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Julie Fuchs: “I am starting to digest this year which has been very dense, and finally in all respects I am stable. I'm leaving for a ride! "
While in Paris for Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien * with Valery Gergiev, we met Julie Fuchs between two rehearsals at the Philharmonie. With great candor, the soprano confided in Toutelaculture about his projects, his career and his relationship with the public.
Hello Julie Fuchs. Like Mireille Mathieu, you are a young lady from Avignon. You are very attached to this city: tell us about your youth in the city of the Popes.
Indeed, I really enjoyed growing up in Avignon; I started my musical studies there quite early at the age of seven. This city carried me with this aspect too of the discovery of music: I did all my studies at the conservatory. First the violin and everything that goes with it: music theory, orchestra, choir etc. And only then the song. I always liked to sing, but as I was very active on the violin, I did not make it immediately child. And also because the only singing teacher at the conservatory was more for adult lessons. At that time I also took acting lessons.
And of course Avignon is also the summer theater festival, during which we sang in the street for fun with friends. And all that goes with it: life outside because the weather is good, music really as pure pleasure.
You also sang in choir: what memory do you keep of it?
Wonderful memories are really singing in choir which got me started, which made me want to be a singer. First of all because it is a repertoire that I could explore that I really did not know: the choral repertoire is very vast and rich I really liked. And then being at the heart of the music, in the midst of harmonies, within a common project and a common execution, I really liked it.
After Avignon and your studies in Paris, you were in a troop at the Zürich Opera: how did you live this collective experience?
Yes indeed it was between 2013 and 2015. The opera troupe is a little bit different, but it's also a group experience. Since my studies, I wanted to have experiences abroad too, which I could not carry out as part of an Erasmus, because life meant that I had to stay in Paris. But then very quickly I knew that I wanted to go and try the experience too to learn a new language. Which I didn’t do because in Switzerland in Zurich we speak Swiss German and not German, so I spoke more French there. At the same time it is also an opportunity to take on new roles without unnecessary pressure.
Were you a liner?
There are lots of ways to be a troop: it's not the same way to be a troop in Zurich as a troop in Dortmund. I’ve been fortunate to have only three productions a year, which is fortunate in terms of pace. So there I was still very well served and I was able to quickly talk to the management to find out which role suited me best. So the first year on the three roles I had to do a single role which was not exactly what I would have wanted to do, but otherwise from there I could work on roles in depth and suddenly build over several years. Of all the roles I have done in Zürich, there are only two roles that are at the heart of my current repertoire, but on the other hand I was able to build my vocality, consolidate it and have role-plays that took me each. from one to the other.
You are one of the rare French artists to have performed on almost all Parisian stages: recently at Bastille for Falstaff and Les Indes Galantes, but also at Garnier for Platée. At the Champs Elysées Theater we heard you in Morgana in Alcina. We also remember your triumph in Comte Ory at the Opera Comique, but I also remember having heard you at Chatelet in the Sound of Music in 2010. Do you have a favorite room?
But I find that the room is not just a room, it is also the team that works in this room, an orchestra that is attached to this room, and an audience. The audiences are not the same depending on the rooms and then they are also works. There are rooms that are more suited to this or that repertoire. So all of this put together in a basket makes for overall experiences that have been extremely joyful and successful I actually find. As a priority, I will mention Le Comte Ory at the Opéra Comique as a landmark experience, and also Platée at Garnier. It was shows with troupes that were all in sync. But you didn't mention everything: I also played at the theater of the Athenaeum, a small theater, a little gem: I did concerts there, and Ariane in Naxos. It’s a room that I appreciated: I am very sensitive to the distance with the public. I'm not talking about acoustics, I'm talking about contacts. I’m much happier when I feel close to the audience. I also allow myself a lot more things.
In this recent production from the Indes Galantes, you were with all the finesse of young French singers: Sabine Devieilhe, Florian Sempey, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Mathias Vidal. But in these young singers there is also Marianne Crebassa, Lea Desandre. And beyond the French including the Canadians Florie Valiquette, Etienne Dupuis, the Belgians Jodie Devos, Anne Catherine Gillet can we say that there is today a new golden age of French-speaking song?
