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showing an unexpected loyalty to Handel: the composer who introduced Italian opera to England. In the Spring of 1735 Handel was in conflict with a rival company and on the verge of bankruptcy, but he achieved a resounding success with his opera Alcina. With a libretto based on Ariosto’s popular romance, a story full of fantastic scenes and surprises, Handel has never brought a more profound humanity to his characters, especially in their romantic misadventures. The beautiful melodies in this score have stood the test of time, and have now been restored to their original brilliance by Diego Fas.
supports the choir of the Opéra de LausanneTrained in Zurich, Paris and Cremona, Diego Fasolis began his career as a concert organist, performing brilliant complete works by Bach, Buxtehude, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Franck and Liszt, before turning to conducting. Since 1993, he has been at the helm of the Coro della Radiotelevisione svizzera and since 1998 of the ensemble I Barocchisti. He has conducted more than 250 works, from the Renaissance to the 20th century, which he has often brought to light himself. For this he was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI in recognition of his commitment to sacred music. A regular guest at the Salzburg Festival, he conducts Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Musikverein with the Vienna Concentus Musicus and the Arnold Schönberg Choir. More recently, La Scala commissioned him to create an orchestra playing on period instruments, which he then conducted in Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno. In 2017, he also conducted Tamerlano there with Plácido Domingo. Among his recent or future engagements: La finta giardiniera at La Scala and Shanghai, L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Berlin Staatsoper, La sonnambula at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Paër’s Agnese and Così fan tutte at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Dorilla in Tempe at La Fenice, Il turco in Italia at La Scala, Cherubini’s Lo sposo di tre, e marito di nessuna at the Florence Opera, Vivaldi’s Farnace at the Teatro Malibran in Venice, Handel’s Alessandro with the Kammerorchester Basel in Göttingen, Paris and Basel. In 2019, Diego Fasolis was nominated in the “Conductor of the Year” category at the International Opera Awards.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Faramondo (2009), Rinaldo (2011), Farnace (2011), L’Artaserse (2012), Dorilla in Tempe (2014), Die Zauberflöte (2015), Ariodante (2016), La clemenza di Tito (2018), Orpheus and Eurydice (2019), Meyerbeer’s Gli amori di Teolinda (2019) and Alcina (2022).
In search of a rigorous aesthetic and conceptual unity for a theater founded on all the arts, Stefano Poda has always developed his own language by combining the functions of director, set and costume designer, lighting designer, as well as choreographer. In 2019, he received the Claude Rostand Prize for his production of Ariane et Barbe-Bleue (Dukas) at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse. He has directed more than 100 productions worldwide, including: the new production of Tosca (2021) at the Bolshoi in Moscow; Nabucco, opening at the National Theatre of Korea in 2021 and at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (2020/22); Romeo and Juliet (2018) at the NCPA in Beijing; Boris Godunov (2017) and Andrea Chénier (2015) at the National Opera of Korea; Mahler’s Fosca and Titan at the São Paulo Municipal Theater (2016); L’elisir d’amore in Strasbourg (2016); Otello in Budapest (2015); Tristan und Isolde at the opening of the 77th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. His Faust (2015), Turandot (2018) (DVD C Major) and Thaïs (DVD and Blu-ray Arthaus) at the Teatro Regio in Turin, have been released in cinemas around the world.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Ariodante and Faust (2016), Lucia de Lammermoor (2017, broadcast by Arte TV), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (2019) and Alcina (2022)
The Dutch soprano has been leading a brilliant international career in opera and concert for several years now, inviting her to the main stages of the world – Scala in Milan, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, Salzburg Festival, Edinburgh Festival… Among her current engagements, we can mention: Madame Herz in Mozart’s Schauspieldirektor, Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots and projects around Elizabeth I of England and bel canto at La Monnaie in Brussels, a stage version of Bach’s St. John Passion at Châtelet, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and Strauss Lieder with the Hague Residence Orchestra, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Munich Philharmonic, excerpts from Così fan tutte (Fiordiligi) in concert version at the Schlosstheater in Potsdam, as well as Handel’s Il delirio amoroso with the Spanish National Orchestra in Madrid.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Lucia de Lammermoor (2017) and Gli amori di Teolinda by Meyerbeer (2019).
