Florence Katz is a contemporary French lyrical artist. A

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

, graduated from the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, she is also a singing teacher at the Conservatory of

Bourg-la-Reine Bourg-la-Reine () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History In 1792, during the French Revolution, Bourg-la-Reine (meaning "Town of the Queen") was renamed Bourg-l'Égalité (meani ...

/ Sceaux. Florence Katz specializes in the French repertoire. She is a recipient of the Darius Milhaud Prize.

Education

A pupil of

Régine Crespin Régine Crespin (23 February 1927 – 5 July 2007) was a French singer who had a major international career in opera and on the concert stage between 1950 and 1989. She started her career singing roles in the dramatic soprano and spinto soprano ...

and

Gabriel Bacquier Gabriel Bacquier (; 17 May 1924 – 13 May 2020) was a French operatic baritone. One of the leading baritones of the 20th century and particularly associated with the French and Italian repertoires, he was considered a fine singing actor equ ...

at the Conservatoire de Paris, Katz completed three years of training at the Studio of the

Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles The Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles (CMBV - ''Centre of Baroque Music Versailles'') is a centre for the study and performance of French Baroque music, based at the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi. It was founded by Philippe Beaussant and Vincent Ber ...

(conducted by

Rachel Yakar Rachel Yakar (born 3 March 1938) is a French soprano. Yakar was born in Lyon, France. She studied under Germaine Lubin at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1963, she made her debut at Strasbourg. For the next twenty years, she was associated with the D ...

and

René Jacobs René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera. Biography Countertenor Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...

, then

Marc Minkowski Marc Minkowski (born 4 October 1962) is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works, and is the current general director of Opéra national de Bordeaux. His mother, Mary Anne (Wade), i ...

), as well as

master class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

es with

Daniel Ferro Daniel Ferro (born Daniel Eisen, 10 April 1921 – 18 November 2015) was an American bass-baritone and voice teacher. He was known primarily as a teacher whose students have included many prominent opera singers,Blier, Steven (August 2003)"A singer ...

Ileana Cotrubas Ileana (also Illeana, Iliana, Eleana, Eliana) is a female given name. It is the feminine form of the male name Elijah. It has been adapted for Romanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Italian and Spanish (in Spanish there is also Ilean and in Romanian Il ...

Suzanne Danco Suzanne Danco (22 January 191110 August 2000), was a Belgian international soprano whose career encompassed the opera stages of Europe from Mozart to 20th century roles, recitals, recordings of opera and songs, and later teaching.Shawe-Taylor, D ...

Irène Joachim Irène Joachim (13 March 1913 - 20 April 2001) was a French soprano, and later a vocal teacher. Early life Daughter of German officer Herman Joachim and French violinist Suzanne Chaigneau, and granddaughter of the violinist Joseph Joachim, she l ...

Gérard Lesne Gérard Lesne (; born 15 July 1956) is a French countertenor. He is also the founder and artistic director of the baroque music ensemble, Il Seminario Musicale. Life and career Gérard Lesne was born in Montmorency, Val-d'Oise. He was originall ...

Janine Reiss Janine Reiss (23 November 1921 – 2 June 2020) was a French singing teacher and harpsichordist. Biography A harpsichordist by training, Reiss specialised in the 1960s in preparing international opera singers for the French repertoire. For ...

Gérard Souzay Gérard Souzay (8 December 1918 – 17 August 2004) was a French baritone, regarded as one of the very finest interpreters of mélodie (French art song) in the generation after Charles Panzéra and Pierre Bernac. Background and education He wa ...

... Florence Katz sang under the direction of

Jonathan Darlington Jonathan Philip Darlington (born 1956 in Lapworth, England) is a British conductor, Music Director Emeritus of the Vancouver Opera and the former Music Director of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He is known for his broad repertoire of both ...

Emmanuelle Haïm Emmanuelle Haïm (; born 11 May 1962) is a French harpsichordist and conductor with a particular interest in early music and Baroque music. Early life, student and assistant years Haïm was born and grew up in Paris, and was raised Catholic al ...

