Driven by an inexhaustible artistic curiosity, Naouri continues to reinvent himself through an ever-expanding gallery of roles. Recent highlights include the title role of John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer, opening the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in an acclaimed staging by Luca Guadagnino and conducted by Lawrence Renes, sang his first Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande under Kazuki Yamada at Opera de Monte Carlo, performed William Crusoé in a new staging by Laurent Pelly of Offenbach’s rarely heard Robinson Crusoé, conducted by Marc Minowski at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and impressed as Hamm in Kurtág’s Fin de partie at Staatsoper Unter Den Linden, led by Alexander Soddy.
Laurent Naouri’s collaboration with Opéra national de Paris began in 1994 and has brought numerous productions of 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, Enescu’s Œdipe and Offenbach’s Les Brigands. His presence on this pivotal stage continues to thrive and in the current 2026/2027 season, he returns in no less than three different productions with the company: as Le Spectre in the revival of Krzysztof Warlikowski’s staging of Hamlet under Michael Schønwandt, as Le Bailli in a new production of Werther by Robert Carsen with conductor Nathalie Stutzmann and he creates the role of Monsieur Jules in the world premiere of Le miroir de nos peines by composer Hèctor Parra and creative team Mariame Clément and Ingo Metzmacher. Further appearances in the current season include his debut as Don Bartolo in a new staging by Jetske Mijnssen of Le nozze di Figaro at Grand Théâtre de Genève under Marta Gardolińska, and he returns to the 2027 Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as part of a world-premiere.
Other major appearances in Laurent Naouri’s previous seasons include his return to Teatro Real as Capulet (Roméo et Juliette) under Carlo Rizzi, his debut at Royal Ballet & Opera as Escamillo (Carmen), at Bayerische Staatsoper as Marquis de La Force (Dialogues des Carmélites), Ruprecht (The Fiery Angel) at Opéra national de Lyon, Mephistopheles (La Damnation de Faust) at both Les Chorégies d’Orange and Opéra national de Lyon, Tomsky (Pique Dame) and Scarpia (Tosca) at La Monnaie and Fieramosca (Benvenuto Cellini) at Dutch National Opera and Salzburger Festspiele. Having made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2012 as Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), Naouri has since returned to the New York stage as Capulet in (Roméo et Juliette), broadcast as part of the Live in HD cinema series, Pandolfe (Cendrillon), High Priest (Samson et Dalila), and most recently as Marquis de la Force in (Dialogues des Carmélites).
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.
