The Artist of the Week is Canadian conductor Jacques Lacombe. He will be conducting Ambroise Thomas’ operatic adaptation of Hamlet at Opéra de Montréal from November 16th to 24th (tickets and info here).
Jacques is a Juno Award-winning conductor and the music director of Vancouver Opera, where he will be conducting Madama Butterfly in the spring. This season will also take him to Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Greek National Opera, Calgary Opera and the University of British Columbia.
This week, Jacques shares his favourite cities, a Nutcracker mishap and his favourite instrument (after the human voice, of course). Read on to find out more.
Drink of choice?
Burgundy wines (white or red).
Favourite city that you’ve worked in?
Berlin, where I’ve been a regular guest conductor at the Deutsche Oper for 15 consecutive seasons. It feels almost like being home when I’m there.
Favourite place?
I love Paris. I think it’s probably the most beautiful city in the world.
Top 3 favourite composers?
Puccini, Richard Strauss, Massenet.
Top 3 favourite operas?
Werther, Madama Butterfly, Carmen
Who is a singer you admired from the past?
Piero Cappuccilli. I had the chance to hear him quite a few times at the Vienna State Opera when I was studying at the Academy of Music in Vienna. One of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard.
What’s the strangest thing that has happened to you on stage?
Conducting the final numbers of Nutcracker in bare chest because my shirt stuck to my body and the buttons just got “opened”…
What’s your favourite orchestral instrument?
Cello, because it’s probably the closest instrument to the human voice, which still remains the best “musical instrument.”
Tent or hotel?
Hotel. I need my comfort.
Coffee or tea?
Definitely coffee: single long espresso.
What was the first opera you ever saw?
I believe it was The Magic Flute at the Opéra de Montréal.
What’s your favourite mind-calming practice?
Cooking. I just love it – from planning the meal, going grocery shopping, then cooking and obviously eating…
Where did you go to school?
I studied music at the Conservatoire de Musique de Trois-Rivières and Montréal as well as at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna.
What’s the best thing about being an opera artist?
Traveling and meeting interesting and stimulating artists and collaborators.
What was your childhood dream job?
Working as a scientist at the NASA.
Are you happiest in the country or in the city?
I’m a city guy. I need the vibes and the actions of a city.
Are you a perfectionist?
Yes! But the challenge of an artist is to always aim for perfection while accepting that we really can’t completely touch it…
LEARN MORE ABOUT JACQUES LACOMBE
VISIT HIS WEBSITE
© Bettina Stoess
Carmen at Deutsche Oper Berlin
© 2012 Steve J. Sherman
Spring for Music Festival at Carnegie Hall
© J.F. Bérubé
Hamlet
Opéra de Montréal
November 16-24
STAGE DIRECTOR: Alain Gauthier
CONDUCTOR: Jacques Lacombe
HAMLET: Elliot Madore
OPHELIA: Sarah Dufresne
QUEEN GERTRUDE: Karine Deshayes
CLAUDIUS: Nathan Berg
LAËRTES: Antoine Bélanger
MARCELLUS: Rocco Rupolo
HORATIO: Alexandre Sylvestre
POLONIUS: Matthew Li
GHOST: Alain Coulombe
ORCHESTRE MÉTROPOLITAIN
OPÉRA DE MONTRÉAL CHORUS
SETS: Frédérick Ouellet
COSTUMES: Sarah Balleux
LIGHTING: Renaud Pettigrew
Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s iconic play. Through Alain Gauthier’s masterful staging, audiences behold the anguish and tragic spiral of resentment that plague victims of a system in which corruption prevails. The masterful conductor Jacques Lacombe will lead the Orchestre Métropolitain.
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Máiri Demings is Opera Canada’s digital content specialist. She’s also a mezzo-soprano who has sung with Tapestry Opera, performs regularly with VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert and Toronto Operetta Theatre, and is one half of duo mezzopiano with pianist Zain Solinski.
