Aude Extrémo
Clare Erskine
Shirley Thomson
“Extrémo confirms her place as the most exhilarating French mezzo of her generation.”
Emmanuel Andrieu , Opera-online
Noted for her dark, opulent timbre and magnetic stage presence, distinguished Mezzo-soprano Aude Extrémo has recently made a series of impressive debuts including as Fricka (Die Walküre), Erda (Das Rheingold and Siegfried), Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) and Amneris (Aïda). In the current season she further expands her repertoire with two new roles, debuting Azucena in Louis Désiré’s new production of Il trovatore for Opéra de Marseille under Michele Spotti, and Judith in Dominique Pitoiset’s new production of Bluebeard’s Castle for Opéra de Dijon under Kristiina Poska. Extrémo also returns to Opéra National de Paris this season as Maddalena in Claus Guth’s Rigoletto conducted by Domingo Hindoyan, and as Suzuki in Robert Wilson’s production of Madama Butterfly under Speranza Scappucci.
A laureate of the Atelier Lyrique at Opéra national de Paris, Extrémo excels in French repertoire and was hailed “the Carmen of her generation” after performances at Opéra national de Bordeaux under Marc Minkowski, with whom she went on to perform many of Offenbach’s great characters including La Périchole at the Salzburg Festival, Festival de Radio France et de Montpellier, and at Opéra national de Bordeaux, L’Opinion Publique in Orphée aux enfers at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann in Bordeaux, Bremen and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. Further successes include Dalila in Samson et Dalila at Opéra national de Bordeaux, Charlotte in Werther with l’Orchestre Symphonique d’Aquitaine, Marguerite in La damnation de Faust under Kazuki Yamada for Opéra de Monte Carlo, both Ursule in Béatrice et Bénédict and Anna in Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production of Les Troyens under Philippe Jordan at Opéra National de Paris, Concepcion in L’heure Espagnole for Opéra de Tours, and as Catherine in Roméo Castellucci’s staging of Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher at La Monnaie under Kazushi Ono.
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Highlights in the dramatic fach include Fricka in Die Walküre at Opéra national de Bordeaux and Opéra de Marseille, Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde at Opéra national de Lorraine, Erda in Siegfried at Theater Dortmund and in Das Rheingold with Guanghzhou Symphony Orchestra, Jocasta in Oedipus Rex at Salzburger Felsenreitschule, and Amneris Aïda for Opéra de Massy. Most recently Extrémo received unanimous critical acclaim for her portrayal of Yamina in Augusta Holmès’ rarity La Montagne Noire for Theater Dortmund.
An engaging concert performer, recent appearances include Verdi, Messa da Requiem with Orchestre de Paris under Jaap van Zweden and with Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse under Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Chausson, Poème de l’amour et de la mer at Opéra de Lyon conducted by Daniele Rustioni, Beethoven, Symphony No.9 with Athens State Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi, Mahler, Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen and Kindertotenlieder at Festival de Musiques Interdites, and at Festival d’Aix en Provence both Mussorgsky, Songs and Dances of Death under Marko Letonja and Shostakovich, From Jewish Folk Poetry under François-Xavier Roth.
In the current season, Aude Extrémo adds Mahler, Symphony No.3 to her repertoire at Theater Kiel under Music Director Gabriel Feltz and joins Duisburger Philharmoniker for a programme dedicated to Charlotte Sohy under Débora Waldman. In collaboration with Concerto Budapest and conductor György Vashegyi, this season also releases Extrémo’s first solo recording entirely dedicated to French repertoire.
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“with the coppery timbre of Aude Extremo whose sumptuous, ample, sensual and bewitching voice gives a rare relief to her superlative Maddalena, a character too often unjustly neglected in casts.”
And it is the performance of the French mezzo-soprano Aude Extrémo (Yamina) that dominates the vocal stage, if only because of the quality of her diction, which is far superior to that of the other performers. But our admiration for her incarnation goes far beyond that: the singing, first of all, is perfect, round treble, delicate, chiselled, sovereign, rich in harmonics and powerful lows, legato, rubato, crescendos; Aude Extrémo masters all the technical difficulties on the entire tessitura, without ever letting herself be covered by the orchestra or the choirs and without ever forcing her beautiful timbre. Since, in addition, she is perfectly at ease on stage and dances with elegance and grace, she gives her character an unforgettable depth and the role of Yamina will remain marked for a long time with her seal, she who was able to bring it back to life with so much strength of conviction.
“The production is dominated by Aude Extrémo’s staggering embodiment of the role of Yamina… The French mezzo-soprano makes short work of the difficulties of the role and launches with the same aplomb through darting highs and bewitching lows. The expression is of great refinement in the more lyrical passages and the singer’s particular timbre gives a striking and magnetic colour to the character of Yamina, all the more so as she inhabits the stage with undeniable strength. The only French-speaking member of the cast, she is also the only soloist we understand without difficulty.”
“In front of him, the mezzo Aude Extrémo — who exploded in this same city six years ago in the role of Venus (Tannhauser) — offers a Marguerite of one of the darkest and most opulent French voices of the moment (alongside Clémentine Margaine). The impact and vocal seduction are undeniable”
“Aude Extrémo offers a sensitive Marguerite with voice full of colours and harmonics (without giving the impression of an overflow of vibrato).”
