Alexandre Duhamel

Nominated in the category “Révélation lyrique de l'année” at the Victoires de la Musique Classique Award, baritone Alexandre Duhamel is one of the most interesting French singers of his generation. He studied at the Paris National Conservatoire and was a member of the Opéra de Paris Young Artist Programme. He was awarded "Le Prix Lyrique du Cercle Carpeaux" and "Le Prix de l’Association pour le rayonnement de l'Opéra National de Paris", which both reward the most noticeable young singer during a season. During his early career, he worked with notable conductors such as Michel Plasson, Sir Antonio Pappano, Marc Minkowski, Philippe Jordan, Carlo Rizzi, Alain Altinoglu or Jakub Hrůša.

Alexandre made his debut at the Opéra National de Paris in Gianni Schicchi and has returned frequently as a guest principal artist there for L'Enfant et les sortilèges, La Fanciulla del West, Don Giovanni, Le Roi Arthus, Platée and Les Indes galantes.

Recent engagements have included Marcello in La Bohème at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Lescaut in Manon at the Liceu in Barcelona, the title role in Don Giovanni as well as Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande at the Opéra de Lille and his debut in Siegfried as Alberich at the Stuttgart Staatsoper, as he consolidates his increasingly acclaimed performances in the Romantic and Dramatic repertoire.

In 2023/24 Alexandre makes his debut at the Enescu Festival singing Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande and at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence performing the role of Thoas in Iphigénie en Tauride. He also returns to one of his favorite role, Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de perles at the Opéra National de Toulouse and sings later Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette at Beijing National Opera. Performances of Jupiter in Orphée aux Enfers at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie are followed by his debut as Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde at the Opéra de Lille.

Other highlights of his international career include the title role in Don Giovanni as well as Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte at the Gran Teatre deI Liceu in Barcelona, Panthée in Les Troyens at Teatro alla Scala, Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de perles in the Salle Pleyel, Le Vice-roi in La Périchole at the Salzburg Festival, Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, Escamillo in Carmen at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, Le Comte de Nevers in Les Huguenots at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Le Grand-Prêtre in Alceste at the Opéra de Lyon and at the Lisboa Teatro Nacional São Carlos, Ramiro in L'Heure Espagnole at the Stuttgart Liederhalle and Munich's Prinzregententheater, the title role of Guillaume Tell at the Opéra de Marseille as well as Le Grand-Prêtre in Samson et Dalila, Sancho in Don Quichotte, Paolo in Simon Boccanegra all at the Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Harasta at the Glyndebourne Festival’s production of The Cunning Little Vixen.

In concert, he has performed at the BBC Proms Pour les Funérailles d'un Soldat; the Auditorio Nacional de Madrid as Méphistophélès in Faust et Hélène; several times at the Festival Radio France; in the 40th Anniversary concert of the Théâtre Antique d’Orange and has given many recitals in prestigious venues. He made his US debut with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra under Ludovic Morlot for L'Enfant et les sortilèges. His oratorio repertoire includes Fauré’s Requiem, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Beethoven’s Symphony 9, Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ and Debussy’s L'Enfant Prodigue.

This season Alexandre Duhamel performs Zurga (Les Pêcheurs de perles) at the Opéta National de Toulouse, Golaud (Pelléas et Mélisande) in Bucarest , Mercutio (Roméo et Juliette) in Beijing Jupiter (Orphée aux Enfers) in Hambourg, Kurwenal(Tristan und Isolde) in Lille and Jupiter (Platée) in Versailles,  Thoas (Iphigénie en Tauride) in Aix-en-Provence au George Enescu Festival dans le rôle de Golaud (Pelléas et Mélisande). He also participates in two upcoming recordings: the first devoted to the role of Padilla in La Sorcière by Erlanger with Guillaume Tourniaire, and the second, to the songs Don Quichotte à Dulcinée by Ravel with Ludovic Morlot and the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona I Nacional de Catalunya. He has already recorded Ramiro in Ravel’s L'Heure Espagnolewith Stéphane Denève and Asher Fisch, and Golaud in two award winning and critically acclaimed recordings of Pelléas et Mélisande, one with François-Xavier Roth for harmonia mundi and one with Pierre Dumoussaud for Alpha Classics.

February 2024