A star in the countertenor world, Franco Fagioli stands out for the quality of his interpretations, the beauty of his voice and the excellence of his technique, which allows him to span three octaves. Highlights of his 2021/22 season include: Arsace in Handel’s Partenope in his debut at the Teatro Real in Madrid (where he has already been invited back for Achille in Sciro and Mitridate, re di Ponto), Nerone in Agrippina at the Hamburg Staatsoper, and his participation in a new production of Giulio Cesare at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. He has also recorded Mozart arias with the Kammerorchester Basel and will tour Europe with this program. In the future, Franco Fagioli will take part in a new production of Alessandro nell’Indie at the Bayreuth Baroque Festival, will tour Ariodante with Il Pomo d’Oro, and will conduct various projects around the “last castrato” Giovanni Velluti.
The soprano Marie Lys from Lausanne trained at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne and then at the Royal College of Music in London. Winner of the First Prizes at the Cesti Baroque Opera Competition (2018) and at the Vincenzo Bellini Belcanto Competition (2017), she collaborates with renowned conductors such as Diego Fasolis, Christophe Rousset, Fabio Biondi, Leonardo Garcìa Alarcòn, Emmanuelle Haïm and Michel Corboz and performs with orchestras such as Europa Galante, Les Talens Lyriques, Sinfonia Varsovia, The English Concert, the Orchestre de CHambre de Lausanne, the Cameristi della Scala and the Musiciens de Prince-Monaco. She performed the roles of Ginevra (Ariodante) and Adelaide (Lotario) at the Handel Festival in Göttingen, Dorinda (Orlando) at the Castell Festival in Peralada, Servilia (La Clemenza di Tito), Yniold (Pelléas et Mélisande) and Clorinda (La Cenerentola) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève and recently replaced Cecilia Bartoli in the title role of Handel’s Alcina at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
For the Naïve label, Marie has recorded Vivaldi’s unpublished opera Argippo under the baton of Fabio Biondi with Europa Galante. Also with Maestro Biondi, she sang Belezza in Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo et del Disinganno in Granada, as well as the title role in Donizetti’s Betly for the Chopin Festival and its Europe in Warsaw.
She will soon appear in Vivaldi’s Tamerlano during an Italian tour conducted by Ottavio Dantone, as well as in Lully’s Thésée at the Theater an der Wien, at the Bozar in Brussels and at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées under the baton of Christophe Rousset.
Her first solo album with the Abchordis ensemble, Amate Stelle, will be published in January 2023 by Glossa. Marie has received support from the Migros Culture Percentage and the Leenaards, Dénéreaz, Colette Mosetti and Friedl Wald Foundations, Samling, Drake Calleja Trust and Josephine Baker Trust.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Orlando Paladino (2017), La Sonnambula (2018), Die Fledermaus (2018), Orpheus and Eurydice (2019) and Alcina (2022).
After a flute diploma, Marina Viotti tried her hand at jazz, gospel, heavy metal and, with a diploma of high literary studies (hypokhâgnes) in her pocket, moved to Vienna to begin studying opera singing with Heidi Brunner in 2011. In 2013, she joins Brigitte Balleys’ class at the HEMU, where she obtains a master’s degree as a soloist. She then perfected her skills in belcanto with Raúl Gimenez in Barcelona. Elected in 2019 “Best young singer of the year” at the International Opera Awards, she won numerous prizes in different competitions: finalist of the Operalia competition in 2018, 3rd prize of the Geneva Competition in 2016, 1st prize of the Kattenburg competition in Lausanne in 2017, international belcanto prize at the Rossini Festival in Wildbad in 2015.
