Ludovic Tézier and Cassandra Berthon

Ludovic Tézier – barytone
Cassandra Berthon – soprano
Czech National Symphony Orchestra
Rastislav Štúr – conductor

Our 2024 opera feast, which will be launched by three starry tenors at the beginning of the year, continues to grow. You already know about the fourth famous tenor – Benjamin Bernheim – and we were wondering if it isn't time for a baritone, too! In this vocal field, we chose to bring you the best; Ludovic Tézier, for over ten years a leading Verdi baritone on world opera stages.

However, it was a different composer who attracted Tézier to the world of opera. The singer recalled in an interview that even though he grew up in a family that loved music, they did not have enough funds for tickets to theaters. He did not visit an opera performance until the age of 13, in his native Marseille. It was Wagner's Parsifal that completely captivated the young boy: "A whole new world opened up to me...".

His first professional engagements took him to opera houses in Lucerne and Lyon, where he devoted himself mainly to the Mozart and the bel canto repertoire. Since 2010 he has gradually started to build up a reputation as the best Verdi singer. Anyone who heard his Don Carlo (La forza del destino), Amonasro (Aida), Rigoletto, Posa (Don Carlos), Luna (Il trovatore), Simon Boccanegra, etc., does not doubt for a second that this is the true Verdi voice! Teziér's repertoire also includes French, German and Russian roles, in which the singer is a guest on the world's most important stages.

In Prague, he will perform along with the French soprano Cassandra Berthon. They are partners both in life and on the stage: they often perform together in concerts (recitals in Salle Gaveau, Paris and at the Savonlinna Festival) and as well as opera performances: Verdi's Rigoletto and Massenet's Manon (Paris Opera), Massenet's Thaïs (Monte Carlo), Il trovatore (Teatro Real in Madrid), etc.

Program and cast

Programme

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)
Crudel! Perché finora farmi languir così? (Il Conte & Susanna)
Le nozze di Figaro, Act III
Ludovic Tézier & Cassandre Berthon

Giunse alfin il momento... Deh vieni, non tardar (Susanna)
Le nozze di Figaro, Act IV
Cassandre Berthon

HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803–1869)
Voici des roses (Méphistophélès)
La damnation de Faust, Part II
Ludovic Tézier

Le spectre de la rose
from the song cycle Les nuits d’été
Cassandre Berthon

JACQUES OFFENBACH (1819–1880)
Scintille, diamant (Dapertutto)
Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Act II
Ludovic Tézier

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Là ci darem la mano (Don Giovanni & Zerlina)
Don Giovanni, Act I
Ludovic Tézier & Cassandre Berthon

AMBROISE THOMAS (1811–1896)
Doute de la lumière (Hamlet & Ophélie)
Hamlet, Act I
Ludovic Tézier & Cassandre Berthon

HENRI DUPARC (1848–1933)
L’invitation au voyage
Ludovic Tézier

FRANCESCO PAOLO TOSTI (1846–1916)
Chanson de l’adieu
Ludovic Tézier

GIOACHINO ROSSINI (1792–1868)
Sois immobile (Guillaume Tell)
Guillaume Tell, Act III
Ludovic Tézier

GIUSEPPE VERDI (1813–1901)
Ah, je meurs, l’âme joyeuse (Rodrigue)
Don Carlos, Act IV
Ludovic Tézier

Program is subject to change