Soloists

Stéphane Degout

A graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon and member of the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Lyon, Stéphane Degout quickly came to international attention in his debut as Papageno at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Since then, he has appeared on the world’s major operatic stages, namely the Opéra de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Opéra Comique, Berlin Staatsoper, La Monnaie, Theater an der Wien, Royal Opera House, Lyric Opera Chicago, Metropolitan Opera, the Teatro alla Scala, and the Bayerische Staatsoper. His numerous festival appearances include Salzburg, Saint Denis, Glyndebourne, Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh and in Tokyo and Los Angeles.

Notable roles have included Oreste (Iphigénie en Tauride), Wolfram (Tannhaüser), Raimbaud (Comte Ory), Thésée (Hippolyte & Aricie), Dandini (Cenerentola), Mercutio (Roméo & Juliette), Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte), Chorèbe (Les Troyens), il Comte Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Valentin (Faust), Rodrigue (Don Carlos), which he recently sang at the Opéra National de Lyon and the title roles in Thomas’ Hamlet, Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Conti’s Don Chisciotte and Ulisse in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. His natural affiliation with Debussy’s Pelléas has proven him to be one of the leading interpreters of this role.

As a recitalist, Stéphane Degout is renowned for his highly sensitive interpretations of French melody and German Lieder. He has worked a lot on this under the guidance of Ruben Lifschitz and has toured internationally in Amsterdam, Paris, London, Berlin, Brussels and New York. In concert he has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Riccardo Muti and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen. At the Monnaie he sang Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Fauré’s Requiem under Alain Altinoglu, works which he has also sung with the Orchestre National de France under Emmanuel Krivine. His collaborations also include René Jacobs, Marc Minkowski, John Nelson, Raphaël Pichon and Charles Dutoit.

His dedication to the art has seen him create numerous operatic roles in works such as Benoît Mernier’s La Dispute and Philippe Boesmans’ Au Monde and Pinocchio. Most recently he has appeared as The King in George Benjamin’s new production Lessons in Love and Violence – a role which was written specifically for his voice. A reprise of this production was also performed last season at the Dutch National Opera.

Stéphane Degout’s recordings include Werther, Così fan tutte, Pelléas et Mélisande, Le Comte Ory, Hippolyte & Aricie and Les Boréades. He has also recorded Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem (piano version), Fauré’s Requiem, La Bohème for Deutsche Grammophon and Les Troyens for Erato. His solo disc ‘Mélodies’ for Naïve and album ‘Histoires Naturelles’ for B Records (which received a ‘ffff’ rating from Telerama) are dedicated to the pieces from the melodic repertoire of his native France. His 2018 album ‘Enfers’ (Harmonia Lundi) featuring Pygmalion and directed by Raphael Pichon was critically acclaimed to the highest level and received a ‘diamond’ from Opera Magazine, a ‘ffff’ rating from Telerama, a Choc de Classica and won at the International Opera Awards in the category of ‘Recording (solo recital). Degout continued his collaborative streak with Harmonia Mundi, recording ‘Debussy - Harmonie du Soir’, which received le choix de France Musique, a ‘diamond’ from Opera Magazine, a Gramophone Recording of the Month and a German Record Critics’ Award. His recent recording alongside Les Siècles of Les nuits d’été by Berlioz was directed by François-Xavier Roth and received a ‘ffff’ rating from Telerama. Stéphane won the Grand Prix du Disque Charles Cros 2019 for these three recordings.

In 2012, he was appointed ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’; a prestigious award which recognises ‘significant contribution to the enrichment of French cultural heritage’. The same year saw him named ‘Lyrical Artist of the Year’ at the Victoires de la Musique Classique awards ceremony, an accolade which he also won at the 26th ceremony in 2019.

The 2019/20 season will start in Japan, where he is touring with the Royal Opera House, at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan and then to Yokohama with Faust. Stéphane will give recitals across Europe with accompanists Alain Planès, Simon Lepper and Cédric Tiberghien; he will also return to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with Nozze di Figaro and then to the Operhaus Zurich for Iphigénie en Tauride. He is continuing his collaborative streak with Harmonia Mundi and will soon be releasing a CD of Lieder and ballads with Simon Lepper.