Three stars of the opera stage to thrill us with Carmen the rebel, Rosina the ingenue and Don Giovanni the seducer... or when theater and voices merge for our greatest pleasure.
At the Opera
Odile Heimburger
Odile Heimburger’s voice was noticed by pianist Jeff Cohen during a chamber music academy when she was a violinist, holder of 2 First Prizes and a Bachelor of Violin. He urged her to take up opera.
She immediately entered London’s Royal College of Music in singing and violin (2003), then the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (2007). There, she obtained a Master’s degree in singing with honors, under the tutelage of Yvonne Kenny, Philip Doghan and Sarah Walker. She worked on roles and competitions with Mady Mesplé, Annick Massis, Raul Gimenez in Barcelona and Regina Werner Dietrich in Leipzig.
Winner of numerous international competitions (Prix Opéra Canari under the presidency of Gabriel Bacquier, 1st Operetta Prize at the Marseille International Competition, Prix du Public Alain Fondary, Prix Contemporain Enescu under the presidency of Viorica Cortez, winner of the Vincenzo Bellini Competition), she quickly won numerous roles as a coloratura and lyric coloratura.
Her sure technique and expressiveness enabled her to interpret such leading roles as : Cleopatra and Morgana in Handel, the Queen of the Night in Mozart, the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor and Marie in Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment, Amina in Bellini’s Sonnambulade, Olympia in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Cunégonde in Bernstein’s Candide, Zerbinetta in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos…. In the French repertoire, she sings Lakmé, Juliette and Ophelia in Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet. Her ease in the Queen of the Night and Cunégonde led to international tours in which she alternated between opera, musical comedy and jazz.
Her “remarkable voice, with its magnificent projection and sensual high notes” (Forum Opera) received rave reviews for the show “A la Folie”. Featuring all the greatest coloratura soprano arias, this vocal and stage performance has been touring regularly since 2019 (Festival Nancyphonies, Paris, London, Lucca, Perugia, Stuttgart, Barcelona, Strasbourg, Chaumont, Mulhouse…).
An associate artist of the Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse, she was heard alongside cellist Gautier Capuçon in Michel Tabachnik’s creation, “Sumer”, conducted by himself at the Filature de Mulhouse (2019).
Much appreciated for her talents as an actress and classical or electro violinist, she is also passionate about contemporary creation. For example, she was chosen to play the role of “Estelle” in Lazare’s “Je m’appelle Ismaël”, premiered at the Théâtre National de Strasbourg, “Coup de cœur Arte”, presented at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, then on tour across France. She also sings in the Diptych “Von Heute auf Morgen” by Schoenberg / “Les trois baisers du diable” by Offenbach at the Théâtre de l’Athénée in Paris, and in “Flaubert Beethoven” by Carine Piazzi and Oswald Sallaberger on tour in France.
Regularly in demand for her improvisational talents, including in contemporary and digital music, she also appears on television in “Mystère à l’Opéra” alongside Mathilda May. In the cinema, she was the voice of the film “Un illustre inconnu” with Mathieu Kassovitz.
Marie-Claude Chappuis
Marie-Claude Chappuis is one of the most sought-after mezzo-sopranos of her generation.
Twice nominated for a Grammy Award, she also won a Swiss Music Award nomination and the Prix du Midem. She regularly sings under the baton of the greatest conductors, including Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti, Emmanuelle Haïm, René Jacobs, Christophe Rousset, Giovanni Antonini, Daniele Gatti and Daniel Harding.
Among the many highlights of her career are the role of Idamante in Mozart’s “Idomeneo” under Nikolaus Harnoncourt in Graz and Zurich, the Contessa in Paisiello’s opera “Il matrimonio inaspettato” at the Salzburg Festival under Riccardo Muti, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Riccardo Chailly in Leipzig and London, the role of Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas under Emmanuelle Haïm at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Roger Norrington at the London Festival Hall, the role of Dorabella in Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” at the Salzburg Festival with the Wiener Philharmoniker, and Ottavia in Monteverdi’s “l’Incoronazione di Poppea” at the Staatsoper Berlin and at La Monnaie in Brussels under René Jacobs.
She is regularly invited to sing as soloist with the Orchestre de la Suisse romande, the Freiburger Barock Orchester, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Maggio Fiorentino, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Il Giardino Armonico, Les Talens lyriques and Le Concert d’Astrée.
Her vast repertoire, her mastery of musical styles ranging from Monteverdi to contemporary creations, and her wide tessitura enable her to interpret a wide variety of roles, as well as singing Lieder, oratorios and opera.
