Sylvie Valayre

Sylvie Valayre is a French operatic soprano known for her versatile interpretations of lyric, spinto and dramatic coloratura soprano parts. She sings grueling roles like Abigaille, Lady Macbeth or Turandot as well as lighter pieces like Giordano's Maddalena, Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly) or Verdi's Desdemona at major opera houses around the world.

Education

Born in Paris, she graduated at the Paris Conservatory under the guidance of Christiane Eda-Pierre and Régine Crespin. She attended master classes of Cathy Berberian, Galina Vichnevskaia, Gino Bechi, Paul von Schilawsky in Florence and Montpellier, Giuseppe Di Stefano, who later chose her to perform a concert with him at Théâtre du Chatelet. Later, she undertook advanced studies with tenor Sergio Tedesco and with mezzo-soprano Catherine Green.

Early operatic career

She began her career in 1984 with a play about Maria Malibran at the Théâtre Marigny in Paris, performing excerpts from operas like Semiramide and Norma (also available as [http://www4.fnac.com/Shelf/Article.aspx?PRID=1594064 DVD] ). Soon after, Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya asked her to perform the title role in their production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s "The Czar’s Bride" at the Rome Opera.

In 1987, she sang her first Mozart opera, performing the role of Fiordiligi in" [Così fan tutte] "] . Other roles during this stage of her career included Mimi in "La Bohème", Tosca in "Tosca", Magda in "La rondine", Violetta in La Traviata, Norma in "Norma", Leonore in "Fidelio", Manon in "Manon Lescaut", Thaïs in "Thaïs", Adina in "L’elisir d'amore", Liù in "Turandot", the Infante in "Der Zwerg "(or "The Infante’s Birthday") by Zemlinsky, "La Voix humaine "by Poulenc and more. In 1994, she was performing in major Italian houses in works like "La Voix humaine" (Trieste, Genova, Naples), "Cavalleria Rusticana "(Trieste, Bologna), "L’heure espagnole "and "Il segreto di Susanna "(Opera of Trieste).

In 1995, in a production touring through the Netherlands, she debuted in the part of Lady Macbeth, later one of her signature parts.

International breakthrough

In 1996, with the production of Venice’s La Fenice, she made her debut in Warsaw in the part of Elisabetta in Don Carlo. A few months later followed her debuts in" Nabucco "at Covent Garden Opera, "Madama Butterfly" in Naples and Venice (La Fenice) and in" Don Carlo" at Royal Albert Hall in London.

In 1997, Milan invited her onto the famous stage of La Scala to perform Ponchielli’s "La Gioconda". Her debut in Milan was soon followed by other debuts at other famous opera houses: "Madama Butterfly" at San Francisco Opera, Verdi’s "Jerusalem "at Carnegie Hall in New York, "Nabucco" in Zürich with Nello Santi as well as Nabucco, "Aida" and "Tosca "at the famous Arena di Verona, "Macbeth" in Paris and "Tosca" in Berlin. "Aida" in Munich followed and, in 2000, her first performances at the Metropolitan Opera in "Madama Butterfly". Later in 2000 "Manon Lescaut" at Opera Pacific, "Ernani "at the Madrid Opera, "Aida" in Macerata, "Tosca" in Paris and Tokyo, "La Gioconda" at Carnegie Hall and "Macbeth" in Berlin.

The year 2001 brought her to the Lyric Opera of Chicago as "Tosca", to Madrid with Verdi's "Requiem", to Brussels (Théâtre de la Monnaie) with "Antonio Pappano "and Zürich with "Macbeth", to Berlin in the title part of "Aida" and to Macerata with "Norma".

In 2002 she sang her first Chrysothemis ("Elektra") in Madrid under Daniel Barenboim, "Madama Butterfly" in Tokyo with Maestro Myung-Whun Chung, "Tosca" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with Daniel Oren, the title part of "Salome" at Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. with Heinz Fricke and Verdi's "Requiem" in New York. In September and October, she returned to the Metropolitan Opera with Placido Domingo and James Levine to give her first performances of "Andrea Chénier"'s Maddalena.

The 2003-2004 season was characterized by some significant first performances, such as the title part of "Turandot" in Berlin with Kent Nagano; the part of the Emperess in Strauss’s "Die Frau ohne Schatten", also in Berlin with Christian Thielemann; the part of Minnie in Puccini’s "La fanciulla del West "in Zürich and the part of Amelia in "Un ballo in maschera "in Turin.

