Paul Agnew Essentials

Scottish tenor Paul Agnew is one of the greatest singers of the late 20th century, a vocalist with a deep command of Baroque and Renaissance music who's also demonstrated a mastery of Classical and Romantic works. He's worked with some of the most important early music ensembles, and once William Christie took notice of him in the mid-'90s he became a key member of Les Arts Florissants, eventually conducting and ascending to joint musical director. The soaring clarity of his voice on Bach's Easter Oratorio is both delicate and effortlessly agile, while his masterfully pitched conducting sparkles on Florissants' reading of Monteverdi's Madrigals.