, Marc Minkowski,

Manuel Rosenthal Manuel Rosenthal (18 June 1904 – 5 June 2003) was a French composer and conductor who held leading positions with musical organizations in France and America. He was friends with many contemporary composers, and despite a considerable list of c ...

Christophe Rousset Christophe Rousset (; born 12 April 1961) is a French harpsichordist and conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and European music of the 17th and 18 ...

Marc Soustrot Marc Soustrot (born 15 April 1949) is a French classical conductor. He was the music director of the Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire from 1976 to 1994, and from 1995 to 2003 GMD of the Beethoven Orchester Bonn which plays in both opera ...

... with the complicity of pianists David Abramovitz, Solange Chiapparin, Jeff Cohen, Serge Cyferstein,

Billy Eidi Billy Eidi (born in 1955) is a French classical pianist of Lebanese background. Biography Born in Egypt, Eidi did his first musical studies at the Beirut Conservatory (in the classes of Zafer Dabaghi and Leila Aouad), where he graduated at fifte ...

Marie-Catherine Girod Marie-Catherine Girod (born 19 August 1949) is a French classical pianist. Biography Born in Peyrehorade, Girod studied piano at the Conservatoire de musique de Bordeaux, then at the Conservatoire de Paris where she entered Jules Gentil's cla ...

Christian Ivaldi Christian Ivaldi (born 2 September 1938) is a French pianist. Ivaldi was born in Paris. He studied at the Paris Conservatory with Jacques Février and took a Premier Prix in piano performance, as well as in chamber music, counterpoint, and accom ...

, Maciej Pikulski,

Alain Planès Alain Planès (Lyon, 20 January 1948) is a French classical pianist. He started playing the piano when he was 5 years, and began playing with an orchestra at 8 years old. He studied in Lyon, and then in Paris with Jacques Février, and was the solo ...

, Mercedes Proteau, Laure Rivierre, Marie-Pascale Talbot,

Alexandre Tharaud Alexandre Tharaud (born 9 December 1968) is a French pianist. He is active on the concert stage and has released a large and diverse discography. Life and career Born in Paris, Tharaud discovered the music scene through his mother who was a danc ...

Jean-François Zygel Jean-François Zygel (born 23 November 1960) is a French pianist, improviser, composer and improvisation teacher for piano at the Conservatoire de Paris. Born in Paris, he is also known for his work in introducing classical music on television a ...

... and with

Leonie Rysanek Leopoldine Rysanek (14 November 1926 – 7 March 1998) was an Austrian dramatic soprano. Life Rysanek was born in Vienna and made her operatic debut in 1949 in Innsbruck. In 1951 the Bayreuth Festival reopened and the new leader Wieland Wa ...

Lucia Valentini Terrani Lucia Valentini Terrani (29 August 1946 in Padua – 11 June 1998 in Seattle) was an Italian coloratura mezzo-soprano, particularly associated with Rossini roles. Life and career Born Lucia Valentini, she studied first at the Padua Music Co ...

Rockwell Blake Rockwell Blake (born January 10, 1951) is an American operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in Rossini operas. He was the first winner of the Richard Tucker Award. Biography Born and raised in Plattsburgh, NY, Blake was the son of a m ...

Ruggero Raimondi Ruggero Raimondi (born 3 October 1941) is an Italian bass-baritone opera singer who has also appeared in motion pictures. Life and career Early training and career Ruggero Raimondi was born in Bologna, Italy, during World War II. His voice matu ...

... Katz performed in Paris (Auditorium du Louvre, Invalides, Musée d'Orsay,

Opéra-comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

Opéra Bastille The Opéra Bastille (, "Bastille Opera House") is a modern opera house in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. Inaugurated in 1989 as part of President François Mitterrand's '' Grands Travaux'', it became the main facility of the Paris N ...

