NICOLAS CAVALLIER
bass
RECENT AND UPCOMING ENGAGEMENTS
- Comte des Grieux in Massenet's Manon and Sprecher in Mozat's Die Zauberflöte, at the Opéra National de Paris;
- Ramfis in Verdi's Aida, at the Opéra-théâtre de Metz;
- Marquis de la Force in Poulenc's Les Dialogues de Carmélites, at the Palau de les Arts de Valencia;
- Hagen in Reyer's Sigurd, at the Opéra de Marseille;
- Calchas in Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide, at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence;
- Don Iñigo Gomez in Ravel's L'Heure Espagnole, at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Opéra Comique de Paris;
- Pandolfe in Massenet's Cendrillon and Jupiter in Offenbach's Orphée aux Enfers, at the Opéra de Lausanne;
- Vodník in Dvorak's Rusalka, at Opéra-théâtre de Metz and Opéra de Reims;
- Mefistofeles in Boulanger's Faust et Hélène, with Orquestre National de France and Choeur de Radio France;
- Grand Prêtre de Dagon in Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila, at the Opéra Grand Avignon;
- Méphistophélès in Gounod's Faust, at the Opéra de Limoges;
- Narbal in Berlioz' Les Troyennes, at the Oper Köln;
- Comte de Saint-Bris in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, at the Royal Theatre of La Monnaie De Munt.
BIOGRAPHY
French bass-baritone Nicolas Cavallier studied in London, at the Royal Academy of Music and at the National Opera Studio. His professional career begins at the Glyndebourne Festival, singing Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, directed by Peter Sellars, and Don Fernando in Fidelio.
He performed major Mozart’s roles such as Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro (Seattle, Paris, Toulouse, Nancy, Bordeaux, Liège, Massy, Metz and Caen), the title role and Leporello in Don Giovanni (Vichy, Seattle, Montpellier, Avignon, Monte-Carlo and Liège), Don Alfonso in Così fan Tutte (Strassburg and Avignon) and Publio in La Clemenza di Tito (Paris).
French opera occupies an important place in his career, propelling him to international important stages: he debuted at the Teatro alla Scala, singing Berlioz’ Roméo et Juliette, staged by Sacha Waltz; at the Opernhaus Zürich, Cavallier performed the role of Marquis de La Force in Les Dialogues des Carmélites (also at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna); with the Moscow Philharmonic, he sang Comte des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon; at the Seattle Opera, Nicolas sang the Four Devils in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and the title role in Massenet’s Don Quichotte; at the Opera Hong Kong, Un Vieillard Hébreux in Samson et Dalila (also at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein) and the Four Devils; at the Royal Opera House Muscat, Nilakantha in Lakmé; at the Teatro La Fenice, Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande and, at the Wiener Konzerthaus, Palémon in Thaïs, conducted by Michel Plasson and alongside Renée Fleming in the title role; at the Bregenzer Festpiele, he sang in Debussy’s La Chute de la Maison Usher, among others. Other personnages are also part of his repertoire: Raymond in Lucie de Lamermoor (French version), Phillipe II in Don Carlos (French version), Comte de Poitou in Halévy’s La Magicienne, Ruggiero in La Juive, Ramon and Ambroise in Gounod’s Mireille, the title role in Lalo’s Le Roy d’Ys, Phanuël in Hérodiade, Roi d’Espagne in Le Cid, Comte de Saint-Bris in Les Huguenots and many others.
His versatility gave him opportunities to perform roles in several languages. In German, Cavallier sang Heinrich in Lohengrin, at the Opéra de Saint-Étienne; the title role in Der fliegende Holländer, at Opéra de Dijon and Opéra de Massy; Orest in Strauss' Elektra, at the Opéra de Marseille; and Rocco in Fidelio, at the Opéra Grand Avignon, among others. In Czech: Vodnik in Rusalka, in Metz and Reims; Goryanchikov in Janáček's From the House of the Dead, at the Opéra National du Rhin; and Savel Dikoj in Kát'a Kabanová by Janáček, in Avignon. In Hungarian, he sang Bluebeard in Bartók’s The Bluebeard's Castle, in Marseille. In the language of Cervantes, he was Don Quixote in De Falla’s El Retablo de Maese Pedro, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de la Radio France.
In Italian repertoire, Nicolas Cavallier was Raimondo in Lucia di Lamermoor (Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra national de Montpellier and Opéra Comique), Dulcamara in L'Elisir d'Amore (Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège), Balthazar in La Favorite (Opéra de Monte-Carlo and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées) Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème (Opéra national de Bordeaux and Opéra de Metz), Sagrestano in Tosca (Opéra national de Paris), Alidoro in La Cenerentola (Opéra de Tours, Bordeaux and ORW-Liège), Le Tuteur in Le Comte Ory (Liège) Mustafà in L'Italiana in Algeri (Metz and Paris), Selim and Bassa in Il Turco in Italia (Royal Theatre of La Monnaie and Grand Théâtre de Genève), Lord Sidney in Il Viaggio a Reims (Liège and Metz) and Zaccaria in Nabucco (Opéra de Saint-Étienne).
Nicolas Cavallier has already performed in prestigious opera houses and festivals such as Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Paris, Seattle Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Opernhaus Zürich, Oper Köln, Royal Theatre of La Monnaie De Munt, Teatro La Fenice, Glyndebourne Festival , Opéra National du Rhin, Opéra de Nice Côte d’Azur, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Reykjavík Arts Festival, Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, Opera Hong Kong, Royal Opera House Muscat, Covent Garden, Festival Chorégies d’Orange and Opéra National du Capitole de Toulouse, among others.
He collaborated with renowned conductors, including Michel Plasson, Sir Colin Davis, Philippe Jordan, Alain Altinoglu, Dan Ettinger, Marc Minkowski, William Christie, James Conlon, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Sir John Eliott Gardner, Alberto Zedda, Miun Whun Chung, but also with directors such as Olivier Py, Robert Carsen, Vincent Boussard, Laurent Pelly, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Jean-Louis Grinda and Paul-Émile Fourny, among others.
Nicolas Cavallier’s discography include CD Carmen by Bizet, alongside with Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna and Thomas Hampson, conducted by Michel Plasson (EMI, 2006); DVD Carmen, conducted by Sir John Elliot Gardner (FRA Musica, 2010); DVD La Chute de la Maison Usher by Debussy, alongside Barbara Hendricks (Capriccio, 2006); Lucie de Lamermoor by Donizetti, alongside Roberto Alagna, Nathalie Dessay, and Ludovic Tezier, conducted by Evelino Pidò (CD Virgin Classics and DVD Belair Productions, 2002); CD Il Combattimento di Tancredi by Monteverdi, with Les Arts Florissants and conducted by William Christie (Harmonia Mundi, 2002); CD Wuthering Heights by Hermann, conducted by Alain Altinoglu (Accord, 2010); DVD Les Indes Galantes by Rameau, alongside Nathalie Dessay and conducted by William Christie (Opus Arte, 2005), and many more.