As part of its third festival, the Castel Artès association is offering this Friday, August 18, from 6 p.m., a free concert in the Mirepoix hall offered by the voices of the Castel Artès Academy, accompanied by the pianist Vladimir Isaev .
These young singers, some of whom come from distant horizons, will perform excerpts from works by Bizet, Duparc, Offenbach, Schumann and Mozart. In training during the festival, they perfected their vocal technique, interpretation, stage presence, preparation for concerts as a soloist or as a vocal ensemble, with prestigious professionals.
Among them, four prestigious guests will perform. In particular, the mezzo soprano Géraldine Chauvet, noticed in the role of Carmen in 2009, at the Arena of Verona, under the baton of Placido Domingo. She then embarked on an international career, after an American debut in 2012, which was very well received by critics.
Bass-baritone Edwin Crossley-Mercer will also be present at this concert. Immersed very young in a musical environment thanks to his family, he made his debut in 2006 in Berlin in “Don Giovanni”. Since then, we have lost count of the title roles he has played, nor the number of very prestigious international stages where he has performed.
As for Jean-Ronald Lafond, a native of Haiti, he spent around 20 years singing as a baritone, before turning to tenor singing. Like many singers of his quality, he quickly became a teacher of singing, highly respected in New York, Berlin and Gothenburg…
Finally, Marina Viotti, for her part, decided to become an opera singer after years spent singing heavy metal. If she has kept her tattoos and her love for the Metallica group, this does not prevent her from leading a flourishing career as a mezzo-soprano today. Last March, she also won the Victory of Classical Music in the category “lyrical artist of the year”.
This quartet making up this teaching team has provided excellent support to the young talents who will be performing tomorrow evening in the hall.
