British baritone Peter Harvey has released more than 150 recordings in repertoire spanning eight centuries, with a focus on the High Baroque and the works of J.S. Bach in particular.
As well as his work with renowned Early Music specialists such as Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Masaaki Suzuki, Christophe Rousset, Hervé Niquet, Ton Koopman, John Butt, Paul McCreesh and the late Gustav Leonhardt and Michel Corboz, he has also performed Bach’s works with ensembles including the Boston Symphony Orchestra/Bernard Haitink, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal/Kent Nagano, Rotterdam Philharmonic/Lahav Shani, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Oslo Philharmonic/both Herbert Blomstedt.
As well as German and English Renaissance and Baroque repertoire, Peter Harvey has gained acclaim for his recordings of works of the French Baroque as well as later works, including his award-winning recordings of Haydn’s Creation and Fauré’s Requiem.
Currently collaborations including Hans-Christoph Rademann/Internationale Bachakademie, Lars Ulrik Mortensen/Concerto Copenhagen, Ruedi Lutz/J.S. Bachstiftung, Iván Fischer/Budapest Festival Orchestra, Matthew Halls/Mozarteumsorchester Salzburg and Richard Egarr/Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
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Bach: Cantatas
Bachwoche Ansbach/Gaechinger Cantorey (Aug 2023)
“[Peter Harvey‘s] voice is mature, and full of character and body. It carries well and is always focussed – incredibly striking and refined singing.”
Martin Stumpf, Fränkische Landeszeitung
St John Passion (Christus)
Bachfest Leipzig, June 2022
"...(Johannsen) paints with his vocal timbre, the colouring of his vowels, the intensity of his consonants (...) and sounds beautiful in every register and at every volume. Velvety bass-baritone Peter Harvey in the role of Jesus is his partner on eye-level, gentle but voluminous."
Peter Korfmacher, Leipziger Volkszeitung
Bach St Matthew Passion (Jesus), Gaechinger Cantorey
Accentus Music ACC30535 (March 2021)
…you know you’re in good hands from the outset, as is also true of Peter Harvey’s knowing and sympathetic Christus.
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Gramophone
Bach B minor Mass, The Bach Choir
Royal Festival Hall (February 2020)
Baritone Peter Harvey has a warm, creamy timbre, comfortable in the lyrical upper reaches of ‘Et in spiritum sanctum’.
Benjamin Poore, MusicOMH****
Bach Cantatas, Gaechinger Cantorey, Accentus ACC30466
(September 2019)
Peter Harvey’s solicitous Vox Christi in the first recitative leads into an articulate dialogue aria with Nadja Zwiener’s concertante violin (‘Welt, ade, ich bin dein müde’).
David Vickers, Gramophone
It would be hard to fault Peter Harvey’s singing on Accentus
Brian Wilson, MusicWeb International
Ornate Lieder, York Early Music Festival, National Centre for Early Music
(July 2019)
Tenor James Gilchrist and baritone Peter Harvey made it a vibrant, involving recital. Vocal decoration, while often obvious, rarely distracted from expressive purpose. In a sequence of songs by Schubert’s older contemporary Zelter, Harvey’s beauty of tone and serenity in Ruhe – a fleeting glimpse of heaven on earth…
Robert Gammon, The York Press
Bach St Matthew Passion, Nederlands Kamerorkest
(April 2019)
The divine peace in Peter Harvey's (Christ) voice is more than special.
Frederike Berntsen, Trouw
Bach St Matthew Passion, Holland Baroque
(March 2019)
…tenor Benedikt Kristjansson and bass Peter Harvey showed that they have an excellent Evangelist and Christ in the house.
Joep Christenhusz, NRC Handelsblad
Bach: Cantatas
Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists (June 2018)
Baritone Peter Harvey retains the round, warm tone that makes his recitatives so immediate and expressive.
Gavin Dixon, The Arts Desk*****
…poised solos from … Peter Harvey
Anna Picard, The Times
Handel: Brockes-Passion
Concerto Copenhagen (March 2018)
Peter Harvey (Jesus) and Gwilym Bowen (Peter) demonstrated that the more naturally you sing, the more human the result. They restricted their approach to simple vocal expression, beautiful and decisive, and in doing so underlined the purity of Handel's musical signature.
Frederike Berntsen, Trouw
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