The Scene
People
Anne-Catherine Gillet
Anne-Catherine Gillet was born in Belgium. At a very young age, she was being spotted by the direction of Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Liège who offered her a position amongst their resident singers, enabling her to take her earliest operatic roles.
From 2003 she began an on going relationship with the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, where she is continually invited for leading roles.
In 2006, Sir J. E. Gardiner chose her to sing Laoula in Chabrier’s L’Étoile at the Zurich Opera and the Opéra-Comique in Paris.
In 2009, she made her debuts at the Opéra National de Paris.
Her early roles included Sophie (Werther) which she has sung in Liège, Toulon, Lyon and at the Opéra Bastille ; Musetta in Liège, Brussels, Geneva and Bordeaux, Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) in Toulouse, Constance (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Zdenka (Arabella) in Toulouse and Liège.
She went on to expand her repertoire with notable appearances as Despina in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Tourcoing, Toulouse and Palais Garnier in Paris, Susanna in Nice, Toulouse, and Liège. She enjoyed outstanding success as Micaëla at the Opéra-Comique, Marseille and in Beijing.
She has made her own the great Baroque roles of Poppea and Aricie the former under the direction of Christophe Rousset in Toulouse and Ottavio Dantone in Como and Brescia; the latter in Toulouse and at the Paris Opéra with Emmanuelle Haïm.
Anne-Catherine Gillet is currently developing a special affection for French 19th century repertoire, debuting the roles of Cendrillon (Massenet) at La Monnaie, Juliette in Tours, Manon in Lausanne, and Leïla (Les Pêcheurs de Perles) in Nantes-Angers and Liège.
From the more contemporary repertoire, Anne-Catherine has already been engaged for major roles such as Mélisande in Liège, the title roles in L’Héritière and Colombe by J.-M. Damase in Marseille, The Governess (The Turn of the Screw) in Frankfurt, and has she is hailed as one of her generation’s finest exponents of Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites).
Recent highlights include Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel) at Garnier, Oscar (Un Ballo in Maschera) at Les Chorégies d’Orange, Ilia (Idomeneo) in Frankurt, Gilda at La Monnaie and the Bolshoi, Manon in Lausanne, Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) in Monte Carlo, the title role of L’Aiglon (Honegger) with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Leila (Les Pêcheurs de Perles) and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) in Liège, Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore) at la Monnaie…
In upcoming projects, let us mention: Hero (Béatrice et Benedict) and Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites) in Brussels, Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) in Nice, Rosalinde (La Chauve-Souris) in Marseille, Minerva (Il Ritorno d’Ulisse) in Paris and Dijon, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) in Lausanne, Mélisande in Oviedo, Susanna (Nozze di Figaro) in Marseille, Le Domino noir in Liège…
She has worked with such noted conductors as A. Pappano, A. Zedda, P. Davin, J.-C. Malgoire, L. Langrée, J. E. Gardiner, G. Neuhold, M. Armiliato, J.-Y. Ossonce, J. Kout, K. Ono, G. Prêtre, C. Rizzi, M. Plasson, M. Minkowski, E. Pido, Ph. Jordan, M. Soustrot, and A. Altinoglu…
Her discography includes a CD released in october 2011 with works of Barber-Berlioz-Britten (AEON/ ref. AECD 1113), and she appears in DVDs of Carmen (J. E. Gardiner – FraMusica 2009) and Werther at the Bastille (M. Plasson – Decca 2010).