The Artist of the Week is French-Canadian soprano Florie Valiquette. She is singing Pamina in a French translation of Mozart‘s The Magic Flute at Opéra Royal de Versailles (tickets and info here).
Florie is an opera star on the rise. This season, she has already made appearances at Septembre musical de l’Orne, Opéra de Lille and Opéra de Massy (in a role debut as Ophélie in Ambroise Thomas’ Hamlet). Highlights for 2025 will include Micaëla in Carmen with Opéra Royal de Versailles, Le Feu, la Princesse & le Rossignol in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges with Opéra de Monte-Carlo and the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute at both Opéra de Rennes and Angers Nantes Opéra.
This week, Florie tells us all about the artists who have inspired her, the small things in life that make her the happiest and introduces us to her best furry friend. Read on to find out more.
When was your first singing lesson (and with whom)?
My first voice lesson was when I was eight years old with Isabelle Côté, a voice teacher based in Granby (QC), my hometown. Thanks to my mom hearing me sing Disney songs all day, she encouraged me to take voice lessons. Isabelle was wonderful, she taught me how to read music and always kept pleasure and joy at the core of her teaching.
Drink of choice?
Champagne, of course!
Favourite place?
My home, in the French countryside. It is the place where I feel the most peaceful and grounded.
Top 3 favourite composers?
Mozart, Poulenc and Handel.
What’s your favourite thing about singing with an orchestra?
This sort of communion and listening between many people in order to create something beautiful. It is very special, and I always love when I can sing right close to them and feel all the energies united.
What’s something most people don’t know about opera life?
That the process never stops! You always keep learning and evolving as it goes with a lot of things in life…
Coffee or tea?
Coffee.
What’s your favourite mind-calming practice?
I love gardening. There’s something very meditative about it, and it’s so rewarding to see the fruits of your labor as the seasons go by. I also love to do all sort of DIY (do-it-yourself) renovation projects around the house. It brings my creative mind completely somewhere else, and I thoroughly enjoy it!
What’s the luckiest thing that has ever happened to you?
Having the most wonderful, supportive family and marrying my wonderful husband!
Are you a cat person or dog person?
Absolutely a dog person. I’m totally obsessed (as you can see on my Instagram!) with little pup Whitby, the best little cavalier king Charles in the world!
What book are you reading at the moment?
Le collier de la Reine by Alexandre Dumas.
Which TV show did you binge-watch last?
This Is Us. The show completely carried me away and I think Mandy Moore gave the performance of a lifetime!
Do you sing in the shower?
Tell me an opera singer that doesn’t sing in the shower… 😉
What’s a big investment for an opera artist, but totally worth it?
Having a great voice teacher no matter what is the most important investment in my opinion.
Do you enjoy cooking? If yes, what is your best dish?
I absolutely love cooking. It is also another form of meditation for me. I’ve been vegan for almost 10 years now, and I’ve always enjoyed turning any favorite dish into a plant-based version that is better for the planet and kinder to the animals. I’d say my best dish is lasagna!
The music industry is tough, and filled with rejection. How do you cope? Does it get easier?
Indeed it is. No matter where we are in life, there will always be rejection, disappointments. I think it’s important to remember not to take everything so seriously. We can get very much carried away in this beautiful, yet difficult, business. Sometimes, you just need to take a deep breath, remind yourself of your self-worth and that some things are just not meant to happen and that’s ok.
Does singing help keep you young?
Haha, I hope it does! Music definitely nourishes my soul and it keeps me active for sure!
Were there any directors in the past that have really inspired you?
I have had the privilege to work with a lot of wonderful stage directors throughout my career. More recently, I was very inspired to work with Barrie Kosky for Dialogues des Carmélites at the Glyndebourne Festival. The whole experience was very intense and transformative.
What is the ultimate goal of opera?
To touch people’s hearts.
What is happiness for you?
It might sound very cliché, but it is in appreciating the small joyful moments of life. A good coffee with an old friend, a nice walk in nature with your doggy, cooking a nice meal for your loved one, or being moved to tears at the opera…
LEARN MORE ABOUT FLORIE VALIQUETTE
VISIT HER WEBSITE
© Étienne Fernandez
Hamlet with Opéra de Massy
© Vincent Pontet
La vie parisienne with Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
© Richard Hubert Smith
Dialogues des Carmélites at the Glyndebourne Festival
The Magic Flute
Opéra Royal de Versailles
December 27 – January 1
PAMINA: Florie Valiquette
TAMINO: Mathias Vidal
PAPAGENO: Marc Scoffoni
QUEEN OF THE NIGHT: Julia Knecht
SARASTRO: Nicolas Certenais
PAPAGENA: Pauline Feracci
MONOSTATOS: Olivier Trommenschlager
FIRST LADY: Suzanne Jerosme
SECOND LADY: Lucie Edel
THIRD LADY: Mélodie Ruvio
THE ORATOR: Alexandre Baldo
FIRST PRIEST/ARMOURED MAN: Matthieu Chapuis
SECOND PRIEST/ARMOURED MAN: Nicolas Brooymans
THREE CHILDREN: Isaure Brunner, Marthe Davost, Alice Ungerer
ACROBATS: Victor Abreu, David Cami de Baix, Alex Sander Dos Santos, Ephraïm Gacon Douard, Antoine Helou, Amandine Schwartz
CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA: Le Concert Spirituel
CONDUCTOR: Hervé Niquet
STAGE DIRECTION/LIGHTING: Cécile Roussat et Julien Lubek
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Élodie Monet
COSTUMES: Sylvie Skinazi
SCENOGRAPHY: Élodie Monet
In 1791, at the Theater auf der Wieden, in a suburb of Vienna, Mozart premièred his singspiel Die Zauberflöte. The libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, who also staged the opera in his own theatre, sought to speak to a working-class audience in their own language. Thanks to the dramatic and dreamlike qualities of the piece, as well as Mozart’s brilliant music, it was performed more than a hundred times in a single year, and its success continues to this day. A global triumph! But in order to enthral young and old, music lovers and neophytes alike, Mozart and Schikaneder’s secret weapon was to speak to the audience in their own language, and not Italian, as in court opera.
This production follows suit, with an all-French version, directed by Cécile Roussat and Julien Lubek with an extraordinarily dreamlike dimension, as close to the action as possible. Here, Hervé Niquet directs a team of soloists who are fully committed to their roles as singer-actors, and as for the result, all we can say is: flute alors! To inject even more power into Mozart’s masterpiece, here is The Flute in French, and it’s an absolute marvel!
Royal Opera / Château de Versailles Spectacles Production.
Re-creation in French of the production first performed at the Opéra de Wallonie Liège in 2015.
Opera Canada depends on the generous contributions of its supporters to bring readers outstanding, in-depth coverage of opera in Canada and beyond.
Please consider subscribing or donating today.
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.
