Christophe Dumaux
Countertenor
In the New York Times, Anthony Tommasini wrote : “The French countertenor Christophe Dumaux steals every scene he is in as the calculating Ptolemy. His voice is bright, clear and strong. Tall, trim and athletic, he is a natural onstage. In one taunting aria, he executes a full body flip as easily as tossing off a trill”. There is no better way to sum up the qualities of a singer who has conquered the international stages with his exceptional vocal ability, the intensity of his singing and his compelling theatrical presence.
His career has been firmly established in the most important opera houses, concert halls and festivals. In addition to the New York Metropolitan and Berlin Staatsoper, these include Paris Opera, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Vienna Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, Chicago Opera, Salzburg and Glyndebourne Festivals, BBC Proms and many more.
The conductors with whom he has collaborated include some of the most prestigious names: alongside René Jacobs, there are William Christie, Emmanuelle Haïm, Gianluca Capuano, Giovanni Antonini, Harry Bicket, Andrea Marcon, Ivor Bolton, Philippe Jaroussky, Francesco Corti etc.
Among the directors he has worked with are David McVicar, Robert Carsen, Calixto Bieito, Barrie Kosky, David Alden and Richard Jones.
With them, he has tackled the great masterpieces from Monteverdi to Mozart, not forgetting Handel, undoubtedly one of the geniuses whom he has served extensively. Christophe Dumaux recently sang the role of Ottone in Agrippina (Hamburg Opera under the baton of Riccardo Minasi and directed by Barrie Kosky), Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare (La Scala in Milan with Giovanni Antonini and Robert Carsen), the title role in Orlando (Theater an der Wien with Giovanni Antonini again and Claus Guth), Polinesso in Ariodante on several occasions (Wiener Staatsoper with William Christie and David McVicar ; Salzburg Festival with Gianluca Capuano and Christof Loy; Bolshoi Theatre with Gianluca Capuano and David Alden), and Athamas in Semele (Zurich Opera with William Christie and Robert Carsen).
He has also performed other baroque masters such as Vivaldi (Melindo) in La Verità in cimento at the Zurich Opera with Ottavio Dantone and Jan Philipp Gloger or Cavalli (title role in Il Giasone at the Antwerp Opera with Federico Maria Sardelli and Mariame Clément), and Endimione in La Calisto (La Scala in Milan with Christophe Rousset and David McVicar).
Christophe Dumaux is also invited by major symphonic orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He recently sang The Messiah with the Metropolitan Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin at Maison Symphonique of Montréal.
In 2014, Christophe Dumaux sang his first Mozart role with Farnace in Mitridate at Drottningholm in Sweden. He reprised later this role under the conducting of Emmanuelle Haïm with Clément Hervieu Léger as stage director at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Opéra de Dijon.
On last seasons, he was invited once more at Staatsoper Berlin for the title role of Vivaldi’s Il Giustino under the conducting of René Jacobs, at Paris Opera as Polinesso in Ariodante (staging by Robert Carsen / musical direction David Bates). Most notably, he returned to the title role of Giulio Cesare at the Amsterdam Opera, with Emmanuelle Haïm and Calixto Bieito.
During the 2023/24 season, Christophe Dumaux will perform several title roles : at Teatro Real Madrid in Händel’s Orlando, in Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck at Sydney Opera House where he will debut. He will take part of several concert tours where we could listen him in Amsterdam, Paris, Basel, Madrid, Barcelona, Halle, Ambronay Festival with Kamerorchester Basel under the conducting of Giovanni Antonini, (Tolomeo of Händel), with Ensemble Pulcinella under the conducting of Ophélie Gaillard, and with Ensemble Les Accents (Thibault Noally conducting).
His discography features an album dedicated to Bach with the Pulcinella Ensemble, a second one dedicated to Handel (Laurence Cummings with the Göttingen Festival Orchestra) and Pergolesi’s oratorio Septum verbe a Christo with René Jacobs (Harmonia mundi). On DVD, no less than four recordings bear witness to his remarkable portrayals of Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare (Glyndebourne, Theater an der Wien, Salzburg Festival and Paris Opera productions). Also available are Ariodante filmed at the Salzburg Festival and Il Giasone filmed in Antwerp.