Véronique Gens

Voice

Having dominated the Baroque stage for over a decade, Véronique Gens has established a solid international reputation and is now considered one of the finest interpreters of Mozart. One of the leading roles of her career, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, presented by Peter Brook and Claudio Abbado at the Festival d’Aix en Provence, brought her worldwide recognition.

Her repertoire is made up of the greatest Mozart roles (Donna Elvira, Contessa Almaviva, Vitellia, Fiordiligi…), the great roles of Tragédie Lyrique (Iphigénie en Tauride, Iphigénie en Aulide, Alceste…), but also later roles such as Alice Ford (Falstaff), Eva (Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Madame Lidoine (Dialogues des carmélites), Hélène (La Belle Hélène), Missia Palmeri (La Veuve joyeuse).

In addition to a wide repertoire of classical pieces, Véronique Gens gives numerous concerts and recitals of French melodies throughout the world, and has performed on the world’s greatest opera stages: Paris, Dresden, Berlin, Beijing, Tokyo, Cleveland, Vienna, Prague, London, Tanglewood, Stockholm, Moscow, Geneva, Edinburgh, Covent Garden Royal Opera House, Vienna Staatsoper, Opéra de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper, La Monnaie in Brussels, Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro Real in Madrid, Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, as well as the festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg, Glyndebourne…

She has also sung under the direction of prestigious conductors and collaborated with internationally renowned stage directors.

She recently sang Les Dialogues des Carmélites (Madame Lidoine) in Munich and in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Iphigénie en Aulide (Clytemnestre) at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Charpentier’s Médée at the Teatro Real, and Les Contes d’Hoffmann at La Fenice in Venice.

Highly committed to the work of the Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française, Véronique Gens has taken part in numerous recordings in the “Opéra français” collection, including David’s Herculanum, Gounod’s Cinq-Mars, Lalo and Coquard’s La Jacquerie, Saint-Saëns’ Proserpine, Godard’s Dante, Halévy’s La Reine de Chypre, Gounod’s Faust, César Franck’s Hulda and Massenet’s Werther.

In 1999, Véronique Gens was voted Lyric Artist of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique Classique awards. She was voted “Artist of the Year” at the Gramophone Awards in 2023, and received the Ehrenpreis 2024 from the Schallplattenkritik. Her numerous recordings (over 90 CDs and DVDs) have won several international awards (International Classic Music Awards, International Opera Awards, Gramophone Awards…).

She also regularly gives public masterclasses (Opéra de Lille, École Normale Supérieure de Musique de Paris, Verbier Festival, HEMU de Lausanne, Opéra Comique, CNSMD de Paris, Académie Ravel, Lied Basel Festival and Britten Pears Institute, Fondation Royaumont…).

Véronique Gens is Chevalier dans l’Ordre de La Légion d’Honneur, Officier dans l’Ordre du Mérite and Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.