The Artist of the Week is Canadian mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel. She will be performing in Ana Sokolović‘s Clown(s) at Opéra de Montréal from January 31st to February 8th (tickets and info here).
Mireille is a lyric mezzo and producer based in Berlin. She has appeared on opera and concert stages across North America and Europe, including with Opera Atelier, Národni Divadlo, Theater Basel, Opéra-Théâtre de Metz, Opéra national de Nancy-Lorraine, Opéra de Nice, Deutsche Oper, Vancouver Opera, Schwetzingen SWR Festspiele, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Les Violons du Roy, Collegium 1704 and the Houston Symphony. In 2020 she co-founded the artistic collective Crown The Muse with soprano and pianist Rachel Fenlon.
This week, Mireille shares who is inspiring her, what being brave with music means to her and how pants roles have changed her perspective. Read on to find out more.
Drink of choice?
Extra dry vodka martini with a twist.
Favourite place?
In the wee hours of the night, my living room in Berlin. Any other time, Eagle Island.
Top 3 favourite composers?
Bach towers above all others.
Who is a singer you admire that is currently working?
I admire literally everyone who is making it work as an opera singer right now.
What’s the strangest/funniest thing that has happened to you on stage?
I did Carmen for a season at the State Opera House in Prague. I arrived for a show and there was no prior rehearsal, so I had no idea who the Don José was that night. I threw that rose up in the air after Habanera and hoped, whoever the DJ was, he would be close enough to catch it and put me out of my misery.
Which role do you wish you could sing, but is not in your voice type?
Brünnhilde.
What’s the luckiest thing that has ever happened to you?
Being born into my family.
What was your childhood dream job?
Actress or nun.
What book are you reading at the moment?
Omri Boehm, Radical Universalism.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
No pleasures are guilty.
Do you have a funny joke for us?
I have a dozen. If only I could remember one…
Are you superstitious? If yes, can you share what it’s about?
Heavily superstitious. I suppose because as an opera singer things can feel so out of our control. All I know is you won’t catch me going onstage without knocking on wood, even if that is in full view of the public.
If you could be stuck in an elevator with one person, who would it be?
Alan Rickman (RIP).
What is the first thing you would do if you won the lottery?
Divide it among my family and then plan some great trips with them.
Who has been inspiring you lately?
The artists November Ultra, Léo Walk; the young ladies who helped me at the OdM ticket counter; my family, my friends. I am constantly inspired by people.
What does it mean to be brave with music?
I don’t know about music in general, but in singing, for me, to be brave would be to take risks. Sometimes you want a mood or feeling, and you can only get it if you use a certain color or tone and you can risk not being heard or going a bit out of tune. When you’re in an opera trying that and the conductor is giving you this annoyed face, it is REALLY brave to persist with your idea (even if it will only work some of the time because it’s so tricky to pull off). It’s a lot easier to do this in recital, BTW.
Which of your roles has had the greatest impact on your perspective?
Playing so many pant roles changed my perspective. You are treated differently when you are kitted out as a guy vs when you are in a glam dress with lashes, and it really showed me how you present yourself influences how you are treated (without even getting into issues of gender!).
Do your on stage experiences also feed into your personal life?
Yes, I don’t see a difference. It’s all life!
LEARN MORE ABOUT MIREILLE LABEL
VISIT HER WEBSITE
© HJ Michel
World Premiere of Wilde by Hector Parra at Schwetzinger Festspiele
© Luc Bertau
As Carmen at Opera de Metz
© Lutz Edelhoff
As Orfeo at Theater Erfurt
Clown(s)
Opéra de Montréal
COMPOSER: Ana Sokolović
STAGE DIRECTOR: Martin Genest
SOPRANO: Aline Kutan
MEZZO-SOPRANO: Mireille Lebel
TENOR: Andrew Haji
BARITONE: Bruno Roy
Created by Montreal composer Ana Sokolović, Clown(s) is a moving tribute to the human experience. Clown(s) draws upon the worlds of Sand, Fellini, Chaplin, and Keaton to construct a “favola in musica” — a musical fable — that unfolds across seven spellbinding scenes.
Combining an invented language, evocative music, and contemporary stage magic, this production creates a whimsical, circus-inspired world that captivates and touches the hearts of all who experience it.
When a solitary clown opens a suitcase on an empty stage, an entire universe comes into being with all its attendant wonders: birth, discovery, love, joy, conflict, even sorrow. As the comic face paint disappears, our beloved clowns begin to reveal as much about themselves as they do about our greater humanity.
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