After shining over the baroque stage for over a decade, Véronique Gens has achieved a strong international reputation and is now considered one of the best Mozart singers. One of her most prominent roles, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni staged by Peter Brook and conducted by Claudio Abbado at the Aix-en-Provence Festival earned her worldwide recognition.
In 1999, she was chosen Lyrical Performer of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique Classique.
Her repertoire includes the greatest Mozart parts (Donna Elvira, Contessa Almaviva, Vitellia, Fiordiligi…), famous roles from lyrical tragedies (Iphigénie en Tauride, Iphigénie en Aulide, Alceste…) as well as later ones such as Alice Ford (Falstaff), Eva (Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Madame Lidoine (Dialogues des Carmélites), Hélène (La Belle Hélène), Missia Palmeri (Die Lustige Witwe).
In addition to her wide-ranging classical repertoire, Véronique Gens gives numerous concerts and French melodies recitals all over the world, notably in Paris, Amsterdam, Dresden, Berlin, Vienna, Prague, London, Tanglewood, Beijing, Stockholm, Moscow, Geneva or Edimburgh.
She has performed on the most prestigious stages in the world: Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, Paris National Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, La Monnaie in Brussels, Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro Real in Madrid, La Scala in Milan, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam as well as at the Festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg and Glyndebourne.
Véronique Gens thus had the opportunity to sing under the baton of conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Alain Altinoglu, Bertrand de Billy, Ivor Bolton, Jonathan Cohen, William Christie, Myung-Whun Chung, Charles Dutoit, Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Marek Janowski, Philippe Jordan, Louis Langrée, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Sir Neville Marriner, Marc Minkowski, Jérémie Rhorer, Christophe Rousset, Daniele Rustioni, Michel Plasson… and to collaborate with renowned stage directors like Pierre Audi, Calixto Bieito, Peter Brook, Willy Decker, Jurgen Flimm, Claus Guth, Michael Haneke, Christof Loy, Olivier Py, Graham Vick, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Dmitri Tcherniakov…
More recently, she sang in Alceste at the Wiener Staatsoper, La Belle Hélène at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Don Giovanni in Amsterdam, at the Wiener Staatsoper, at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and at the Liceu in Barcelona, La Clemenza di Tito in Dresden and at the Wiener Staatsoper, Falstaff at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Les Indes Galantes in Budapest, Alceste, Iphigénie en Tauride, Die lustige Witwe, Les Troyens and Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Giulietta) at the Paris National Opera, Dialogues des Carmélites in Paris, Caen and at La Monnaie in Brussels, Faust in an original concert version of 1859 revisited by Christophe Rousset, La Fille de Madame Angot and Maître Péronilla (Leona) by Offenbach at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, La Calisto at la Scala… In concert, she sang melodies by Henri Duparc with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Le Poème de l’Amour et de la Mer by Ernest Chausson with the Orchestre National de Lille and with the Mitteldeutscher Sinfonieorchester, the Orchestre national de Lyon and the Orchestre de Cannes. Les Nuits d’été with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra,the Orchestre national des Pays de Loire and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, La Voix humaine by Francis Poulenc at the Atelier Lyrique in Tourcoing, Shéhérazade by Maurice Ravel under the baton of Daniele Rustioni in Lyon, at the Festival Estoril in Lisbon, in Oslo with Vassily Petrenko and Berlin with the Wiener Symphoniker, the Wesendonck Lieder with the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées under the baton of Philippe Herreweghe, La Nonne sanglante by Berlioz at the Festival de la Côte-Saint-André, La Mort de Cléopâtre with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and the Orchestre national de Metz, melodies by Berlioz with the Orchestre de Picardie, Armide in Brussels, Metz and at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Mahler Rückert-Lieder in Nancy and Brussels, Shéhérazade at the Musikverein in Vienna, Saint-Saëns Requiem with the Orchestre National de France, Circé by Desmarets Ariane et Bacchus by Marin Marais with Concert Spirituel, Scylla et Glaucus (Circé) by Leclair in Budapest and Rivales with the Concert de la loge in Metz, Massy and at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Zoroastre (Erinice) on tour with Les Ambassadeurs and Hulda by César Franck with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège.
Her noteworthy projects in the upcoming seasons Armide by Gluck at the Opéra Comique, Dialogues des Carmélites (Madame Lidoine) in Munich, La Fille de Madame Angot at the Opéra Comique and Iphigénie en Aulide at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence… In concert, she will sing Iphigénie en Tauride (Clytemnestre) by Campra with the Concert Spirituel, Castor et Pollux (Phébée) and Werther (Charlotte) in Budapest, Les Nuits d’été with the Orquesta Sinfónica by Galicia, Faust et Hélène by Lili Boulanger at the Edinburgh Festival as well as La Mort de Cléopâtre at the Cologne Philharmonic with Les Siècles, La Voix humaine with the National Orchestra de Lille, the title role of Médée by Charpentier with the Spiritual Concert. We will also hear her in recital with piano and with the ensemble Les Surprises or with I Giardini in Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Reims, London…
Very involved in the work lead by the Palazzetto Bru Zane Foundation – French Romantic Music Center, Véronique Gens participated to a lot of recordings belonging to the collection “Opéra français” as Herculanum by David, Cinq-Mars by Gounod, La Jacquerie by Lalo and Coquard, Proserpine by Saint-Saëns, Dante by Godard, La Reine de Chypre by Halévy and Faust by Gounod, Passionnément by Messager, Ô mon bel inconnu by Hahn, Maître Péronilla by Offenbach, La Fille de Madame Angot by Charles Lecocq…
Her many recordings (over 80 CDs and DVDs) have received several international awards. Néère, her recording devoted to French melodies, has won a Gramophone Award in 2016. Visions received an International Classic Music Awards as well as an International Opera Awards in 2018.
Véronique Gens has been promoted to the rank of Chevalier in the French order of Légion d’Honneur as well as Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres.
