The Great Concerts of the OCL

Founded in 1942 by Victor Desarzens, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (OCL) has become one of the most sought-after chamber orchestras in Europe. After six years under the artistic direction of American conductor Joshua Weilerstein, the OCL is now led by the celebrated French violinist Renaud Capuçon. Comprising some forty musicians, the Orchestra’s vast repertoire ranges from early Baroque to contemporary works.

The OCL was soon invited to perform abroad, in the most renowned concert halls and festivals. It took part in the second Aix-en-Provence Festival and several editions of the Enescu Festival in Bucharest. His tours of Germany and the United States have been resounding successes, as have his concerts at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the BBC Proms in London, the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Berliner Philharmoniker. In the 2023-2024 season, the OCL will perform in Madrid, Barcelona and, for the first time, at the Philharmonie de Paris.

Throughout its existence, the OCL has performed with leading soloists. These include Clara Haskil, Alfred Cortot, Walter Gieseking, Edwin Fischer, Murray Perahia, Radu Lupu, Martha Argerich, Nikolai Lugansky, Daniel Barenboim and Frank Peter Zimmermann. The OCL has also always attracted the most interesting conductors of their time, including Paul Hindemith, Günter Wand, Christoph Eschenbach, Ton Koopman, Jeffrey Tate, Bertrand de Billy, Simone Young and Daniel Harding.

The OCL boasts an extensive discography: from the complete operas of Haydn in the 1970s-1980s conducted by Antal Dorati to the Beethoven and Mozart concertos with Christian Zacharias, not to mention recordings dedicated to Schoenberg and Webern (with Heinz Holliger) and Spohr and Weber (with Paul Meyer).

Graduating with the highest honors from the prestigious schools of Lausanne and Zurich, Hélène Walter trained under the guidance of Teresa Berganza, Helmut Deutsch, John Fiore, Luisa Castellani, Christian Immler, and has performed under the baton of Ton Koopman and Michel Corboz. After her studies, she further refined her skills with renowned interpreters such as Alessandra Rossi, Heidi Brunner, Raul Gimenez, and François Le Roux.

Hélène Walter has enjoyed a brilliant international career, performing on prestigious stages such as the Müpa in Budapest, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and the Musikverein in Vienna, under the direction of Martin Böckstiegel, François-Xavier Roth, Pierre Bleuse, Lucie Leguay, and Corrado Rovaris. In Mozart’s works, she has portrayed roles such as Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Sandrina (La finta giardiniera), and the Countess (Le nozze di Figaro). She has also performed as Elle (La Voix Humaine by Poulenc), Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare by Handel), and Manon by Massenet.

An eclectic artist, active both on opera stages and in concert halls, Hélène Walter has performed Bach’s Mass in B minor, the Passions, the Christmas and Easter Oratorios with the Musiciens du Louvre, Solisti Veneti, Spirito, the Pygmalion ensemble, and in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Basel Kammerorchester. In 2022, she sang Pierrot Lunaire by Schoenberg alongside the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain and Bruno Mantovani, and she was a guest of the Ensemble Intercontemporain in 2018.

Hélène Walter has featured prominently in two major discographic productions, recorded at the prestigious Château de Versailles with La Chapelle Harmonique and more recently with La Chapelle Rhénane. Critic Ermes Mercuri praised her « vocal class and fascinating stage maturity » as « the highly talented Hélène Walter. »

Born in Zurich, Luca Bernard gained his first stage experience as a member of the Zürich Sängerknaben, where he notably performed the role of the Second Boy in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart at the Opernhaus Zurich. He studied piano and composition at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste before pursuing a professional career in singing. In June 2018, he earned his Master’s in Performance with voice as his major subject.

In concert, he has worked with renowned orchestras such as the Zürcher Kammerorchester. In 2017, he portrayed Ottokar in Der Zigeunerbaron at the Operettenbühne in Hombrechtikon. He also performed the role of Count Stanislaus in Der Vogelhändler at the same venue in 2018. During the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons, he was heard in a wide variety of roles at the Opernhaus Zurich as a member of the International Opera Studio. In 2021-2022, he performed at the Maggio Fiorentino in Florence, singing Gastone in La Traviata, Jaquino in Fidelio, and Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos.

At the 2022 Glyndebourne Festival, Luca Bernard performed the role of Ernesto in Don Pasquale. In the following season, he sang the same role at the Estonian National Opera. During the 2023-2024 season, he will perform in Klagenfurt, Toulon, and at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, where he is a member of the Young Ensemble. Among the central works in his repertoire are oratorios such as Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten, and Dvořák’s Stabat Mater.

Since the 2024-2025 season, Luca Bernard has been a permanent member of the ensemble at the Luzerner Theater. Notably, he will perform the role of Arbace in Idomeneo and Alfred in Die Fledermaus.

Luca Bernard is a laureate of a study award from the Armin Weltner Foundation and the Migros Cultural Percentage.

Stephan MacLeod was born in Geneva and studied singing in his native city, in Cologne and then in Lausanne. His concert career began during his studies in Germany with a fruitful collaboration with Reinhard Goebel and Musica Antiqua Köln. Since then, he has sung regularly with conductors such as Leonhardt, Herreweghe, Savall, Suzuki, Kuijken, Corboz, Brüggen, Kossenko, Pierlot, Luks, Mortensen, Harding, Junghänel, Rademann, Pichon, Van Immerseel, Coin, Rilling, Van Nevel and Bernius. He is founder and conductor of the Ensemble Gli Angeli Genève, which gives around thirty concerts a year throughout the world, and is regularly invited to conduct other ensembles (OSR, Philharmonie Zuidnerderland, Nederlandse Bachvereniging, etc.). More than 100 CDs, many of them critically acclaimed, document his work. He was singing teacher at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne from 2013 to 2023, and teaches at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève since last September.

Bart Visman is a Dutch composer. His work includes chamber, orchestral and choral music, opera and songs. For instance commissioned by New Sinfonietta, Schönberg Quartet, New Ensemble and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Performed by various artists and orchestras including soprano Barbara Hannigan, The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.