Contralto： ナタリー・シュトゥッツマン Nathalie Stutzmann
Nathalie Stutzmann is a contemporary opera singer, renowned for her contralto voice.
Nathalie Stutzmann (nee Dupuy; born 6 May 1965) is a French operatic contralto and conductor.
As a singer, she specialises in Lieder, melodies and baroque music. As a conductor, she directs Orfeo 55, the chamber orchestra she founded. She has been the principle guest conductor of RTE National Symphony Orchestra since September 2017 and chief conductor of Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra since September 2018.
Career
Born in Suresnes, Ile-de-France, she first studied with her mother (soprano Christiane Stutzmann), then at Nancy Conservatoire and later at the Ecole d’Art Lyrique de l’Opera de Paris, focusing on lied, under Hans Hotter's tutelage. She is well known for her interpretations of French melodies and German lieder. Her repertoire includes major works of baroque, classical, romantic and 20th-century music. Stutzmann also plays piano, bassoon and is a chamber musician. Stutzmann debuted as a concert singer at the Salle Pleyel, Paris, 1985, in Bach's Magnificat (BWV 243). Her recital debut was the following year in Nantes. Some of her operatic performances have included: Radamisto, Orfeo ed Euridice and Giulio Cesare. She has sung at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Royal Festival Hall / “BBC Proms”, Carnegie Hall, Musikverein, Mozarteum, the Concertgebouw, La Monnaie, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, La Scala, the Opera de Geneve and the Berliner Philharmonie.
Stutzmann performs frequently for opera, concert, recital and recording, and teaches at Geneva University of Music. She began performing and recording with Swedish pianist Inger Sodergren in 1994. She took part in the project of Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir to record Bach's complete vocal works.
In 2009 Stutzmann founded chamber orchestra Orfeo 55, which she directs, and performs more widely as an orchestral conductor. Commencing September 2017, she became the Principal Guest Conductor of the RTE National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin, Ireland, with a contract for three years. In 2018 she was appointed as chief conductor in Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra.
Awards and honours
- 1987: 1st prize of Neue Stimmen
- 2001: Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- 2012: Chevalier of the Ordre national du Merite
- 2015: Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- 2019: Chevalier of the Legion of Honour
Recordings
She has over fifty recordings on labels including EMI, Erato, Deutsche Grammophon, Harmonia Mundi, Philips, RCA and Sony and Virgin. Some of her most admired recordings are of Schumann Lieder, Chausson and Poulenc melodies, Mahler Symphony No. 2 with Seiji Ozawa, Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus and Schubert's Winterreise for Calliope. In 2014 Stutzmann, with Orfeo 55, made a new exclusive contract with Erato Records.
She received many awards, including the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Diapason d’Or, Japan Record Academy Award, and a Grammy Award.
On her YouTube channel, there are several videos of her while she is conducting works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Strauss, Mozart etc.