Salle Cortot Salle is the French word for 'hall', 'room' or 'auditorium', as in: *Salle des Concerts Herz, a former Paris concert hall *Salle Favart, theatre of the Paris Opéra-Comique *Salle Le Peletier, former home of the Paris Opéra *Salle Pleyel, a Paris ...

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by acoustician Gustave Lyon together with architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed in 1927 by ...

, Sorbonne,...), Versailles (Opéra du château, Trianon, Théâtre de la Reine, Théâtre Montansier...), Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Lille, Lyon, Strasbourg, Geneva, Munich, Dresde, Madrid, Kiev...

Prizes and distinctions

* Singing and Art lyrique prizes of the Conservatoire de Paris * Prix Honegger and SACEM at the international competition of French melodists * 1st Prize unanimously at the Darius Milhaud competition * Prix Roussel at the international competition of

La Plaine-sur-Mer La Plaine-sur-Mer (; br, Plaen-Raez) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. Population See also *Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department The following is a list of the 207 communes of the Loire-Atlantique ...

* Winner, unanimously, of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation * Winner of the "forum de la mélodie et du Lied" (organised by the Culture Ministry)

Concerts

* Debut at 22 years at the

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

, as ''

La Périchole ''La Périchole'' () is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the French libretto based on the 1829 one act play '' Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement'' by Prosper Mérimée, which was revived on ...

'', directed by

Jérôme Savary Jérôme Savary (27 June 1942 – 4 March 2013) was an Argentinian-French theater director and actor. His work has democratized and widened the appeal of musical theater in France, drawing together and blending such genres as opera, operetta, and m ...

. * Roles of Dorabella (''

Cosi fan tutte Cosi, COSI or CoSi may refer to: * ''Così'', a 1992 play by Louis Nowra ** ''Cosi'' (film), 1996, based on the play * Così (restaurant), an American fast-casual restaurant chain * Compton Spectrometer and Imager, or COSI, a NASA telescope to be ...

'' / Mozart), Metella ('' La Vie parisienne'' / Offenbach), Sorceress (''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was co ...

'' / Purcell)... * Recitals with piano or instrumental ensembles, in France and Europe.

Discography

* Gabriel Fauré / Ernest Chausson. ''Mélodies sur des poètes symbolistes'' (Lyrinx) * Darius Milhaud. ''Alissa et autres poèmes en prose'' (Timpani) * Maurice Emmanuel. Integral melodies (Timpani) * Guy Sacre. Melodies (Timpani) * Gabriel Dupont. Integral melodies (Timpani) * Maurice Emmanuel. XXX chansons bourguignonnes (

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...

) *

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...

. 6 poems by Jean Cocteau / Darius Milhaud. ''Les machines agricoles'' (Naxos) *

André Jolivet André Jolivet (; 8 August 1905 – 20 December 1974) was a French composer. Known for his devotion to French culture and musical thought, Jolivet drew on his interest in acoustics and atonality, as well as both ancient and modern musical influe ...

: Poems for the child (and other works) (ADDA) * Darius Milhaud: Vocal quartets (ADDA) * Monic Cecconi-Botella: ''Le Tombeau de Van Gogh''.''Le Tombeau de Van Gogh''
on Worlcat (REM) * Monteverdi, Rossini, Fauré. Soundtrack of the film '' The sentinel'' by A. Desplechin (Delabel / Virgin Musique) * Jean-Philippe Rameau: ''

Hippolyte et Aricie ('' Hippolytus and Aricia'') was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was premiered to great controversy by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé Sim ...

'' - role of Oenone (Arkiv prod./Deutsche Grammophon)

References

External links

Official website

Florence Katz
on Viadeo.com

on ''

La Dépêche du Midi ''La Dépêche'', formally ''La Dépêche du Midi'', is a regional daily newspaper published in Toulouse in Southwestern France with seventeen editions for different areas of the Midi-Pyrénées region. The main local editions are for Toulouse, ...

'' (21 September 2016)
Florence Katz discography
on

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Florence Katz
on AllMusic
Florence Katz
on data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Florence French operatic mezzo-sopranos Conservatoire de Paris alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Agen