Her important operatic roles include: Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at the Bolshoi, Mélibéa (Il viaggio a Reims) and Nicklausse/La Muse (Les contes d’Hoffmann) at the Liceu in Barcelona; Arsace (Aureliano in Palmira) and Isabella (L’Italiana in Algeri) at the Rossini Festival in Wildbad and then at the Lucerne Theatre, where she also sang the Grand Duchess of Gerolstein and Elisabetta (Marie Stuart); Stéphano (Romeo and Juliet) at La Scala, Rosina and Olga (Eugene Onegin) at the Rhine Opera; Maddalena (Rigoletto) at the Opernhaus in Zurich and at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. She was also a member of the Young Soloists of the Grand Théâtre de Genève for two years. Eager to explore other avenues and to bring genres and people together, Marina Viotti creates projects that call upon the lyrical repertoire as well as cabaret, jazz and song.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Die Zauberflöte (2015), Amahl et les visiteurs du soir (2017), “Music has no borders” (2020 – concert).
Considered one of the finest Handel specialists of his generation, Juan Sancho has performed the roles of Lurcanio (Ariodante) at the Opéra de Lausanne, Grimoaldo (Rodelinda) at the English National Opera, the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Oronte (Alcina) at the Bolshoi, Bajazet (Tamerlano) in Madrid and Tempo (Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno) in Madrid. He has released a solo album dedicated to Handel called “The Seven Deadly Sins” and also recorded Handel with Nuria Rial for Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (“Human Love, Love Divine”). He has collaborated with many conductors, including Michel Corboz, William Christie, Fabio Biondi, Jordi Savall, Diego Fasolis, Marc Minkowski, Ivor Bolton, George Petrou, Leonardo García Alarcón, Riccardo Minasi, Hervé Niquet, Jan Tomasz Adamus and Václav Luks. His future engagements include: Vitalino in Vivaldi’s Il Giustino at Drottinghom, Handel’s Belshazzar in Göttingen, Corselli’s Achille in Sciro at the Teatro Real in Madrid, and the title role in Gluck’s Orpheus at Biel-Solothurn.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Ariodante (2016).
Guilhem Worms won the “Talents lyriques de Reims, Voix sacrées” competition, which marked the beginning of his collaboration with Jean-Claude Malgoire in April 2015. A graduate of the Paris Conservatory (Yves Sotin’s class, 2017), he was noticed in the role of Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. Since then, he has been heard as Gottfried (Les Fées du Rhin) in Tours and Biel-Solothurn, Lord Rochefort (Anna Bolena) in Bordeaux, a lackey (Ariadne auf Naxos) at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the first priest and the second man-at-arms (Die Zauberflöte) in Marseille, Leporello (Don Giovanni) in Saint-Etienne, Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia) in Tours, The Innocent (Yvonne princess of Burgundy by Boesmans and Angelotti), or in Tosca for his debut at the Paris Opera. In concert, he has performed at the Festival Cervantino in Mexico City, the Bachfest in Leipzig, the Festival de Sablé-sur-Sarthe, the Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier, the Festival d’opéra baroque de Beaune, the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, and the Konzerthaus in Vienna, under the direction of Vincent Dumestre, Hugo Reyne, Michel Piquemal, and Jérémie Rhorer, among others. Among the highlights of his 2021/22 season are Carmen at the Opéra du Rhin, Thaïs at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Hulda by César Franck on tour with the Palazetto Bru Zane, and Faust at the Opéra de Paris. A committed artist, Guilhem Worms has been working regularly for several years with people suffering from mental illness at the Conservatoire des deux vallées and also holds a degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Paris 8. He has published a book entitled Musique sans frontière.
