Artist of the Week: Julie Fuchs

French Soprano Makes Debut at Rossini Opera Festival in ‘Le Comte Ory’

By Francisco Salazar

This week the Rossini Opera Festival is set to open with one of the composer’s most beloved comedies, “Le Comte Ory.” In recent years the opera has had a renaissance being performed around the world and championed by some of the leading opera singers. The festival has lined up an all-star cast including Juan Diego Florez, who is one of the leading interpreters of the opera. But this production of “Comte” will also star one of opera’s biggest rising stars, Julie Fuchs, in her debut in the Pesaro Festival.

The French soprano has risen to great recognition over the years for her “vocal qualities” and her “supreme confidence” in her stage acting. She has also diversified her repertoire by performing works from the baroque era to Mozart to bel canto to French music and has already created an incredible discography of rare and beloved works.

For Pesaro audiences who will hear Fuchs for the first time, the French soprano will bring her acclaimed Comtesse Adèle, a role that she has previously performed to great acclaim at the Opera Comique. When she first debuted in the role in 2017, critics praised her interpretation stating, “Julie Fuchs as the Comtesse sings with beauty of phrasing and tone, even when frolicking about the bed in Act two and seemingly in some danger of losing her modesty as she bounces about on and around the bed in a singularly low-cut nightie.”

The role has also carried Fuchs through her career as it was with the aria “En proie à la tristesse” that the soprano took home second prize at the Operalia Competition, and propelled her international career.

For audiences not in Pesaro, the opera will be shown on Rai5 as well as broadcast on Rai3 Radio. Fuchs will also open the Opéra de Paris season with “I Capuletti e I Montecchi.” She is also set to perform at the Opernhaus Zürich and Dutch National Opera, among others, during the 2022-23 season.

Recordings

As noted the soprano has a number of recordings including a DVD of “Le Comte Ory” from the Opera Comique. She also has two solo albums for Deutsche Grammophon, “Mademoiselle” and “Yes.” She also has a recording of “Les Pêcheurs de Perles” and “Mitridate, re di Ponto.”

Here she is in clips from “Le Comte Ory.”

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