Biography

Ludovic Tézier is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading baritones of our days. Following his studies in Marseille and Paris, he celebrated his first successes in Lucerne, Toulouse, and Lyon, from where his international career took off. Since then, he has been established as a guest at the world’s leading opera stages, such as the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra National de Paris, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, La Scala Milan, the Liceu Barcelona, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Royal Opera House in London, the Bavarian State Opera Munich, as well as at the Salzburg Easter and Summer Festivals, the Festival of Aix-en-Provence, the Chorégies d’Orange, the Savonlinna Opera Festival, and the Arena di Verona Opera Festival.

Ludovic Tézier regularly collaborates with the most internationally renowned conductors, such as Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Myung-Whun Chung, Antonio Pappano, Riccardo Muti, Philippe Jordan, Gustavo Dudamel, and Riccardo Chailly, just to name a few. The French baritone gained a reputation for his interpretation of the great Verdi roles such as Macbeth, Rigoletto, Simone Boccanegra, Renato (Un ballo in maschera), Ford (Falstaff), Germont (La Traviata), Posa (Don Carlo), and Don Carlo di Varga (La forza del destino), but his vast repertoire includes, among others, also the title roles of Hamlet and Eugene Onegin as well as Conte (Le nozze di Figaro), Werther (baritone version), Yeletsky (Pique Dame), Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Scarpia (Tosca), Amfortas (Parsifal), Athanaël (Thaïs), and Barnaba (La Gioconda).

Major recordings include AIDA (CD), released in 2015 by Warner Classics and Carmina Burana (“Live from the Forbidden City”) released on CD and DVD by Deutsche Grammophon in early 2019. Ludovic Tézier has been an exclusive artist with Sony Classical for several years. His first solo album of Verdi arias, released in February 2021, was highly acclaimed by the press. Together with tenor Jonas Kaufmann, he recorded the album Insieme – Opera Duets, which has also been released by Sony Classical in October 2022.

Ludovic Tézier is also a sought-after concert singer and performs with the world’s leading orchestras. He regularly sings in recitals with a focus on French and German lieder. The 2023-24 season sees him in new productions of Rigoletto in Madrid and Tosca in Munich. He will also return to the Vienna State Opera (La Traviata, Tosca, Otello), the Paris Opera (La Traviata, Simon Boccanegra), as well as the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples and the Royal Opera House in London. Upcoming concert engagements include Carmina Burana at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and Brahms’ Requiem at the Saint-Denis Festival.

Timeline

  • 1968

    Born on September 10 in Marseille, France. Grows up in a music-loving family, regularly listening to opera.

  • 1997

    Raimbaud in "Le Comte Ory" at the Glyndebourne Festival.

  • 1998

    Wins the 2nd prize at the Operalia, The World Opera Competition.

  • 1999

    Debut at the Paris Opera (Schaunard in "La Bohème").

  • 2000

    Hamlet in Toulouse; Henri in "Lucie de Lammermoor" in Lyon.

  • 2002

    Debut at the Metroplitan Opera New York as Escamillo in "Carmen".

  • 2003

    Chorèbe in "Les Troyens" at the Théâtre du Châtelet; role debut as Eugen Onegin in Toulouse.

  • 2004

    Debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Albert in "Werther").

  • 2005

    Debut at the Vienna State Opera (Conte Almaviva in "Le Nozze di Figaro"); Jeletski in "Pique Dame" at the Paris Opera.

  • 2006

    Receives the title of French Lyric Artist of the Year at the Victoires de la musique classique.

  • 2007

    Renato in "Un Ballo in Maschera" at the Paris Opera.

  • 2008

    Ford in "Falstaff" at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

  • 2009

    Almaviva at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Teatro Real Madrid.

  • 2010

    Marquis de Posa ("Don Carlo") and Eugen Onegin at the Paris Opera.

  • 2011

    Enrico in "Lucia di Lammermoor" at the Metropolitan Opera; Awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

  • 2012

    Wolfram in "Tannhäuser" at the Vienna State Opera; Marc-Antoine in "Cléopâtre" at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival; Carlo ("La Forza del Destino") at the Liceu in Barcelona.

  • 2013

    Carlo in "La Forza del Destino" at the Munich Opera.

  • 2014

    Scarpia in "Tosca" at the Paris Opera; Alphonse XI in "La Favorite" in Toulouse; Carlo in "Ernani" at the Opéra de Monte Carlo.

  • 2015

    Don Fernando in "Fidelio" at the Salzburg Festival; Macbeth at the Vienna State Opera; Mephisto in "La Damnation de Faust" at the Baden-Baden Festival and at the Philharmonie Berlin.

  • 2016

    Conte di Luna ("Il Trovatore") and Rigoletto at the Paris Opera; Ford in "Falstaff" at the Vienna State Opera; Macbeth at the Liceu in Barcelona.

  • 2017

    Simon Boccanegra at the Opéra de Monte Carlo; Rodrigue ("Don Carlos", french version) at the Paris Opera; Enrico ("Lucia di Lammermoor") in Munich.

  • 2018

    Simon Boccanegra at the Paris Opera; Scarpia at the Salzburg Easter Festival; Don Giovanni at the Vienna State Opera; Alphonse XI in "La Favorite" in Munich.

  • 2019

    Carlo ("La Forza del Destino") at the Royal Opera House in London; Germont ("La Traviata") at the Vienna State Opera: Luna ("Il Trovatore") at the Teatro Real Madrid.

  • 2020

    Macbeth in Parma; Scarpia at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (debut); Luna at the Liceu in Barcelona; Le Grand-Prêtre in "Samson et Dalila" at the Chorégies d'Orange.

  • 2021

    Scarpia at the Salzburg Festival; Amfortas in "Parsifal", Scarpia, Rigoletto and Iago ("Otello") at the Vienna State Opera; Amonasro in "Aida" at the Paris Opera; Simon Boccanegra in Zürich; Athanaël in "Thais" in Monte Carlo; Recital at the Teatro alla Scala di Milano.

  • 2022

    Enrico ("Lucia di Lammermoor") at the Salzburg Festival; Carlo ("La Forza del Destino") at the Paris Opera; Renato ("Un Ballo in Maschera") at the Teatro alla Scala and at the Verbier Festival; Athanaël in "Thais" at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; 175th Anniversary Concert at the Liceu Barcelona.

  • 2023

    Hamlet at the Paris Opera; Luna at the Royal Opera House; Barnaba in "La Gioconda" at Opera Australia in Sydney; Rigoletto at the Teatro Real Madrid; Awarded the Piero Cappuccilli prize at the Verona Arena.

  • 2024

    Barnaba at the Teatro San Carlo, Napoli.