SUNDAY MAY 26, 2019
at 14h00
Théâtre La Grange de Dorigny
Main stage
Opera recital / 1h / all ages
English, French, Italian and German
Flat rate: CHF 10
William Shakespeare’s literary scope is vast and literally goes from theatre to opera. Several composers of high renown such as Verdi, Gounod, Wagner, Barber, Britten and Purcell drew their inspiration from his works to write some of the most appreciated and famous operas.
In Shakespeare’s Sopranos, the Bardéliques will present the Bard’s “leading ladies”, between Juliet the lover, Ophelia the melancholic, Helena the desperate and Lady Macbeth the she-devil. From tragedy to comedy, the show consists of a surprising mix of arias, duos and trios. The singers will perform some of the public’s favorite melodies such as “Sul fil d’un soffio etesio” from Verdi’s Falstaff, but also less known drama gems such as “Welch wunderbar erwarten” taken from Wagner’s Das Liebesverbot, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. On the menu, a musical exploration of a whole variety of lyric styles. You can expect some baroque, classic, romantic and contemporary.
Shakespeare’s Sopranos will make its debut on stage at the Lausanne Shakespeare Festival, with representations programmed between 2019 and 2020 in Switzerland, France and Italy.
Artistic Director and soprano:
Alexis Munier
Soprano:
Naomi Bohn Yamaguchi
Mezzo-soprano:
Xenia Ganz
Musical director and pianist:
Juan David Molano
About Les Bardéliques:
As a lover of William Shakespeare and his works, the Company “Les Bardéliques” dedicates itself to maintain its musical flame. Founded in 2018 by Alexis Munier, “Les Bardéliques” are musicians and singers specialized in the lyric repertoire. With the aim to revive and stimulate the public’s taste to the Bard’s beauty and power, the group presents an innovative and audacious combination between Shakespeare and opera.
Music director and pianist Juan David Molano studies in Switzerland in the Colleges of Music of Basel, Geneva, Bern and Lausanne where he received a teacher’s diploma as well as diplomas of accompanist, harpsichordist, concert performer, soloist and conductor.
As a pianist, he collaborated with artists such as Ricardo Castro, Alexis Cardenas, Abel Carlevaro, Michel Bellavance and Virginie Robilliard.
He is the beneficiary of the Gordon Foundation’s Prize and a fellow of the Henry Wood Foundation from the London Royal Academy of Music where he finishes a 2nd Master of Arts as conductor in 2015.
In 2013, under David Juan Molano’s direction and initiative, the ESNCM Orchestra of Palestine presents a program dedicated to Bizet’s opera “Carmen”, in collaboration with the Foundation Instruments de la Paix, the Music Conservatoire of Geneva and Fribourg’s St Michel Choir. This program was the subject of the documentary “La Terre Promise” directed by the famous Swiss director Francis Reusser.
Juan David Molano is teaching piano at the Music Academy of Geneva since 2006.
Artistic director and soprano Alexis Munier has always been a fervent admirer of Shakespeare, since she performed as a teenager in “I Capuleti e I Montecchi” by Bellini. Born into a family of artists, she grew up in a literary environment marked with the Bard’s works. Owning the Swiss and American nationalities, she is maintaining a double career of singer and writer. Alexis obtained a BA in Music at the Music Academy of Boston and later, an MA in Medias at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.
While being in the US, Alexis interpreted roles such as Micaela, Mimi, Tatiana and Contessa and was a soloist several times, notably with the “Boston Pops” and the “Colorado Opera”.
She regularly gives recitals in Europe and her future projects include the “Amadeo Bassi Festival” in Tuscany and the main role in “Suor Angelica” in Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg with the “Lycordia Ensemble” this fall. She is also the founding member of the “City Sisters” trio that sings swing, jazz and pop music in a three parts harmony. (Fribourg Music Feast, 22nd of June 2019, 3pm).
Author of nine books, she is writing a blog on the website www.thewellnotedtraveller.com.
Soprano Naomi Bohn Yamaguchi, from Japan, is passionate about singing in all its forms and starts very soon her vocal work in France and then improves her training with Sirvart Kazandjian of the Lausanne Academy of Music. She is currently studying with Rachel Bersier and takes part in masterclasses with Vincent Aguettant.
Naomi regularly offers singing recitals and performs as guest soloist, notably with the vocal ensemble Amabilis in Sion and Evoba in Neuchâtel under the direction of Adriana Boczkowska with whom she interpreted Duruflé’s Requiem (2015) and Rutter’s Magnificat. In 2017, she performs the role of Venus in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld with the Company Agaune Opera.
She founded together with Juan David Molano the Lycordia Ensemble (www.ensemblelycordia.com), a variable-geometry ensemble. It explores the chamber music repertoire thanks to the countless possibilities of vocal and instrumental training.
Mezzo-soprano Xenia Ganz was born in Strasbourg into a Russo-Uruguayan family of musicians. She starts piano at the age of 5 and then joins Françoise Claustre’s class at Strasbourg’s Conservatoire, where she also plays in trio (cello, violin and piano) with her brothers.
Xenia was able to enrich her vocal repertoire at the Hans Eisler Hochschule thanks to professors such as Norma and Thimoty Sharp, Markus Brück, Thomas Michael Allen and Mark Schnaible.
It is in 2012 with the role of Lescaut (Manon de Massenet, adaptation) that Xenia makes her debut in opera, at the Opernloft in Hamburg. She interprets the roles of Flosshilde (Wagner’s Das Rheingold) and of the Kitchen Boy (Dvořák’s Rusalka); then she plays in 2015 and 2016 the famous role of Dorabella (Mozart’s Così fan tutte) at the Hauptstadtopera in Berlin and The Second Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with Prag’s Festspieloper.
In October 2017, she interprets the role of Aunt Lehne during the worldwide contemporary opera creation Luther or the Beggar of Grace by Jean-Jacques Werner. Her passion and her biggest vocal qualities for the “Lied” lead her to regularly perform in recitals in duos or trios with piano, notably in Austria at the Schloss Weinzierl Festival.