On Sunday, the announcement by the artist agency Intermezzo of the death, in Paris, of soprano Jodie Devos at the age of 35 created a real commotion in the world of classical music, where the Belgian artist, which made its debut in Quebec last October in Lucy of Lammermoorleaves a very strong imprint.
“It is with infinite sadness that we announce the death of our artist Jodie Devos in Paris on June 16, 2024. An exceptional, luminous personality loved by all, her sudden departure leaves an immense void in the hearts of all those who were lucky enough to know her,” says the laconic press release from Intermezzo.
Didier Martin, the director of his record publisher, Alpha, where Jodie Devos notably left two recitals (“Offenbach Colorature” and “Jewels Stolen”) similar to eternal diamonds and hailed as such in our discographic selections is a little more says: “Jodie had been fighting cancer with great courage for several months. She returned to the stage at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on April 30 with great determination, but her condition suddenly worsened a few days ago. »
A luminous artist
Writing: “This news, so unreal and so unfair, deeply upsets us all. Jodie was only 35 years old and at the top of her game. We know how much she was loved by her colleagues, by the entire musical community and by the public, of course,” Didier Martin sums up the shock that fell both on the public, who appreciated this luminous singer, and on the colleagues who worked with her and who, for the vast majority, are facing news that they did not expect in any way.
When The duty had spoken to Jodie Devos in October 2023, before her performances at the Opéra de Québec, where she was flamboyant, the singer revealed by the Queen Elisabeth Competition (second prize, 2014) told us: “I am perhaps a Mozartian d ‘on board. Baroque came later with Leonardo García Alarcón and Christophe Rousset. I started my career with La Reine de la nuit, but with the French repertoire on the side. Leonardo García Alarcón, for his part, heard the Concert tunes of Mozart in my voice. “.
The great Argentine chef Leonardo García Alarcón paid her the most beautiful tribute on Sunday: “Farewell, Jodie, farewell to The Divine. No music on earth will be able to express the lack that your absence causes in us today, dear Jodie. Your voice was guardian of beauty, the most beautiful ornament of our sky and light of the whole earth, the most tender caress in music that the air has known. I think I have never experienced this sensation, this feeling of wanting to offer today my own existence in exchange for yours, so that this world continues to benefit from your being, your voice, your Art and your smile, this smile who cared for the souls of everyone around you, your family, your colleagues and your audience. The world won’t be the same without you: this phrase seems to have been invented for this day. What a monumental error of inattentive living. I’m confused, but we’re all angry, and not admitting it would be trivial. You were for many of us the ultimate meaning of what an artistic human being must provoke during his passage in this world, the very symbol of love, passion, humility and devotion for music. »
Nothing last October suggested anything of what is shaking the musical world today. We concluded our dialogue on the future, as follows: “I like being able to keep one foot in all the repertoires. Some will say it is dangerous. It could be. You have to do it with full awareness. […] Maybe at some point, my voice will feel better in a certain style, and theaters will no longer ask me for that, but I feel lucky to be trusted with all these repertoires. I love singing Rameau, it’s so powerful and intelligent; Mozart challenges me vocally and brings me back to solid technique, and in Verdi I explore fabulous characters with the music I love most. I have to maintain my instrument to be up to the vocal challenges. And I like challenges. »
In fact, the potential for development of the voice – a coloratura soprano, but with a lot of substance – and the range of repertoires in which it was called upon to deploy was almost limitless. Alexandre Dratwicki, the artistic director of the Palazzetto Bru Zane, had made it his honey, notably in the two aforementioned recitals, published by Alpha. “We will have spent times together. And the list of future adventures was ready for the next 20 years. But…” he wrote yesterday.
There are losses that cannot be quantified or measured. This is one. And she shakes funny.