Her discography includes several recordings with René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi) and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra: La Clemenza di Tito, La finta giardiniera, and Mozart’s Requiem. With René Jacobs and the Akademie für alte Musik Berlin, she recorded Bach’s Mass in B, Telemann’s Brockes-Passion and the role of Anima in Cavalieri’s Rappresentatione di Corpo et Anima (Harmonia Mundi). She sings the viola part in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion conducted by Riccardo Chailly with the St. Thomas Children’s Choir and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.
Solo albums include Sous l’empire d’Amour (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi) with lutenist Luca Pianca, Au coeur des Alpes, chants traditionnels suisses (Sony Classical), Clérambault Les Fables de La Fontaine (B-Records) and the album Aber die Liebe… devoted to Johannes Brahms with pianist Christian Chamorel and the Sine Nomine quartet (Prospero 2023).
Nikolay Borchev
Baritone Nikolay Borchev began his career at an early age as principal soloist at the Bavarian State Opera. After several seasons in Munich, he joined the Vienna State Opera. Under both names, he sang numerous leading roles, including “Papageno”/”Die Zauberflöte”, “Guglielmo”/”Così fan tutte” and “Figaro”/”Il Barbiere di Siviglia”.
An exceptional musician, he has developed a vast repertoire in just a few years, and thanks to his vocal and artistic qualities and irresistible stage presence, he has become a regular guest in the world’s greatest opera houses, concert halls and recital halls.
Future projects include a “Die Solodaten” concert tour with the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne to Hamburg, Paris and Cologne, an “Orfeo” concert tour with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra (René Jacobs) and his return to the Bavarian State Opera.
Nikolay Borchev was born in Pinsk, Belarus, and began his musical education at the age of seven with piano, flute and organ. At the age of sixteen, he began studying singing at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, then continued his studies in Berlin at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler. He has won numerous international vocal competitions. Since September 2020, Nikolay Borchev has been teaching voice at the Hochschule für Musik Rostock, and since 2021, at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg.
Todd Camburn
Todd Camburn is a Swiss-American pianist specializing in opera and vocal accompaniment. He has been engaged as pianist and vocal conductor at Santa Fe Opera, Norske Opera Oslo, Aachen Opera, Mannheim Theater, Seattle Wagner Festival, Monte Carlo Opera, Salzburg Festival and has been invited to the Tanglewood Festival for Lied interpretation. In 1996, he was appointed conductor at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, a position he held for twenty-three years. In addition to numerous chamber music concerts, notably with members of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and numerous concerts broadcast on radio and television in French-speaking Switzerland, Todd Camburn has accompanied renowned singers, including Marie-Claude Chappuis, Marina Viotti, Sonya Yoncheva, Solenn’ Lavanant, Benoît Capt, Franco Pomponi, and Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet. In recent years, he has been pianist and accompanist at various Lied festivals in Switzerland, France and Italy. In 2004, he was appointed Professor of Accompaniment at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne (HEMU).
Musicians:
– Odile Heimburger, soprano
– Marie-Claude Chappuis, mezzo-soprano
– Nikolay Borchev, baritone
– Todd Camburn, piano
<Program:
– Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Cosi fan tutte – Duo Dorabella and Fiordiligi
– Albert Lortzing | Der Wildschütz – Recitative and Air du Comte
– Anton Dvorak | Rusalka – Air de Rusalka
– Gioacchino Rossini | Il barbiere di Siviglia – Air de Rosina
– Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Cosi fan tutte – Duo Dorabella and Guglielmo, La clemenza di Tito – Trio Vitellia, Sesto and Publio, Don Giovanni – Duo Zerlina and Don Giovanni
– Georges Bizet | Carmen – Air de Carmen, Carmen -Air de Micaëla
– Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Eugen Onegin – Air d’Onegin
– Jules Massenet | Werther – Air de Charlotte, Manon – Air de Manon et Gavotte
– Gaetano Donizetti | L’elisir d’amore – Duo Adina and Dulcamara
– Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Cosi fan tutte – Trio Fiordiligi, Dorabella and Alfonso
Opening hours
Doors open at 18:30.
Accessibility
Prestations
Prices
- Single rate: CHF 60.-
Category B
- Single rate: CHF 45.-
Category C
- Adult: CHF 35.-
- Student: CHF 15.-
- Children under 15: CHF 10.-
Festival pass :
- Category A = CHF 276.-
- Category B = CHF 216.-
- Category C = CHF 176.-
The festival subscription includes 5 church concerts (excluding children's shows) + 1 temple concert.
Payment methods
- Twint
- Bank/credit card
- Online payment