Hélène Bernardy
The Belgian soprano Hélène Bernardy made her professional debut with the
Opéra de Marseille, appearing Die Walküre, Parsifal and her first principal role:
Jaroslavna in Prince Igor.
Hélène joined the troupe of the Chemnitz Opera (Germany), where she sang her first
Sieglinde in Die Walküre in a performance unanimously praised by audience and
critics alike.
In Chemnitz she sang a range of operatic roles including Donna Anna in Don Giovanni,
Mimi in La Bohème, Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Senta in
Der fliegende Holländer and Adriana Lecouvreur.
Moreover, she was Rachel in the world premiere of the original german version of
Der Weg der Verheissung (Kurt Weill), under the direction of John Mauceri, in Chemnitz and in New York at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
At the Festival of Antibes she was Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, further
Mrs. Maurrant in Street Scene (Kurt Weill) in Brussels and Tournai,
and finally Sieglinde in Dublin, under the direction of Alexander Anissimov.
Than the artist was engaged for two years by the Karlsruhe Opera, under the musical
direction of Kazushi Ono. There, she interpreted roles including the title role in Aïda,
Elsa in Lohengrin, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro,
as well as Sieglinde.
With the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, she appeared as Senta in Der fliegende
Holländer and performed again the role of Sieglinde with the National Youth Orchestra
of Ireland in Birmingham and Limerick. She also sang the title role in Aïda for the
Göteborg Opera (Sweden), Marie in Wozzek in Tel-Aviv, Tosca in Rouen
and at the Festival of Immling, and Senta in Rennes.
For the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Hélène appeared the roles of Emma in
Khovanchtchina, Genièvre in Le Roi Arthus, Senta in Der fliegende Holländer and
Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes, a role she later performed in the same production
in Bilbao.
Moreover, she toured with the company to Japan for a series of concerts including
Trakl-Lieder (Boesmans), Shéhérazade (Ravel) and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni,
all under the direction of Kazushi Ono.
Hélène sang the Woman in Erwartung (Schönberg) for Opéra de Massy with
Alain Altinoglu, Elisabetta in DonCarlo with the Festival of Immling,
the role of Giorgetta in Il tabarro at the opera houses in Lyon and Saint-Etienne,
under the stage direction of David Poutney and she performed Ariadne
in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Grand Théâtre in Tours,
under the musical direction of Jean-Yves Ossonce.
She made a lot of concerts, example the Nuits d´été (Berlioz) or
Vier letzte Lieder (Richard Strauss) with orchestra and also a benefit concert
with Joe Hisaishi.
At the operas from Dijon, Limoges and Bern she sang Fata Morgana in
L’amour des trois oranges and Isolde in Tristan und Isolde
in a concert version in Gdansk, and was committed at the Staatstheater Braunschweig
for Mascagnis Isabeau.
Since September 2008, Hélène has been a member of the voice faculty at the
Conservatoire Royal de Liège.
The artist’s discography includes Mahler’s 2nd Symphony, under the direction of
Oleg Caetani.