"Masterly playing on a wonderful sounding instrument – a superb recital"
(William Yeoman in Gramophone)
       
"Lyrical, sweet toned, delicately decorated and superlatively engineered [...] Exquisite."
(Anna Picard in Independent on Sunday)

"Throughout, Jacobs creates a real sense of the majesty with spacious phrasing, sweeping bows and an absolute conviction that this music is worthy of the Sun King […] There’s simply no one else playing the French repertory to this standard and it’s a gold standard."
(Simon Heighes in International Record Review)

"Son interprétation est royale"
(Claude Vernant for Classica-Répertoire, November 2008)

"Each of these recordings has been meticulously researched by Jacobs, who’s the sort of perfectionist who always insists on finding an historically appropriate instrument for the repertory he’s playing."
(International Record Review)

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Fred Jacobs studied lute and theorbo with Anthony Bailes at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatory. In 1985 he co-founded The Locke Consort which was acknowledged for their interpretations and praised for their recordings of XVIIth Century English chamber music. He is a member of the Gabrieli Consort and Players, The Parley of Instruments, the Baroque Orchestra of the Netherlands Bach Society and the Monteverdi Continuo Ensemble of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, where he has performed in all Monteverdi and Cavalli productions since 1997.

Fred Jacobs is the regular accompanist of many distinguished singers, such as Johannette Zomer, Anne Azéma, Michael Chance and Maarten Koningsberger. With Johannette Zomer he has been recording a series of programmes devoted to 17th Century monody for which his research has unveiled many hidden treasures.

Over the years Fred has been a guest at the major early music festivals in Europe and the United States. He performs in opera productions in Paris, Amsterdam, Munich and Florence.
Fred Jacobs has worked with many conductors such as Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Brüggen, Ivor Bolton, Andrew Parrot, Marc Minkowski and Richard Egarr.

With Carolyn Watkinson, Anne Azéma and Maarten Koningsberger he runs workshops on the English lute song and on French ‘Air de Cour’.

Since 1995 he teaches lute and theorbo at the Amsterdam Conservatory.

Find ​Fred Jacobs' events and performances below: