Meeting with the lyrical singer Eléonore Pancrazi

Lyric artist Eléonore Pancrazi releases her first solo album this Friday, November 8. A recital that mixes Corsican melodies harmonized by Maurice Ravel and traditional Irish, Gypsy and Occitan songs. We met her in her birthplace in Corte, where her passion for music was born.

She welcomes you with a smile and warmth, in the imposing Cortenese villa which bears her name. A 19th century building, with gilded frames, toile de Jouy hangings and costumes straight from the Paris opera. The decor would almost be intimidating for the visitor; it is in any case the perfect setting for the talent of mezzo-soprano Eléonore Pancrazi.

It was in the garden of the family home, which for many years housed “Les nuits d’été”, a lyrical art festival organized by her parents, that the 34-year-old’s vocation was born. Or maybe it was even earlier.

“It’s truly a passion shared in my family, she confides. My father always told me that my mother, when she was pregnant with me, constantly played opera arias on the piano, and my father sang, for laughs.” Over the years, family passion infused and established itself. “It was always obvious. At ten years old, I knew I wanted to do this with my life.”

At 16, the encouragement of baritone Marc Scoffoni made her decide to enter the Ajaccio conservatory. She will then continue her career at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. “I had to leave, to develop my voice and integrate into the professional world, I had to leave Corsica”explains the one who never misses an opportunity to “return to the fold”.

It was on the island that she went on stage for the first time, in 2010. She played Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. A role that she reprized last year at the Royal Opera of Versailles. “It took me back to my memories of being a student, an ultra-stressed beginner. And re-approaching this character also meant realizing the evolution of my voice and of me as an artist”remembers the singer.

On his already rich career, other notable roles. That of Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, performed in around fifteen theaters. “He’s a character who accompanied me like a little brother”book Eléonore Pancrazi.

Another emblematic role of her mezzo-soprano range: Carmen, one of the first that she sang, at the age of 23, on the other side of the world, in Japan. A costume that she will wear again in January at the Royal Opera of Versailles. “That’s the next challenge… after the album comes out.”

Because this Friday, November 8, the artist is releasing his first solo recital, “A voce di a Terra”, under the Oktav Records label. An album which combines Corsican melodies arranged and orchestrated by Maurice Ravel and traditional Irish, Gypsy and Occitan songs.

“It’s the realization of a dreamsmiles Eléonore Pancrazi, seated at the piano which sits in the family living room. It’s the meeting of two worlds, of my life as a lyric singer, with the way I built my voice and at the same time, who I am, where I was born. Also with another way of singing, much more traditional.”

Her fingers run over the keyboard of the instrument as she tells us about her favorite song, La Nanna du Cuscione, a popular Corsican melody adapted by Maurice Ravel. “On the first day of recording, when we did it, time stopped”she remembers.

“It’s a lullaby that is sung in minor. A major chord is sunny, there is something positive and happy, while the minor chord is sad. Often, lullabies are played in minor , as if the mother or grandmother, when putting the child to sleep, felt the weight of a misfortune. Death is present in our culture as in our music, and that is what makes it extraordinarily beautiful. “analyzes the young woman, before sharing with us some of the words of the lullaby, her voice tight with the emotion of recent bereavements.

Emotion again, when Eléonore Pancrazi looks back on the path traveled. “I tell myself that this is the result of my work and the support of my parents”modestly sums up the one who admits to nourishing “a little imposter syndrome”.

Like this day in February 2019, when she was crowned lyrical revelation of the year at the Victoires de la Musique Classique. “I was convinced that I wouldn’t get this award, and my first thought was: ‘There’s a mistake.’ And it’s always like that when there’s good news: joy comes afterwards, but at the moment, I always tell myself that it can’t be me.”

Yet it was really her. “When I knew I had the voice, she confided to us at the start of our interview, I made my way.” The path to success is now clear.