Other performances in 2003-04 were "Tosca" at the Metropolitan Opera and in Vienna, "Madame Butterfly" in Chicago and Naples, "Macbeth" in Berlin as well as "Nabucco" and "La Gioconda" in Zürich, again with Nello Santi. In August 2004 she joined Placido Domingo for a Gala Concert "La corona di pietra" at the Arena di Verona (including a [http://dvd.kelkoo.it/ctl/do/compare?catId=149201&pid=14680106&genreId=20566142&catPath=it/dvds&title=Placido+Domingo.+La+corona+di+pietra.+Una+notte+magica+in+Arena&DVD=ok&imgProduct=ok DVD] production by Sony Classical).

The engagements of the 2004-05 season included, among others, "Salome" in Braunschweig and Athens with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as in Rome with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra and in Tokyo; "Nabucco" and "Fedora" at the Vienna State Opera; "Tosca" in Zürich with Nello Santi, at the New York Metropolitan Opera with James Conlon, and in Washington D.C.. Verdi's "Aida" at the Thermae of Caracalla in Rome, directed by Placido Domingo, concluded the season.

In 2005-06, Domingo again invited her to Washington D.C. to take part in the Gala performances "Trilogy - Domingo and Guests in 3 Acts" as Fedora. "Salome", "Macbeth" and "Turandot" at the Berlin State Opera, "Tosca" and "Nabucco" in Zürich, "Aida" at the Vienna State Opera and in Munich followed. She also participated in important new productions like "Macbeth" as Lady at the Verdi Festival in Parma under the baton of Bruno Bartoletti (including a [http://www.tdk-mediactive.com/frame_content.php?did=3~13&showme=everything&from_id=2702 DVD production] by the label TDK) and as Elvira in Verdi's "Ernani" at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, both in June 2006.

After the great successes gained with Puccini's "La fanciulla del West" and Giordano's "Andrea Chénier" at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in September and October 2006, Valayre’s engagements in 2006-07 also included "Nabucco" at the Opera House of Zürich, "Manon Lescaut" at Miami's Florida Grand Opera, "Macbeth" at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and her role debut as Desdemona in Verdi's "Otello" at the Beethoven Festival in Warsaw. The 2006-07 season was concluded by a new production of "Macbeth" at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the London Proms.

Her performances for 2007-08 included "Tosca" at the Opéra National de Paris, "Manon Lescaut" in Genova, "Nabucco" at Berlin's Deutsche Oper and "Turandot" in Tel Aviv. She also performed an extensive solo concert at the festival "Musiques au coeur" in Antibes in July 2008. In August 2008, she could be heard in Richard Strauss´ "Four Last Songs" and Ludwig van Beethoven's "9th Symphony" at Sala São Paulo, in Brazil, as part of the Cultura Artística International Series.

Future

In the 2008-09 season, Sylvie Valayre will be heard frequently throughout Germany, among others at Semperoper Dresden and Staatsoper Berlin in "Macbeth" and "Turandot" as well as at Oper Leipzig in Peter Konwitschny's new production of Giuseppe Verdi's "Aida".In January 2009, she will debut at San Diego Opera as [http://www.sdopera.com/09season/Tosca.aspx "Tosca"] . In May and June 2009, Valayre will be heard as "Turandot" at Washington National Opera.She will also give concerts in Nantes and Paris.

As from September 2009 she will perform, inter alia, [http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080504/news_1a04opera.html "Nabucco" at San Diego Opera] and will give her role debut as Odabella in Verdi's "Attila "in Marseille in 2010 ².

(² published by german opera magazine "Opernwelt"

Quotes

After her debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York in 2000 as Cio-Cio San, the "New York Times "described her portrayal as "lovely, vulnerable" and reported that "her singing had poignancy and beauty - standing ovation".

In 2005, the "Washington Post "considered her "Tosca" in Washington D.C. to be "filled with sparkling, stratospheric moments", noted that "here was a pleasing artistry in her singing that merged accurate intonation with an ability to move her sound smoothly across a wide vocal range" and wrote that "the top of her soprano voice is nothing less than extraordinary".

Great Britain's "The Daily Telegraph" reported on Verdi's "Macbeth" at the London Proms 2007 that Valayre was "a real find of a Lady Macbeth" and that she would possess "the ideal voice for the role: a dramatic soprano with an incisive edge and the dark-tinged richness of a mezzo."

