Full Biography
French mezzo-soprano Gaëlle Arquez is one of the most prominent rising stars of the opera world. After graduating from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, the young mezzo-soprano made her debut at the Opéra Bastille in Michael Haneke’s 2013 version of Don Giovanni (Zerlina) under the direction of Philippe Jordan. Ever since, she has been frequently invited to sing in many of the most renowned opera houses in the world. Nominated “Révélation Lyrique” at the “Victoires de la Musique 2011”, Gaëlle Arquez released her highly anticipated debut recording “Ardente Flamme” for Deutsche Grammophon in 2017.
Gaëlle Arquez is set to embark on a diverse and exciting 2024/25 season. The mezzo-soprano makes her anticipated house debut at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma in her signature role of Carmen in the production of Fabio Ceresa, conducted by Omer Meir Wellber. This role is a vehicle for Arquez´ return to Staatsoper Berlin’s production of Carmen later in the season. The mezzo-soprano makes her first appearance at Opéra de Monte-Carlo in Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, where she sings the roles Concepción and L’enfant respectively. The production by Jean-Louis Grinda is lead under the baton of Kazuki Yamada. With the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo she revisits Vanina in Saint-Saëns’ L’Ancêtre and at Opéra Royal de Versailles she appears in a concert version of Händel’s Alcina as Ruggiero. Further on the concert stage, Arquez performs solo concerts with Le Cercle de l’Harmonie under the baton of Jérémie Rhorer in Oviedo and San Sebastian. At Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, she performs the title role in Iphigénie en Tauride under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock. The mezzo-soprano stars in the “Gala d’Opéra” of the Saarländisches Staatstheater Saarbrücken and takes part in the 28th edition of the “Les Journées Ravel” Festival in Montfort l’Amaury to pay tribute to the French composer. The mezzo-soprano also presents two recitals with pianist Susan Manoff: at Opéra de Lille where they perform a variety of songs by Spanish and French composers songs and at Opéra Comique where they perform Berlioz’ Les Nuits d’été.
In the 2023/24 season, Gaëlle Arquez debuted as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and La belle Dulcinée in Don Quichotte as well as reprising the title role in Giulio Cesare at Opéra de Paris. She furthermore saw performances in Offenbach’s Fantasio at the Opéra Comique. She performed two productions of Carmen in the titular role at the Edinburgh Festival with the Opéra Comique and on a European tour led by Maestro Rene Jacob. In concert, she sang the mezzo-soprano solo in Rossini’s Stabat Mater twice: at Ljubljana’s Cankarjev Dom and with Orchestre National de Montpellier.
Recent highlights include Arquez’ house and role debut as Isabella in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri at the Teatro alla Scala, her Metropolitan Opera debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, her role debut as Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina at Opéra National de Paris, and her role debut as Charlotte in Werther, both at Oper Frankfurt and the Vienna State Opera. She was also heard in the title role of La cenerentola at the Palais Garnier. On the concert stage, the mezzo-soprano performed Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer with Wiener Symphoniker, conducted by Mark Minkowski. Gaëlle Arquez is a regular guest at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées: she appeared there in Così fan tutte and Giulio Cesare, as well as Robert Carsen’s production of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride. In addition, Arquez participated in the Bastille Day concert in Paris – one of the most important French celebrations, broadcasted live on Radio and TV.
In recent years she has made distinct interpretations of her signature role Carmen: in a revival of Calixto Bieito’s production for the Opera Bastille, in Martin Kušej’s production at Staatsoper Berlin, and in Andreas Homoki’s new production at the Opéra Comique. Arquez made her initial role debut as Carmen in Barrie Kosky’s critically acclaimed production for Oper Frankfurt, in which she also made her Royal Opera House debut. The role led her also to the Bregenzer Festspiele in Kasper Holten’s production, which was so successful that Arquez was invited to return the following year for a televised broadcast of the performance, viewed by over 1.5 million people. As Carmen she has also made a house debut in Teatro Real in 2017.
Arquez’s repertoire is versatile: In 2017/18 she made her first appearance as Isolier in Le comte Ory at Opéra Comique and as Adalgisa in Norma at the Frankfurt Opera. The 2016/17 season saw her debut at the Vienna State Opera under the direction of Marc Minkowski singing the title role in a new production of Gluck’s Armide. She also made role debuts in Pelléas et Mélisande and Serse for the Frankfurt Opera.
Additional career highlights include Idamante in Idomeneo under the direction of René Jacobs at the Theater an der Wien, a production which was also taken to the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York in 2016; Falstaff and L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Opéra de Paris; Teseo at the Frankfurt Opera; Così fan tutte at the Bayerische Staatsoper; Castor et Pollux at Komische Opera Berlin; and Cendrillon at Opéra de Lille.
© CSAM, August 2024