I am very ill-placed to answer the question because I am still young, so I do not have hindsight. I have French golden voices with which I grew up: they exist, they inspired me. Voices that I heard on recording or on stage. Without going back much in the past, we have voices like that of Sandrine Piau, with whom I sing today the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, who are not very far away but who are still from another generation. I think of Nathalie Dessay, Véronique Gens, Patricia Petitbon to name only the sopranos. We also have Karine Deshayes, Ludovic Tézier, Roberto Alagna.
So you tell us that there have always been great French voices.
The difference I’m feeling right now is that it feels like it’s like a small family and maybe we didn’t have that feeling before. Here we have a group: we all know each other, we all appreciate each other. We party together, we produce together: I think that's what has changed. Perhaps also today, without making a comparison, there is a great versatility which is asked of the new generation.
In the past you think that the singers were more confined to a specific repertoire?
I wouldn’t say that, because I’m not well documented and I don’t want to label the singers of the past. And also because I'm sure there are a lot of things we don't know, because they weren't covered by the media. So they were certainly also multi-faceted, but today we display our versatility a lot more and we are asked to be that much more. Today a baroque singer will be much more easily hired, which is my case, in another repertoire. The two productions that followed at the Paris Opera for me were Platée and Falstaff. Today I think it is much easier to have a variety of roles and also visibility can also be in different repertoires.
This week you are at the Philharmonie de Paris for Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien with Russian chef Valery Gergiev: can you tell us about this Russian chef who is reputed to be bulimic?
It's hard to say because it was really just a read, but I'm very impressed. We all are. When I arrived, I saw the attitude of the Orchester de Paris, which, however, which is very used to working with very great artists and you can feel great admiration and respect. I find it very beautiful to be amazed again.
You also collaborated with another well-known chef in Ile de France: Enrique Mazzola, in particular for the recording of your album Mademoiselle. You sang the Turk in Italy this year in Zurich and are currently playing in Don Pasquale with him. Did you have a special relationship with the chef with the red glasses?
Inevitably, when you work regularly with someone, I feel that it is necessarily a privileged relationship. When you know a chef well, it goes much faster to work: you know his language, you know what he will ask us. He also knows how we prefer certain things, so yes, of course it's a chance and it's nice to be able to collect all that we gave during our years of study and all of our first years of career. There I feel that I am coming to a period where I can finally reap all that I have sown and share what I have started to build. I'm on the path I wanted, both in terms of repertoire and in terms of collaborations … and also of life.
Ah you make all the transitions!
But yes, before making a career as a singer I wanted to be a journalist.
I did indeed want to come to a more personal question. We know you are part like Sabine Devieilhe of the artists who have chosen to reconcile lyric career and maternity: how is this new stage of your professional life going with your son Dario?
I think it's important to talk about it. You’ve noticed it anyway, even if I don’t put my head on social media I often mention it. I would find it horrible to hide my mom situation. And everyone anyway because of different things knows that I was pregnant, especially because I was pregnant on stage. So I am not going to hide that I am a mom and above all I would like that to be said more: the difficulties that one can have, the happiness too. And let’s talk about it more because I feel like, either we’re afraid to talk about it because it’s private (which I really understand). Either we say to ourselves: "from the moment you are a mother, people will think that you are less available, or less concentrated". Or it can happen to all women in the world, that you lose some form of attraction when you are a mother. We must not pretend that this does not exist. So I sometimes see women who don't talk about their motherhood and I find that a bit of a shame. Because it is part of our lives and it is part of our business. Especially us singers, our working tool is our body. So we know very well that when we are going to have a child the functioning of our work tool will be temporarily disrupted.
So I can say that life is going well. During the pregnancy for me it was very pleasant to sing pregnant. The first year after giving birth was extremely difficult. Having talked about it with some colleagues, I think that's pretty normal. But it's true that, as everyone says, after a year there are a lot of things. I even feel better vocally. Each course is different, but it is true that sleep plays, the body obviously needs time to find its place, but it can also affect emotions. I found it very difficult to be light-hearted, having gone through a very intense birth and first few months. Going back on stage, having to be funny and sexy, I found it violent. So we have a lot of questions about the image of women, our role as artists, why we do this job. What is the purpose, what is the meaning? Today I am starting to digest this year which has been very dense, and that in all respects I am stable. I'm leaving for a ride!
What is also essential is to be surrounded. There I found a way to be surrounded, it is important to say also, which means that when I am at work I can be completely at work. Because I am confident: everything is settled, everything is managed, and I am very happy to go to work. Because it's my passion, it's my life! And then when I get home, I'm all at home because at work I could have given everything. So it’s also very nice to be able to separate things out, and to be able to put into perspective what there is to put into perspective at work when you are a mom.
