Artist Of The Week: Frédéric Antoun Makes His Metropolitan Opera Debut As Raul In ‘The Exterminating Angel’
By Francisco SalazarOver the past few years, Frédéric Antoun has made a mark on many of the leading theaters in the world, singing a variety of repertoire with vocal purity and nuance. This week, Metropolitan Opera audiences will finally get a chance to hear this French-Canadian singer as he makes his debut in the role of Raul in Thomas Adès’ “The Exterminating Angel.”
In the opera, Antoun will reprise his interpretation of Raul Yebenes, which he portrayed during the world premiere of the opera at the Salzburg Festival and which he later did at the Royal Opera House. While the role is not one the biggest in the work, he still joins a tremendous ensemble and he still gets some really wonderful solo music that should show off his beautiful tone. Additionally, he is one of the original cast members and it will be interesting to see how his interpretation has evolved over the years.
Born in Québec, Antoun studied at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia before going on to make debuts at some of the world’s best companies. He has since appeared at the New York City Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Opéra de Montréal, La Monnaie, Brussels, Dutch National Opera, Paris Opéra, Salzburg Festival, and Zürich Opera House, among others.
He has also worked with many of the leading composers including Alain Altinoglu, Ivor Bolton, Emmanuelle Haïm, Marc Minkowski, Michel Plasson, and composer Thomas Ades.
Antoun possesses a light lyric voice that has been praised by critics including OperaWire. When he sang the role of Cassio this past summer at the Royal Opera House, OperaWire noted that Antoun sang with “an ardent tone and moved about with youthfulness.” Among the other roles for which he has been praised include Belmonte in “Die Entführung aus dem Serail,” Thespis in “Platée” and Ferrando in “Così fan tutte,” Tonio in “La Fille du Régiment” and Nadir in “Les Pecheurs de perles.”
Recordings
For those not familiar with the tenor, Antoun has a number of recordings available including Saint Saëns’ rarely performed work “Proserpine,” Ravel’s “L’heure espagnole” and Gluck’s “Iphgenie en Aulide” from the Dutch National Opera.