LEA DESANDRE
MEZZO-SOPRANO
Taking on the role of Idamante (Idomeneo/Mozart) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the title role in Médée (Charpentier) at the Palais Garnier, Timna in the world premiere of Samson (Rameau) at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence; at the Opéra Comique for the Chasing Rainbows programme (Julie Andrews repertoire) then touring France and abroad with the Jupiter ensemble for the Songs of Passion programme (Purcell/Dowland) and that of her latest disc Idylle.
Lea Desandre has also been nominated in the Lyric Artist category of the 2024 Victoires de la Musique Classique awards.
Lea Desandre's 23/24 season got off to a flying start with the release of her third CD, Idylle (Erato - Warner), an American tour (including a concert at New York's Carnegie Hall), another in Japan, a recital at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord and a tour as the title role in Handel's Ariodante (Philharmonie de Paris, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéras de Versailles and Dijon).
The second half of the season is no less impressive, with the Opéra Comique presenting the programme Chasing Rainbows (Julie Andrews repertoire) with the Jupiter ensemble conducted by Thomas Dunford; she will be back in Salzburg at the Whitsun Festival for the original evening 'Une Folle Journée' (a pastiche of Da Ponte-Mozart operas) and will also be taking on several important roles in opera productions: Idamante (Idomeneo / Mozart) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the title role in Médée (Charpentier) at the Palais Garnier and Timma in the production of Samson (Rameau) at the next Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.
At this Festival, she will also be Annio (La Clemenza di Tito / Mozart) with the Pygmalion orchestra conducted by Raphaël Pichon. She will also give a Monteverdi-Purcell-Haendel recital with Thomas Dunford and Huw Montague Rendall.
During the summer, she will then alternate between festivals in France and abroad, performing Songs of Passsion (a Dowland-Purcell programme with the Jupiter Ensemble) and the programme from her latest CD, Idylle, with Thomas Dunford on lute.
Last album: Idylle
2023 - Erato, Warner
The latest recording from mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and Thomas Dunford on lute, featuring works by Reynaldo Hahn, Claude Debussy, André Messager, Jacques Offenbach, Françoise Hardy and Barbara.
This programme is the culmination of a meeting between a voice and a lute around French songs from all eras on the theme of love. It describes the art of French song in its intimate and rhythmic sides, with court airs and French melody, where the lute revisits romantic airs for piano and voice and French variety in the continuity of this musical tradition for three hundred years.
Martin Coulon
ROYAL ARTS VISIONS; LEA DESANDRE