Having begun her career in Italian opera, Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet is now recognised as a leading force in the German and contemporary repertoires. In Europe, Charbonnet has appeared on the stages of the Liceu, Barcelona; Opéra National de Paris; Teatro Real, Madrid; Oper Frankfurt; Opéra National de Bordeaux; Deutsche Oper Berlin; Teatro La Fenice; Bregenz Festival; and the Teatro Comunale di Firenze.
Major highlights include Isolde Tristan und Isolde (Geneva Opera, Teatro San Carlo Naples); Venus Tannhäuser (Geneva Opera); Leonore Fidelio (Teatro San Carlo); the title role of Vanessa (Teatro Massimo Palermo); and Katerina Izmailova Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.
Other engagements in recent seasons have included Senta Der fliegende Holländer and the title role of Ariane et Barbe-bleue at the Liceu; her return to the Teatro Municipal, Santiago for Isolde and Katerina Izmailova; concert performances of Judith Bluebeard’s Castle with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra; Judith at Opéra de Nantes/Angers; Elektra at Deutsche Oper, Berlin; Der König Kandaules and Kundry Parsifal with NPS Zaterdag Matinee (Netherlands); Kundry with Opéra National du Rhin; Cassandre Les Troyens and Fata Morgana The Love of Three Oranges at Opéra National de Paris; the world première of Philippe Fénelon's Judith commissioned by Opéra National de Paris; Isolde at the Teatro Real, Madrid; Judith with Opéra National de Paris performing in Japan; and Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass at the BBC Proms, conducted by Pierre Boulez. At Frankfurt Opera she sang Goneril King Lear and Ortrud Lohengrin – a role she had sung to great acclaim at Dallas Opera in the previous season, where she “sang the hell out of Ortrud's music while acting up a storm and was ‘on’ every second she was on stage.”
In 2009/10 Charbonnet gave two concert performances of Judith Bluebeard's Castle with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. She also returned to the role of Isolde at the Canary Islands Opera Festival and sang the title role of Elektra with Polish National Opera – a role that she first sang for her debut at the Edinburgh International Festival and reprised at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago. Last season, Charbonnet sang her first ever complete Ring cycle in David McVicar’s acclaimed production for Opéra National du Rhin.
Future engagements include Isolde Tristan und Isolde at Dallas Opera and in Salzburg; Venus Tannhäuser at Opéra National de Toulouse; the title role of Elektra at Opéra de Marseille; and the Mother in Il Prigioniero at Gran Teatro del Liceu.
Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet is represented by Intermusica.
January 2012 / 398 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.
Judith in Bartok Bluebeard's Castle
“Gidon Saks and Jeanne-Michèle Chardonnet are exactly the superstars required for this short hour of great violence.”
Le Figaro, October 2011
“The two singers are magnificent: Jeanne-Michèle Chardonnet has the tender and naïve guilelessness of a sincere lover, and Gidon Saks the anxious force of a flushed out and hunted animal.”
ClassiqueNews.com, October 2011
“The most memorable element in this production of Château de Barbe-Bleue is the brilliant pairing of two completely committed artists, both from the original 2007 production: Gidon Saks in the role of Barbe-Bleue and Jeanne-Michèle Chardonnet in that of Judith.
Charbonnet gave an equally spirited performance, quivering with anxious curiosity and driven by an invincible determination. She also possessed an extraordinary vocal intensity, at times producing husky tones and gripping low notes.”
ConcertoNet.com, October 2011
Elektra in Strauss Elektra
Edinburgh Festival
"Musically and dramatically, hers is an astonishing characterisation. Her voice - dark-sounding, rich and strong - is capable both of scything through Strauss's vast orchestra with ease and of transforming into a fragile, unearthly pianissimo in moments of lyricism. Dramatically, she is exceptionally subtle. She avoids the tendency to present Elektra as pathological from the outset, preferring instead to reveal the layers of obsession, ferocity and soul-destroying loneliness that lurk beneath the facade she has adopted as a defence against unspeakable past trauma. Much of what Charbonnet does is the stuff of genius."
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, August 2006
"In the title role Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet was spine-chillingly powerful in the big, deranged moments, but a few purrs short of sumptuousness in the great monologue where Elektra incestuously drools over her returning brother, Orest."
Richard Morrison, The Times, August 2006
"As Judith, Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet projected her impassioned urge to open up Bluebeard's emotional channels with ardent, sensuously phrased lines."
Barry Millington, Evening Standard, September 2004