Marie-Nicole Lemieux

Werther - Montpellier

Charlotte only married Albert out of duty but continues to love Werther without admitting it to herself and even less to him. The young man despairs at seeing his advances rejected and will not taste the love that the young woman comes to confess too late. Adapted from Goethe's novel, Jules Massenet's opera Werther is a jewel of French lyric repertoire. Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier Occitanie shares the sober and elegant staging by Bruno Ravella – his Rosenkavalier was recently enjoyed on OperaVision – and invites the famous Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux to sing Charlotte for the first time, alongside a young and almost exclusively French-speaking cast conducted by Jean-Marie Zietouni.

Falstaff

Live from Glyndebourne 2009

Mikko Franck with Marie-Nicole Lemieux

Mikko Franck invites counter-alto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Maîtrise de Radio France to perform works by Dutilleux, Mahler and Strauss.

Pelléas et Mélisande

The opera that Claude Debussy created from Maurice Maeterlinck’s symbolist drama stands as one of the greatest achievements in the history of musical theatre.

Berlioz: Les Troyens

This release from Erato consists of highlights from the live concert of April 15, 2017 in the city of Strasbourg in eastern France. A magnificent cast of singers, predominantly Francophone, assembled under the baton of John Nelson, an acknowledged master of Berlioz’s music who has conducted Les Troyens more frequently than anyone else over a period of more than 40 years; he made his name with the piece when he led performances at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1974 and enjoyed great acclaim for a production at the Frankfurt Opera shortly before the Strasbourg concerts.

The Metropolitan Opera: Falstaff

Baritone Michael Volle stars as the caddish knight Falstaff, gleefully tormented by a trio of clever women who deliver his comeuppance, in Verdi’s glorious Shakespearean comedy. Maestro Daniele Rustioni takes the podium to oversee a brilliant ensemble cast that features sopranos Hera Hyesang Park and Ailyn Pérez, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, tenor Bogdan Volkov, and baritone Christopher Maltman.

Arthur Honegger - Jeanne D'Arc Au Bucher

Born Oscar-Arthur Honegger (the first name was never used) in Le Havre, France, he initially studied harmony and violin in Paris, and after a brief period in Zürich, returned there to study with Charles-Marie Widor and Vincent d'Indy. He continued to study through the 1910s, before writing the ballet Le dit des jeux du monde in 1918, generally considered to be his first characteristic work.

Handel: Jephtha

When Jephthah, a biblical parable adapted from the Book of Judges, begins, the people of Israel are under the yoke of neighbouring nations which pillage and oppress them. Jephthah, destined to become their saviour, has grown up in the desert until becoming a powerful military leader. On leaving for battle, he swears to the god Jehovah that he will sacrifice the first person he meets on his way home. Alas, as he returns victorious, it is Iphis, his only daughter, who comes to meet him… Claus Guth directs this oratorio in which grief‑stricken voices interweave as they confront an apocalyptic situation.