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 2023/24 season. She returns to the Paris Opera making role debuts as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and La belle Dulcinée in Don Quichotte as well as reprising the title role in Giulio Cesare. The title role in Offenbach’s Fantasio is her vehicle to return to the Opéra Comique. With Opera Comique she also goes on tour to the Edinburgh Festival to present the production of Carmen in the titular role. She also sees six performances of Carmen on a European tour led by Maestro Rene Jacobs, with the performances being recorded for wider audiences. In concert, she sings the mezzo soprano solo in Rossini’s Stabat Mater twice: at Ljubljana’s Cankarjev Dom and with Orchestre National de Montpellier.
In the previous season, Arquez thrice appeared in her signature role of 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. 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.
Recent highlights include her 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. 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.
Arquez made her 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 quite broad: 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, March 2024