“Aude Extrémo has no difficulty filling every corner of the room with the immensity of her legato. As much with her presence as by her tone, her two arias, and in particular “Divinités du Styx”, leave the listener amazed by the breadth of her timbre, the fabric of its treble, and the mastery of its phrasing (enough to make you want to hear her as Strauss’ Die Amme or Wagner’s Erda).”
… “starting with Aude Extrémo, who undoubtedly deserves her surname… her voice evolves from low to high with the same breadth and generosity. It is surprisingly in a monumental “Divinity of the Styx” that she triumphs. Sensitive souls abstain, the gods of the Underworld have undoubtedly taken fright in front of such immensity and enthusiasm (Maestro even loses his baton), and the text is launched with lightning precision. Her voice is that of Rita Gorr with the bad-ass side of Shirley Verrett, and the sensuality of Anna Caterina Antonacci.”
Mezzo-soprano Aude Extrémo, with a voice like chocolate velvet, floated her high notes with intoxicating ease and swept majestically through her iconic solos.
‘… with a vocal freshness throughout the range, like the radiant Aude Extrémo (Fricka). The French mezzo finds here a role that is perfectly suited to her means, emphasizing the beauty of her timbre with astounding ease, as much as her powerful and admirably projected voice’.
“Distinguished from the team is Aude Extrémo’s Métella, with a great vocal and stage presence.”
“Aude Extrémo confirms that she is the Carmen of her generation: between her sumptuous voice and the intelligence of her interpretation, we are conquered by this proud and distinguished Carmen. So natural and touching that we can only fall in love.”
“For her part, Aude Extrémo confirms — if it was needed! — the immense Carmen that she is. Everything is perfectly in place: the voice, rich and deep, gives this mezzo-soprano all the means necessary to portray an extremely seductive, and at the same time vulnerable, Carmen. Her charisma and sensitivity make it possible to convey all the complexity of a character that is deeply bewitching but also sometimes tortured. Aude Extrémo also demonstrates her great comic strength, especially in the spoken passages.”
“Extrémo, auburn mane and golden ankle boots, sets the scene on fire as soon as she appears. The voice is rich, full-bodied, and opulent in the lower register.”
“Aude Extrémo masters all the facets of Carmen which she plays with a suicidal, casual, seductive, brutal, disdainful and sensual energy. Obviously, this “zingara” will never be tamed. The voice embraces the colours of the role, with ample and warm bass notes, hoarseness to portray Carmen’s animality, and airy trebles to recall her infinite freedom.”
“Beyond the intrinsic beauty of the timbre — its bass as opulent as its conquering highs, such phrasing and impeccable diction — she impresses by embodying the character with such naturalness, resolution and sensitivity that we can only love her; thus establishing herself as one of the best Carmen’s of the moment.”
“Aude Extrémo is easy to qualify: it is THE voice of Carmen.”
“There remains Aude Extrémo, who made her stage debut in the role. Well here she is, this Carmen that we all expect: freed from the traditional image of a vulgar whore, she dances with distinction, and fascinates with her distinguished movements and costume. The lioness temperament is there, the infantile and spontaneous character on occasion too, but tempered by the suffering of the abused woman who, disturbed by the fits of violence from her lover, seems to hesitate before finally choosing her fate. Her voice is of course part of the seduction which emanates from her, the treble of a brilliant and controlled instrument is an object of fascination, like the opulent and black bass which she never abuses, proportioning its effects in a bewitching habanera, a séguedille contained until the explosion, and a bewitching Card Air.”
“Aude Extrémo embodies a memorable creature; she pours, full throttle, the creamy and almost cavernous metal of her ample mezzo. One will rarely have listened to Carmen more domineering, more fatal… She is a weapon of massive seduction. When she sings, everything is erased in this vocal relief, this silk with infinite breath, both sensual and monstrous.”
“In the title role, Aude Extrémo confirms her place as the most exhilarating French mezzo of her generation (alongside Clémentine Margaine) thanks to her racy voice of an unusual magnitude, attached to a biting and endearing tone…her stage presence, all of determination, glorifies a Carmen who — assuming the consequences of her actions, without hesitation and without nostalgia — dares to live and love to the full.”
“Fricka often remains a secondary role but this scene…becomes epic when it is thus seized by a voice of such temper and of such a presence.”
“For her second excursion to Wagnerian lands (after Venus in the Parisian version of Tannhäuser in Monte Carlo), Aude Extrémo was a great success in Fricka. The voice is full, sonorous, skilfully projected even into the highest notes of the role and the character, skilfully portrayed, escapes the caricatural interpretations which sometimes reduce Fricka to a simple jealous and hysterical wife.”
“Beware of Fricka’s anger, since Aude Extrémo is burning the boards, outraged wife draped in the divine splendors of her opulent mezzo!”
“Her voice is deep, even guttural, her chest impressive, capable of captivating in the bass and blazing in the treble. In opera arias — Massenet and Saint-Saëns — she deploys her playing with intense dramatic expressiveness. ”
“In Amnéris, the French Aude Extrémo is the great revelation of the evening. What an interesting timbre, what flexibility in the voice, with a bass that allows her to embody both the roles of mezzo (the high register is clear) as those of contralto (her Bordeaux Dalila, last season, made an impression)! Her whole last act is of a very high standard.”
“Aude Extrémo (Venus, Tannhäuser), look-alike of Jean Harlow or Zsa Zsa Gabor, ineffable of vocal musical intelligence, deploys the most languid seductions and God, the influential melisms of the Paris version suit her well!”
