Roles pivotal to Naouri’s enduring success include the Devils in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann which he has sung at Teatro Real, Teatro alla Scala, Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Metropolitan Opera and at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; Golaud in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Berliner Staatsoper, Teatro Real, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Los Angeles Opera and, most recently, at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; Sir John Falstaff in Verdi’s Falstaff at Opéra national de Lyon, Santa Fe Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata at Santa Fe Opera, Dallas Opera, New National Theatre Tokyo and at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.
Naouri made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2012 as Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, since returning to the New York stage as Capulet in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette (broadcast as part of the Live in HD cinema series), Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon, High Priest in Samson et Dalila, and most recently as Marquis de la Force in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites.
A collaboration with Opéra national de Paris that started in 1994 continues to thrive today and has brought forth performances in a wide ranging repertoire including Massenet’s Manon and Cendrillon, Rameau’s Platée, Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore and Don Pasquale, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Charpentier’s Médée and Enescu’s Œdipe.
Other major appearances for Laurent Naouri include his debut at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden as Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen and at Bayerische Staatsoper as Marquis de La Force in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, Ruprecht in Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel at Opéra national de Lyon, Mephistopheles in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust at Les Chorégies d’Orange and Opéra national de Lyon, Tomsky in Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame and Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca at La Monnaie and Fieramosca in Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini at Dutch National Opera and at Salzburger Festspiele.
A sensitive recitalist, enthusiastic jazz performer and well-recorded artist, Naouri’s operatic discography includes Lully’s Phaëton and Acis et Galatée, Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie and Dardanus, Handel’s La Resurrezione and Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini, Gounod’s Colombe and the title role in Donizetti’s Le duc d’Albe. As soloist he has recorded songs by Poulenc, Ravel and Roussel. His collaborations with jazz musicians include En Sourdine, a selection of French songs arranged by guitarist Frédéric Loiseau; Bridges, a programme dedicated to Eisler and Prokofiev with pianist Guillaume de Chassy and, together with pianist Manuel Rocheman, Round About Bill, a tribute to the music of Bill Evans.
