Recognized for her work in the Baroque repertoire, Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin sings Bach, Mahler, Britten and the music of the 20th and 21st centuries with equal success.
Mrs Gauvin has sung with the world’s leading symphony orchestras, including the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the San Francisco Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, as well as Baroque orchestras such as Les Talens Lyriques, the Venice Baroque Orchestra, Accademia Bizantina, Il Complesso Barocco, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy.
She has worked with conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Michel Plasson, Mikko Frank, Teodor Currentzis, Charles Dutoit, Bernard Labadie, Christophe Rousset, Sir Roger Norrington, Kent Nagano, Jérémie Rhorer and the late Alan Curtis among others.
On the operatic stage, she has performed Vitellia in Mozart’s Clemenza di Tito (J. Rohrer/D. Podalydès) at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo (O. Dantone/R. Carsen) at the Glyndebourne Festival, Merab in Saul (L. Cummings/B. Kosky) at Paris Théâtre du Châtelet, the title role in Gluck’s Armide (I. Bolton/B. Kosky) at the Netherlands Opera and Giunone in Cavalli’s Calisto (I. Bolton + C. Moulds/D. Alden) for both the Bayerische Staatsoper and Madrid Teatro Real.
Karina was Bellezza in Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno at the Innsbruck Festival with Alessandro De Marchi and sang both Agrippina (Poppea) and Giulio Cesare (Cleopatra) with Christophe Rousset at the Bucharest George Enescu Festival, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Ambronay Festival.
In 2021/2022, she reprised her signature role of Handel’s Alcina alongside Harry Bicket and The English Concert in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and in a new Václav Luks/Jiří Heřman production in Brno, Versailles and Caen.
In 2022/2023, Karina returned to the Boston Early Music Festival for the title role in Demarest’s Circé and reunited with Christophe Rousset for the rarity Fausto by Louise Bertin at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (issued on CD).
Other past projects include a European tour and a recording of Handel’s Ariodante for EMI Virgin Classics, along with a European tour and a recording of Giulio Cesare, both with Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco. Karina Gauvin was Lia in Debussy’s Enfant prodigue with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mikko Frank released on the Erato label.
Karina Gauvin’s extensive discography – more than 50 titles – has won her numerous awards, including a “Chamber Music America Award” for her “Fête Galante” disc with pianist Marc-André Hamelin, 3 Grammy nominations for her recordings with the Boston Early Music Orchestra and several Opus Prizes. During the pandemic, Ms. Gauvin participated in an extensive project to record the complete songs of Jules Massenet, issued on Atma Classique in 2022.
2024 saw the release of her most intriguing solo album “Marie Hubert – Fille du Roy” which brings Quebec and French folklore to life as Karina recounts the life of her ancestor, Marie Hubert, recruited at the age of 15 years old in Paris in 1670 to marry in “New France”, in Quebec.
Upcoming highlights include the title role in Handel’s Rodelinda at both the Theater an der Wien and Santa Cecilia Hall in Rome and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni under the baton of Masato Suzuki at Tokyo Bunkamura Orchard Hall. Karina returns to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées for the 10th anniversary gala concert of Le Concert de la Loge conducted by Julien Chauvin.
