach’s works, offering an interpretation that is both fresh and deeply engaging.
For Alia Mens, performing this music today is not only a matter of scholarship. Beyond individual beliefs, the ensemble seeks to recover the extraordinary persuasive power of Bach’s music—an energy that elevates both listener and performer into the revelatory force of the present moment.
The ensemble performs widely on French and international stages, including Bozar (Brussels), Salle Bourgie (Montreal), the Opéra de Lille, Teatro di Vicenza, and at major festivals such as Ambronay, Regensburg’s Tage Alter Musik, and the Valletta International Baroque Festival.
Since 2024, Alia Mens has been in residence at Château-Thierry. Upcoming seasons include collaborations with Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing and the Valletta Baroque Festival on Bach’s complete cantatas (2025/26), followed by large-scale works such as the Mass in B Minor and the Easter Oratorio (2026/27).
Supported by DRAC Hauts-de-France, the Region Hauts-de-France, and private patrons, Alia Mens is a member of FEVIS and PROFEDIM.
Olivier Spilmont, Conductor
Olivier Spilmont began his musical journey as a chorister with the Maîtrise Boréale, where he took part in opera productions under Jean-Claude Malgoire, both in the chorus and as a soloist. These early experiences awakened his passion for the baroque repertoire, leading him, at 17, to found a choir dedicated to medieval, Renaissance, and baroque music.
Initially trained as a pianist with André Dumortier, he soon turned to the harpsichord, studying with Élisabeth Joyé and later working closely with Pierre Hantaï. Since 2003, he has performed regularly as a soloist alongside Hantaï, Maude Gratton, and Le Concert Français. His training as both harpsichordist and conductor (under Robert Delcroix) inspired him to create the ensemble Alia Mens.
Alongside his work as a soloist in venues such as Bozar (Brussels) and Teatro di Vicenza (Italy), Spilmont leads masterclasses at conservatoires in Valenciennes, Lille and beyond, and develops educational projects to introduce younger audiences to baroque music.
Since 2012, he has devoted much of his work with Alia Mens to J.S. Bach, particularly the Weimar cantatas. This research earned him an associate artist residency at the Festival Musique et Mémoire in 2016. With Alia Mens, he released La Cité Céleste (2017), acclaimed for its artistic maturity by Gramophone, France Musique and Classiquenews. The second recording, Anti-Melancholicus (2023), dedicated to cantatas BWV 131, 13 and 106, was equally praised by Diapason, Le Monde, Forum Opera, France Musique and BBC Radio 3.
Critics have highlighted his ability to illuminate Bach’s music “from within,” combining clarity, fervor, and a profound sense of spiritual depth.
Hannah Ely, Soprano
Based in Brussels, British soprano Hannah Ely specialises in Renaissance and Baroque repertoire and has performed widely as a soloist across Europe and the UK. She collaborates regularly with leading ensembles including Collegium Vocale Gent, Il Gardellino, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Vox Luminis, Ensemble Masques, Ensemble Schirokko Hamburg, Yorkshire Bach Soloists, Alia Mens Ensemble, Monteverdi String Band and Camerata Øresund, under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe, Lionel Meunier, Peter Seymour, Olivier Spilmont, Oliver Webber and others.
She is in demand with ensembles such as the Huelgas Ensemble, Gli Angeli Genève, InVocare, Siglo de Oro, Musica Secreta, The Monteverdi Choir and The Tallis Scholars. Alongside her performing career, Hannah is co-Artistic Director of the Brighton Early Music Festival, internationally recognised for its imaginative programming, and Music Director of the Purbeck Art Weeks Festival, a celebration of the arts on the South Coast of England.
Hannah is founder and artistic director of the Fieri Consort, dedicated to 16th- and 17th-century secular music. With them she has released six recordings, including an album of solos and duets by Barbara Strozzi. Fieri’s upcoming project with Camerata Øresund and Peter Spissky features Graupner’s Christmas Cantatas, was released in 2025 on Ramée (Outhere).
Recent explorations include ornamentation and diminution practice with Oliver Webber and the Monteverdi String Band (Resonus Classics, 2024). She also performs with viola da gamba player Harry Buckoke as Accenti, exploring madrigal performance practices.
In 2024/25, she toured a new solo programme A Thousand Flexible Ways and made her solo debut at the Utrecht Early Music Festival and Beaune Baroque Opera Festival in Rameau’s Pygmalion with Ensemble Masques.
Thomas Hobbs, Tenor
Thomas Hobbs is recognised as one of today’s leading Bach tenors, in demand with major baroque and early music ensembles worldwide.
Highlights of the 2024/25 season include Bach’s St Matthew Passion with RIAS Kammerchor and the South Netherlands Philharmonic, as well as concerts with Le Banquet Céleste, Alia Mens, Gli Angeli Genève and Les Arts Florissants, performing Bach cantatas, Handel’s Messiah and Resurrezione.
