Contact
Kerstin Altka@karstenwitt.com+49 30 214 594-235
Daniel Schumacherds@karstenwitt.com+49 30 214 594 -210
General Management
Olivier Messiaen, Poèmes pour Mi
Luciano Berio, Sequenza IV
Philippe Manoury, Das wohlpräparierte Klavier
Jenny Daviet, soprano
Jean-François Heisser, piano
Philippe Manoury, composition
Jenny Daviet is an absolutely outstanding Mélisande, both sensitive and very strong, and sings beautifully. DAGENS NYHETER
With her convincing stage presence, exceptional musicality and versatile repertoire, French soprano Jenny Daviet has made a name for herself both on the opera stage and in the concert hall. She was unanimously praised for her interpretation of Messiaen’s Poèmes pour Mi with Kent Nagano and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, which was released on CD. A recent DVD production documents another highlight of her career to date: she sang the title role in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande in Benjamin Lazar’s new production at the Malmö Opera under the musical direction of Maxime Pascal.
In the 2024/25 season Jenny Daviet will also be performing a wide range of repertoire. In August, she will start the season at the Ravel Festival together with the Ensemble intercontemporain under Pierre Bleuse with Into the Little Hill; just last season, she successfully interpreted George Benjamin’s chamber opera at the Théâtre de Caen and also performed his work A Mind of Winter with the Orchestre de Caen. Mozart is planned twice in the current season: In Fribourg, she will sing the Mass in C minor, and in April she will be on stage as Despina in Così fan tutte alongside Thomas Hampson, who will also direct the semi-staged production with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under Rafael Payare. Prior to this, Jenny Daviet will appear on stage in Giorgio Battistelli’s opera 7 Minuti at the Opéra de Lyon in March.
A highlight of last season was another major music theatre project: as Eva in Stockhausen’s Sonntag from the cycle Licht, she could be heard at the Philharmonie de Paris together with his ensemble Le Balcon under Maxime Pascal, having already participated in the performance of the Licht cycle’s Freitag in 2022. In 2023 Jenny Daviet gave her Asian debut as Pamina in Mozart’s Magic Flute, which was performed at the National Taichung Theater in a production by William Kentridge. In 2023 she was also scheduled to debut as Nadja in Haas’ Bluthaus at the Opéra de Lyon. Other recent operatic highlights include Héro in Berlioz’ Béatrice et Bénédict at the Cologne Opera under François-Xavier Roth, George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill at the Teatro del Canal in Madrid in collaboration with the Teatro Real, Léna in Saint-Saëns’ La princesse jaune and Mélisande in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande with the orchestra Les Siècles. She also appeared as Angélique in Hervé’s Les Chevaliers de la table ronde at the Opéra Grand Avignon, in the world premiere of Fernando Fiszbein’s El hombre que amaba a los peros at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and in the role of Countess de la Roche in Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten at the Cologne Opera.
In 2022 Jenny Daviet sang Ligeti’s Requiem for the first time with the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España under David Afkham. Recent concerts also include performances with Thomas Hengelbrock and his Balthasar Neumann Choir and Ensemble at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival with Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem and with Claire Gibault and the Paris Mozart Orchestra with Mozart’s Mass in C minor. She sang Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire at the Opéra de Rouen, Vivier’s Bouchara at the Cologne Philharmonie, and Fauré’s Requiem at the International Rostropovich Festival in Moscow under Kazuki Hamada. A focus of her chamber music work with pianist Alphonse Cemin is the German and French repertoire of the turn of the century; most recently, however, the duo performed music by Messiaen at the Théâtre Athénée.
Jenny Daviet began her musical education as a pianist before joining the Conservatoire Regional Influence de Paris, where she studied under the mentorship of Laurence Equilbey, and commenced her soprano career as a member of the ensemble at the Opéra de Rouen, where she made her debut in numerous roles, including Blonde (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Serpetta (La finta giardiniera), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Second Lady (Dido and Aeneas) and Micaëla (Carmen).
2024/25 season
This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorised by the artist management.
Une soirée au Chat Noir
C. Debussy: Nuits blanches, Chansons de Bilitis and La belle au bois dormantE. Satie: Quatre Mélodies pour Paulette Darty and other songsG. Charpentier: Depuis le jour (from Louise)E. Chausson: Dans la forêt du charme et de l’enchantementP. Delmet: Various songsO. Straus: Various songs (in french)
Full programme available here.
Wiener Schule
A. Schoenberg: Brettl-LiederA. Berg: Sieben frühe LiederA. Webern: Fünf Lieder nach Gedichten von Richard Dehmel
Soirée Messiaen
O. Messiaen: Chants de terre et de ciel and Trois Mélodies
“An essential cog in the wheel, Jenny Daviet, as the wily Despina, gives it her all with impeccable stagecraft and a voice both suited to and malleable in any situation. (…) Jenny Daviet was extremely consistent, convincing both in her arias and her comedic performance (...).”
