Clémentine Margaine

 

"Margaine sang with a deep, rich mezzo, her diction clear and perfect. She oozed sexiness and contempt. Hers is certainly a Carmen to watch ..."

Christie Franke, Bachtrack

 

Considered one of the leading mezzos of her generation, French mezzo soprano Clémentine Margaine has gained international acclaim in recent seasons at such theaters as the Paris Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Opera Australia, and Canadian Opera Company.

Highlights from the 2018/19 season include the title role in Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera, which she sings with two different casts in October and November and again in January and February. Especially identified for her portrayal of Carmen, Margaine made her debuts at the Metropolitan Opera and Paris Opera in the 2016/17 season in this signature role. In May and June, she sings Dulcinée in Don Quichotte at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the end of the season, she returns to Carmen at the Royal Opera House.

In the 2017/18 season, Margaine made several significant debuts: as Fides in Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, her debut as Amneris in Aida with Opera Australia, her debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona as Léonor in La Favorite, and her debut at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse as the title role in Carmen. She also sang Léonor at the Opéra Municipal de Marseille and Bavarian State Opera, and returned to the Paris Opera as Concepcion in L’Heure Espagnole and to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Carmen. Margaine began the season singing Marguerite in a concert performance of La Damnation de Faust in Bucharest, later performing Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Chicago and on tour with Riccardo Muti.

She also debuted at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Dulcinée in Massenet’s Don Quichotte and returned to the Bavarian State Opera as Sara in Roberto Devereux. Other engagements from the 2016/17 season included Margaine’s debut at the Cologne Opera as Concepcion in a new production of L’Heure Espagnole and her debut at Semperoper Dresden in Carmen.

Margaine began the 2015/16 season with her debut at the Washington National Opera as Carmen, subsequently performing the same role for her debuts at the Canadian Opera Company and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. She also made her debut at the Musikverein in Vienna in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Orchestre National de France, under the baton of Daniele Gatti. In June of 2016, Margaine made her Australian Opera debut as Carmen, and in July of 2016 she debuted with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra in Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette, under Stéphane Denève. In August of the same year, Margaine gave a triumphant performance as Rebecca in Il Templario for her debut at the Salzburg Festival.

Shortly after graduating from the Paris Conservatory, Margaine was named the “révélation classique” and awarded the Special Jury Prize at the Concours International de Marmande. She subsequently joined the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she sang her first performances of Carmen, a role for which she has now become internationally known and since sung in Munich, Rome, Naples, Washington, Dallas, and Toronto. Margaine also starred at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Marguerite in the new production of Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust and as Dalila in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila. In 2015, she made her debut at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires in her first performances of Charlotte in Werther.

Also active as a soloist, Clémentine Margaine has sung Elijah in Berlin, the Mozart Requiem in Lisbon, and the Verdi Requiem in Budapest. Other roles in preparation include Zayda in Donizetti’s Don Sebastien and Gertrude in Hamlet.