Recent seasons have seen Hobbs tour Europe with the Netherlands Bach Society as Evangelist in the St Matthew Passion and tenor soloist in the Magnificat, alongside long-standing collaborations with Gli Angeli Genève, Le Banquet Céleste, Alia Mens, Tafelmusik and Ensemble Masques. Other engagements include Handel’s Messiah with RIAS Kammerchor, Concerto Copenhagen, Tafelmusik Toronto, Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, Early Music Vancouver, and the Academy of Ancient Music; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra; Mass in B Minor with Collegium Vocale Gent at the Salzburg Festival; and The Creation with the CBSO under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. He has also performed Britten, Haydn and Handel with leading orchestras worldwide.
On the opera stage, Hobbs earned acclaim as Telemachus in Monteverdi’s Return of Ulysses at English National Opera, Apollo and Shepherd in Orfeo with the Academy of Ancient Music, as well as Britten’s Albert Herring and Mozart’s Così fan tutte.
His discography includes Bach’s Mass in B Minor (Collegium Vocale Gent, Dunedin Consort), Weimar Cantatas (Alia Mens), Handel’s Acis and Galatea and Esther (Dunedin Consort), and Mozart’s Requiem (Dunedin Consort), winner of the 2014 Gramophone Choral Award.
Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, Alto
Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian discovered the stage at the age of ten. He studied in Montpellier, at the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, and later unanimously admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. Winner of the HSBC Award at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2017, he also received the Grand Avignon Prize (Concours Jeunes Espoirs, Opéra d’Avignon) and in 2022, the Gabriel Dussurget Prize (Aix).
On stage, he has sung Farnace (Mitridate) with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre in Valencia, Ottone (Agrippina) in Halle, Marte (La Divisione del Mondo) at Versailles with Christophe Rousset, Unulfo (Rodelinda) at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées with Emmanuelle Haïm, Rinaldo in Rennes, La Voce di Dio (Il Primo Omicidio) in Salzburg with Philippe Jaroussky, Tolomeo (Giulio Cesare) with English Touring Opera, and the title role in Stradella’s San Giovanni Battista with Le Banquet Céleste.
He has since made acclaimed debuts at La Scala (Didymus, Theodora, with Maxim Emelyanychev), the Bolshoi (Polinesso, Ariodante), and the Aix Festival (Ottone, L’Incoronazione di Poppea). Engagements include Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Athamas (Semele), and Farnace (Mitridate) at Staatsoper Berlin.
In 2023–24 he sang Ottone in Rennes, Versailles, and Cologne, Ulisse (Polifemo) in Strasbourg, Demetrio (Berenice) in Paris and Madrid, Messiah with Laurence Equilbey, and Bach’s St Matthew Passion. In 2024–25 he returned to the role of Ulisse in Lille and Versailles, Trasimede (La Merope) in Berlin, Barcelona, and Madrid, Maria Cleofe (La Resurrezione) in Rennes and Tourcoing, and the title role in Tamerlano across Europe.
His first solo recording, a Purcell recital with Le Consort (Harmonia Mundi), was released in spring 2025.
Romain Bockler, Double Bass
Romain Bockler studied at the CNSMD of Lyon, where he graduated with highest honours, before joining the Studio of the Opéra National de Lyon. He further refined his training with Cécile de Boever, Rosa Dominguez, Margreet Honig and Yves Sotin, and distinguished himself in international competitions in Froville, Rouen, Vicenza, Budapest and Poznań.
His repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary opera. On stage, he has performed in France at the Opéras of Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Avignon, Dijon, Reims and Caen, as well as across Europe and beyond. He collaborates regularly with leading ensembles such as Pygmalion (Raphaël Pichon), Le Poème Harmonique (Vincent Dumestre), Alia Mens (Olivier Spilmont), Les Arts Florissants (Paolo Zanzu/William Christie), Les Surprises (Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas), Le Concert Spirituel (Hervé Niquet), La Rêveuse, and Le Concert de l’Hostel Dieu (Franck-Emmanuel Comte). Deeply engaged with contemporary music, he has created roles under the direction of composers including Peter Eötvös and Alexandre Desplat.
Passionate about Renaissance music and intimate ensemble work, he founded Dulces Exuviae in 2017 with lutenist Bor Zuljan. He also performs with specialized groups such as Huelgas Ensemble, Doulce Mémoire, Weser Renaissance Bremen, La Main Harmonique, and Diabolus in Musica, with numerous recordings attesting to his activity in this field.
After years of collaboration with Concerto Soave, he was appointed co-director of the ensemble and of the Mars en Baroque Festival in Marseille in 2023, alongside founder Jean-Marc Aymes.
Since 2022, he has taught Early Music Singing at the Pôle Supérieur Aliénor in Poitiers. He also holds an engineering degree and a Master’s in acoustics research.