the essential
Elizabeth Ghaly, mezzo-soprano, and Olivier Saltiel, guitarist, shared the stage of the Chapelle des Jésuites last night for the show “Airs d’opéra et d’ailleurs”. Shortly before their show, this Monday evening, they met around a salmon steak, at the Café de la Comédie. Double encounter.
You have been sharing the stage for six years. How did you meet?
Olivier Saltiel: Actually, we’ve known each other for twelve years! I taught guitar at the conservatory in Narbonne, and Elizabeth sang. On several occasions, I asked her to sing at different events, and over time, we ended up really going on stage side by side. Elizabeth came several times to the festival that I organized for 10 years in Narbonne: the Roland Dyens guitar festival. By the way, as an aside, I’m not sure I’ll organize an eleventh edition next October… The name of our duo? Ghaly-Saltiel, simply. It doesn’t strike you, but that’s not what we’re looking for. We try to interest the widest possible audience by offering something we like.
Elizabeth Ghaly: And we’ve been sharing the stage occasionally for over five or six years now. Olivier sits, playing guitar, and I sing next to him, standing. A guitar and a voice, everything you need to be happy (laughs). I’m a mezzo-soprano, which means that I have a range that is located in the middle-high range. This parameter means that I can’t sing all the roles, so we choose accordingly. Composers, most of the time, think about their compositions for a voice, and not for a person.
What are your respective backgrounds, up to being reunited this Monday, on the stage of the Chapelle des Jésuites?
OS: I traveled a lot when I was younger, when I was Elizabeth’s age in fact… (laughs). I went to Mexico, Brazil and Argentina in succession, and these countries inspired me and greatly influenced the music I play today. Speaking of influence, Roland Dyens inspired me a lot. Almost everything I play on the guitar is his arrangements, because a lot of his compositions are made for pianos, not guitars. I saw him in concert in 1986, and I said to myself “Oh really? Can we do that?”. He really brought something new to the world of guitar. For the rest, I have a classic background in music: training at the Conservatory.
EG: For me, it all started at the Narbonne Conservatory. Then I went to the one in Toulouse, before entering the Toulouse National Institute of Arts (isdaT). I then completed a Master 2 in musicology, also in Toulouse. Otherwise, I have already done an operetta, followed organ and voice training, and quite a few performances. And even masses! As for inspiration… I wouldn’t know how to give one name rather than another. The first one that comes to mind would be Jessye Norman, an extraordinary American soprano!
What do you offer on stage?
OS: In a way, popular and learned music. We revisited songs by Manuel de Falla, Argentinian zamba or Broadway plays. Elizabeth can sing in Spanish, Latin, Italian or English. And when it’s in French, it’s Debussy, that’s worth noting! This will be my fifth time on this stage, since the City had already asked me to perform the evenings of the four Mondays in July last year, by giving four concert proposals there. I had already proposed a Monday last year alongside Elizabeth, so for her, this will be the second time. It’s a superb place.
EG: And like any self-respecting mezzo-soprano in a room, I sing without a microphone. Pure voice is enough. From time to time, on stage, we make live recordings, to broadcast some excerpts on Facebook or YouTube.
