Haïm Hair*

I am not talking about Haim, the Band, although they have hair, too. I am talking about Haïm, the conductor (conductress? conductrix?) and Baroque music guru. 

Emmanuelle Haïm is a talented and expressive musician, and a strong leader. A whole bunch of top-notch, not-necessarily-baroque-specialist singers have stepped on stage or into the recording studio with her, including Rolando Villazón, Joyce DiDonato, Topi Lehtipuu, Susan Graham, Natalie Dessay, Laurent Naouri, Ann Hallenberg, Véronique Gens, etc., etc.), plus the usual Baroque suspects.

And she has been branching out beyond her own ensemble, Le Concert d'Astrée, conducting orchestras in the UK, Europe, and the U.S. About her LA Philharmonic debut, the LA Times said:

She doesn’t pretend that gender doesn’t make a difference or that personal body language isn’t just about everything on the podium. She doesn’t conduct, that is to say, like a man. Or like anyone else.

And that is a good thing! On top of that, her hair seems to have a life of its own; it could probably have its own successful solo career. Meanwhile, here is a clip of Ms. Haïm leading the Berliner Philharmoniker in an excerpt from Handel’s Water Music. 

And here is a complete performance of a recent production of L’Incoronazione di Poppea featuring Ann Hallenberg and Max Emmanuel Cencic, as seen on Arte Live.

*Thanks to the Earworm for introducing this concept into classical music and the world of opera blogging.