Le Devoir, Christophe Huss, 24 April 2025
“The singers do their utmost to represent their characters, especially Jenny Daviet as Mireille, who came across as the most combative of the group.”
Classiquenews.com, André Peyrègne, 19 March 2025
“Jenny Daviet portrays the aggressive Mireille to perfection, combining lively singing with an exceptional delivery.”
Diapason, Anne Ibos-Augé, 17 March 2025
“Jenny Daviet's sensitive and fragile Mireille, mischievous and empathetic in one, is one of the many impressive typologies in this production.”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Gerald Felber, 17 March 2025
“a brilliant French soprano with a powerful and well projected voice”
Platea Magazine, Enrique Bert, 24/8/2024
“Soprano Jenny Daviet’s vocal line embraces each of the poet's words, adding to the mystery and strangeness of the sounds. Lovely timbre, delicate vibrato and the voice well projected.”
Res Musica, Michèle Tosi, 25 March 2024
“Jenny Daviet sings with remarkable poise and a real emotional presence. Her soprano voice, more lyrical than dramatic, is perfectly suited to the role, with its easy high notes, a freshness of tone that retains a touch of innocence, and a strong support.”
Olyrix, José Pons, 30/1/2024
“… like Jenny Daviet, whose charisma and grace give her the allure of a film actress, and whose remarkable performance in Freitag aus Licht last year already attracted a great deal of attention.”
Forumopera.com, Sonia Hossein-Pour, 26 November 2023
“with exceptional vocal range, diction and expression: Jenny Daviet”
BR KLASSIK, Jörn Florian Fuchs, 7/11/2022
“Above all, Jenny Daviet as Héro thrilled the audience – what a wonderful voice! In addition to her charming acting, Daviet impresses with a flawless and melodious soprano in all registers. She really manages her power perfectly and knows how to score in the restrained passages as well as to assert herself powerfully against the lavish orchestra.”
Der Opernfreund, Sebastian Jacobs, 8/5/2022
“Jenny Daviet as Héro and […] Aimery Lefèvre as Claudio prove to be full-blooded actors and arch-comedians who not only create sparks from Shakespeare’s dialogues, but also make the predominantly lyrical qualities of Berlioz’ arias and ensembles audible with stylistically confident singing.”
Das Opernmagazin, Ursula Hartlapp-Lindemeyer, 8/5/2022
“Jenny Daviet uses her superb voice to bring the Poèmes pour Mi to life as a great cycle of love and spirituality.”
Diapason, Paul de Louit, February 2022
“The Poèmes pour Mi require a dramatic soprano, a large, flexible voice that must, of course, also be capable of the greatest restraint. And she must always be able to hold her own against the orchestra, even in the particularly quiet passages. Jenny Daviet masters her part very well, always singing in a nuanced, expressive and interesting way.”
Opera Lounge, Helge Grünewald, January 2022
“in Poèmes pour Mi, […] soprano Jenny Daviet […] navigates the demanding vocal line with as much grace as the rather angular writing allows.”
Limelight Magazine, Tony Way, December 2021
“That shortcoming is completely conspicuous by its absence here, as Jenny Daviet sings these by turns heaven-defying and tender songs with enormous clarté, exemplarily assisted by the musicians of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the baton of the unsurpassed Kent Nagano. What a magnificent album!”
Opus Klassiek, Maarten Brandt, October 2021
Claude Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande, “Mes longs cheveux” (excerpt)
Jenny Daviet (Mélisande), Malmö Opera Orchestra, Maxime Pascal (conductor)
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Freitag from Licht, “Reue”
Jenny Daviet (Eva), Le Balcon, Maxime Pascal (conductor)
Hector Berlioz: Béatrice et Bénédict (trailer, Oper Köln)
Jenny Daviet (Héro), Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, François-Xavier Roth (conductor)
Claude Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande (teaser)
Jenny Daviet (Mélisande), Marc Mauillon (Pelléas), Malmö Opera Orchestra, Maxime Pascal (conductor)
Olivier Messiaen: Poèmes pour Mi, No. 6 Ta voix – Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Kent Nagano (conductor)
Olivier Messiaen: Poèmes pour Mi, No. 7 Les deux guerriers – Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Kent Nagano (conductor)
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Kent Nagano (conductor)
BR-KLASSIK, 900203, 2021
Malmö Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Maxime Pascal (conductor), Benjamin Lazar (stage director)
BelAir Classiques, BAC611 (DVD)/BAC544 (Blu-ray), 2017