Besides devoting yourself to your family life, what do you do when you are not singing?
When I don't sing I dance! I am both the cicada and the ant! But like the ant I do the shopping too (Laughs). And then it's not because I don't sing that I don't work. I spend a lot of time working without singing: reading booklets, translating them, listening to works, discovering them. I also have to prepare recital programs, answer emails on a lot of things about the next concerts. It also happens that I spend a lot of time online because I am very active on social networks, and it is a part of my activity. But if not in Julie’s life, I like spending time with the people I love. I love to dance, so I party. I love nature, so I often like to take small walks. I also do yoga. And as we are often traveling, I like to spend part of my time anyway discovering the city where I am. If I can go to museums and especially discover places and people.
You are very present on social networks and you are also very committed to the access of new audiences to lyric art: tell us about your #OperaIsOpen initiative
I am very happy that you are tackling this project, thank you because it is very close to my heart! #OperaIsOpen yes I decided to call it that because everyone in the field of classical music agrees that the Opera must be more open. It’s not a revolution to say that. Often, however, this is accompanied by the opposite discourse, namely that the opera should not be reserved for the elites and that emphasis is placed on things that are wrong, for example: "opera is expensive". I wanted to take the angle to show that this is not true and to publicize everything that is already done in terms of access to classical music. This involves giving all the specific rates in the rooms. It is not always easy to have information. And then on social media I save places for people, provided that one of them has never been to the opera. It’s someone who follows me on social media who invites a friend, and suddenly it creates something nice. It has a snowball effect.
And concretely also through my social networks I open the doors (which others also do elsewhere). I try to show a little behind the scenes. And to be authentic in what is the life of an opera singer, to show the difficulties, but also all the joys that it represents.
Adina, Norina, Zerlina you have been young "spicy" women several times, with a certain comic temperament which corresponds to your character. What other roles do you plan to take on in the near future?
After Norina, there will be another Musetta this season at the Paris opera, then quite a few Mozart roles, I will cover Suzanne, Pamina, Aspasia in Mithridate and then Adina by Rossini. This is where it is headed.
You will be (briefly) Wagnerian next spring in Siegfried in Bastille or you will chirp like a forest bird. Not to mention Brunehilde, are there roles far removed from your current repertoire that you secretly dream of?
Oh yes: I would love to sing Tosca, and also Carmen! After that there are roles that are not that far apart, and that I know that I will sing one day, but that are not for now.
More dramatic roles then?
Yes, because even if I like to play funny things, it’s fantastic, at the Opera it’s not every day that we make people laugh, first of all my voice changes. And then I was never happy in the technical demonstration. But the voice will decide it, but you can still influence things by making choices.
So it’s not your agent that influences you.
No, this is an urban legend, the agent who decides everything. We still do what we want.
Are you not attracted to the proposals that are made to you?
Ah but if I have already refused several Traviata. I could have accepted them but no one forced me. A few years ago I accepted commitments that my agents advised me, but it was a two-way street. I was very careful and listened to them, they advised me rather to do lighter things, and also to accept smaller roles in beautiful productions. Like for example this Bird of the forest: it excites me to sing Wagner is in such a production, with Philippe Jordan. I’m thrilled to do this role, even though it’s very small.
It is also because it was at the Paris Opera that you accepted: you would not necessarily have been doing this role in another theater.
Ah yes, yes: in Bayreuth I would have gone anyway! (Laughs) And also it turns out that I will already be in Paris at that time.
Natalie Dessay, who paved the way for a generation of light sopranos, has today taken a career turn by turning to other repertoires. What other activities would you consider turning to?
It’s far too early to talk about this because I’m very happy with what I’m doing now and that’s good. But one day maybe I will not be able to do this job anymore, either because of the pace of life because it is a lot of travel, or perhaps in terms of my voice, it will no longer be my favorite medium for Express myself. I’d like to explore other things, it’s quite possible. But we'll see when the time comes: I know what I like, I have lots of ideas, but until then that may change again!
- * The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian concert by Sandrine Piau, Julie Fuchs, the Choir and the Orchester de Paris conducted by Valery Gergiev is broadcast this Saturday 4/01 at 9 p.m. and can be heard on Radio Classique: here
Portrait Credit score: @ Sarah Bouasse
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