Recordings

1984: [http://www4.fnac.com/Shelf/Article.aspx?PRID=1594064 "La Malibran"]

Théâtre Marigny, Paris

DVD

1991: [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000056MR1/ Raffaello de Banfield: "Una lettera d'amore di Lord Byron"]

Gianfranco Masini; Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna "Arturo Toscanini"

CD, Ermitage ERM 403

1991: [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004U1CA/ Felice Lattuada: "Le preziose ridicole"]

Gianfranco Masini; Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna "Arturo Toscanini"

CD, Aura Classics

1992: [http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00004VMFC?seller= Philippe Hersant: "Le Chateau des Carpathes"]

David Robertson; Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier

CD, Accord

2004: [http://dvd.kelkoo.it/ctl/do/compare?catId=149201&pid=14680106&genreId=20566142&catPath=it/dvds&title=Placido+Domingo.+La+corona+di+pietra.+Una+notte+magica+in+Arena&DVD=ok&imgProduct=ok "La corona di pietra - Gala concert Arena di Verona with Placido Domingo" (Bellini: finale of "Norma")]

Orchestra Arena di Verona

DVD, Sony - BMG

2006: [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q7ZKWA Giuseppe Verdi: "Macbeth"]

Bruno Bartoletti; Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Parma

DVD, TDK Music

2007: [http://www.msm-cd.com/shop/products-4.html Christmas Album (Sylvie Valayre sings the traditional "What Child is This?")]

Camerata of London

CD, MSM-CD

Links to audio and video examples

Audio:
* [http://www.artpro.co.il/audio/Turandot-In_Questa_Regia.ram "In questa reggia" (Turandot) from Berlin 2003]
* [http://www.artpro.co.il/audio/Tosca%20-%20Washington,%20May%202005%20vissi%20d'arte.ram "Vissi d'Arte" (Tosca) from Washington D.C. 2005]
* [http://www.artpro.co.il/audio/Aida%20-%20Munich,%2016.4.2006%20qui%20Radames%20verra.ram "Qui Radamès verrà" (Aida), Munich 2006]
* [http://www.artpro.co.il/audio/Sylvie%20Valayre%20Ernani.ram "Surta è la notte" (Ernani) from Berlin 2006]
* [http://web.mac.com/svalayre/Sylvie_Valayre/AUDIO/AUDIO.html Link to many new audio files (among others Nabucco, a complete recording of Otello and Turandot from 2007]

Video:
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhgrSGieKDs "Nel dì della vittoria" (Macbeth) from Parma 2006]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVzT-aZ2eFY "La luce langue" (Macbeth) from Parma 2006]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuCied-vUEk "Una macchia" / Sleepwalking (Macbeth) from Parma 2006]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6YH0FDjPDA "Il tuo sangue" (Tosca) from Tokyo 2000]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w__ZOZ2IEC0 "La mamma morta" (Andrea Chénier) from Berlin 2006]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=uSGEa4tWqsg "Surta è la notte" (Ernani), Madrid 2000]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=ceKPI29DpWM "Da quel dì" (Ernani), Madrid 2000 - with Carlos Alvarez as Don Carlo]
* [http://web.mac.com/svalayre/Sylvie_Valayre/VIDEO/Voci/2004/7/14_Nabucco_-_prima_aria.html "Prode guerrier" (Nabucco), Arena di Verona 2000]
* [http://web.mac.com/svalayre/Sylvie_Valayre/VIDEO/Voci/2004/7/14_Nabucco_-_Atto_2_-_Aria.html "Ben io t'invenni ... Anch'io dischiuso" (Nabucco), Arena di Verona 2000]
* [http://web.mac.com/svalayre/Sylvie_Valayre/VIDEO/Voci/2004/7/14_Nabucco__-_Ultima_Aria.html "Su me... morente" (Nabucco), Arena di Verona 2000]

Other external links

* [http://www.sylvievalayre.com Link to the artist's homepage]
* [http://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/spielplan/detailansicht.php?id_event_cluster=26071&id_event_date=0&id_language=1&show=audiovideo&file=&aktiv=oper Video as Lady Macbeth (excerpts), State Opera Berlin (click on small videocam symbol for downloading the video)]
* [http://www.operabase.com/listart.cgi?id=none&lang=it&name=Valayre&forename=Sylvie Schedule of Sylvie Valayre @ operabase.com]