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Elizabeth VIDAL |
ELIZABETH VIDAL studied at the
Paris Opera's Ecole de chant with Elisabeth Grümmer.
In 1985 she joined the Lyons Opera company where her roles included Nanetta
(Falstaff), Blondchen (L'Enlèvement au Sérail), Glauce (Medea-Cherubini),
Rosina (Barbiere-Paisiello) and she also appeared at the Aix-en-Provence
Festival, notably in Lully's Psyché‚ under Jean Claude Malgoire
and in Ariadne auf Naxos (with Jessye Norman in the title role, Semyon
Bychkov conducting).
She has also appeared in many international festivals, including San Sebastian
(Zauberflöte), Göttingen and Bath (in Leclair's Scylla et Glaucus),
at the Villa Medicis in Rome (Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien), Spoleto
and later Covent Garden Festivals.
Her wide operatic repertoire embraces French Baroque opera, Gluck and
Mozart (she is noted for her exceptional portrayal of the Queen of the
Night -Chorégies d'Orange, Nice Opera and Athens, Covent Garden
opposite Samuel Ramey and Neil Shicoff), Strauss (both Johann and Richard):
she has tackled the role of Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier and has sung Zerbinetta
in Ariadne auf Naxos in Bordeaux, Paris, Nice and Athens; and she has
sung Adele, Die Fledermaus).
Mrs Vidal's most recent accomplishment include performances of Euridice in Orphée aux Enfers at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Bruxelles, a debut at the Toronto Opera in the role of Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites, Olympia in the Tales of Hoffmann as well as Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera in Santiago de Chile. Additional highlights included the role of the Queen of the Night in Vienna at the Schönbrunn Festival, L'Enfant et les Sortilèges at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms with Maestro Kent Nagano and the London Symphony Orchestra, Carmina Burana in Dresden and the title role of Lakmé at the Opera Comique in Paris, to name but a few of the halls she did perform with. Elizabeth Vidal has performed on television many times, including a noted American debut at the Richard Tucker Gala live from Lincoln Center. In France she took part to wellknown shows, such as Le Monde est à vous, Musiques au coeur, les Victoires de la Musique.
She has recorded "L'Enfant et les Sortilèges" with Armin Jordan (Erato) and with Alain Lombard (Auvidis), Scylla and Glaucus with John Eliot Gardiner (Erato), Dalayrac's l'Amant Statue, a recital disc of songs for voice, flute and piano (Auvidis), Massenet’s Thais (Decca), Ginevra di Scozia and Cendrillon by P. Viardot (Opera Rara), French Opera Arias with French Baritone André Cognet, the Nizza Philharmonic Orchestra and Emmanuel Plasson (Forlane).
She recently performed with the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra (Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien) under Ingo Metzmacher, at the Teatro La Fenice (Werther/Sophie), in Verona where she did a debut portrayal Gilda in Rigoletto, in Geneva in Cendrillon by Massenet, in Nancy in Ariadne auf Naxos, Bertrand de Billy conducting and in concert, successively in Prague with the Prague Chamber Orchestra, in Athens, Wiesbaden, Karlsruhe (Lakmé/Gala concert), Carmina Burana in Segovia under Maestro Frühbeck de Burgos, Rigoletto in Nice, “ L’Enfant et les Sortilèges ” on tour with the SWR Orchestra, Maestro Sylvain Cambreling conducting, “ Dialogues des Carmélites ” in Bonn, “ Carmina Burana ” with the Orchestra of the RTVE in Madrid, Lakmé in Karlsruhe etc…
Elizabeth Vidal also made her debut in Berlin singing “ L’Enfant et les Sortilèges ” with the BSO, Maestro Serge Baudo conducting, was portraying for the first time the title role of Manon by Massenet in Nancy, in Trieste, she made her debut in the world premiere “Ginevra di Scozia” by Mayr, which was recorded by the label Opera Rara, she was also in Athens for Verdi’s Rigoletto at the open-air ancient theatre of Herodes Atticus.
Among highlights of the following months, a Gala Performance for the UNESCO in Paris, a debut in the part of Rosina in “Barbiere di Siviglia” in Italy, concerts with the SWR Orchestra and French baritone André Cognet for the inauguration of the new Concerthall in Dortmund, Romeo and Juliette in Miami, Ariadne auf Naxos in Nizza, a recording of “The Magic Flute” for Chandos under the Baton of Sir Charles Mackerras, a recording for Opera Rara, “Le Comte Ory” in Garsington and at the Opera de Wallonie in Liege, The Magic Flute in Athens ..
In July 2000, after June Anderson and Mariella Devia, Mrs Vidal received the price “Siola d’Oro” in Italia (first French singer to get this award).