Ludmila Schwartzwalder is a French mezzo-soprano, who graduated from the HEMU in 2021 with a master concert degree (class of Brigitte Balleys). Passionate about foreign languages, she also holds a Bachelor’s degree in English, German and Swedish. She sings regularly with the self-managed women’s ensemble Diaphane, as well as the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne and the Cappella Amsterdam, directed by Daniel Reuss. She is also a soloist in contemporary music creations and in an oratorio repertoire. In 2020, she was a finalist in the Nuits lyriques de Marmande competition in the melodies category. In 2021, she won the Fauré-Severac Special Prize at the Concours d’interprétation de la mélodie française in Toulouse. In September 2021, she sang the role of Dorabella (Così fan tutte) at the Opéra de Lausanne and at the Opéra de Fribourg (coproduction HEMU/HEM Genève). In May 2022, she will create the title role of Le Chat botté by Etienne Crausaz at the Opéra des Champs.
The Opéra de Lausanne Choir is young, made up of students of singing from Lausanne’s University of Music and the Geneva HEM, and professional singers. Its members are selected by audition and periodically reheard. For each opera, they are distributed depending on their voice and/or aptitudes. Thanks mainly to their talent on stage, supported by an infectious enthusiasm, they are highly appreciated by all the theatre directors invited. For a few years the choir has benefitted from preparation by several experienced choir masters from different backgrounds, chosen depending on the works being sung and their specific interest.
Trained in Zurich, Paris and Cremona, Diego Fasolis began his career as a concert organist, performing brilliant complete works by Bach, Buxtehude, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Franck and Liszt, before turning to conducting. Since 1993, he has been at the helm of the Coro della Radiotelevisione svizzera and since 1998 of the ensemble I Barocchisti. He has conducted more than 250 works, from the Renaissance to the 20th century, which he has often brought to light himself. For this he was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI in recognition of his commitment to sacred music. A regular guest at the Salzburg Festival, he conducts Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Musikverein with the Vienna Concentus Musicus and the Arnold Schönberg Choir. More recently, La Scala commissioned him to create an orchestra playing on period instruments, which he then conducted in Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno. In 2017, he also conducted Tamerlano there with Plácido Domingo. Among his recent or future engagements: La finta giardiniera at La Scala and Shanghai, L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Berlin Staatsoper, La sonnambula at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Paër’s Agnese and Così fan tutte at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Dorilla in Tempe at La Fenice, Il turco in Italia at La Scala, Cherubini’s Lo sposo di tre, e marito di nessuna at the Florence Opera, Vivaldi’s Farnace at the Teatro Malibran in Venice, Handel’s Alessandro with the Kammerorchester Basel in Göttingen, Paris and Basel. In 2019, Diego Fasolis was nominated in the “Conductor of the Year” category at the International Opera Awards.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Faramondo (2009), Rinaldo (2011), Farnace (2011), L’Artaserse (2012), Dorilla in Tempe (2014), Die Zauberflöte (2015), Ariodante (2016), La clemenza di Tito (2018), Orpheus and Eurydice (2019), Meyerbeer’s Gli amori di Teolinda (2019) and Alcina (2022).
In search of a rigorous aesthetic and conceptual unity for a theater founded on all the arts, Stefano Poda has always developed his own language by combining the functions of director, set and costume designer, lighting designer, as well as choreographer. In 2019, he received the Claude Rostand Prize for his production of Ariane et Barbe-Bleue (Dukas) at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse. He has directed more than 100 productions worldwide, including: the new production of Tosca (2021) at the Bolshoi in Moscow; Nabucco, opening at the National Theatre of Korea in 2021 and at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (2020/22); Romeo and Juliet (2018) at the NCPA in Beijing; Boris Godunov (2017) and Andrea Chénier (2015) at the National Opera of Korea; Mahler’s Fosca and Titan at the São Paulo Municipal Theater (2016); L’elisir d’amore in Strasbourg (2016); Otello in Budapest (2015); Tristan und Isolde at the opening of the 77th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. His Faust (2015), Turandot (2018) (DVD C Major) and Thaïs (DVD and Blu-ray Arthaus) at the Teatro Regio in Turin, have been released in cinemas around the world.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Ariodante and Faust (2016), Lucia de Lammermoor (2017, broadcast by Arte TV), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (2019) and Alcina (2022)