Axelle Fanyo

Soprano

Biography

French soprano Axelle Fanyo “does not only embody a character, she tells us the story. She clearly cultivates the art of communication, which gives her singing another dimension.” (Forum Opera) and is making her mark on both the opera world and in concert halls with her eclectic curiosity and “charismatic, beautiful voice [of] real star quality.” (Renée Fleming) With multiple accolades including the 2021 Nadia and Lili Boulanger Competition grand prize, prestigious Kaleidoscope prize and the Young Artist prize at the International French Song competition, Axelle is without a doubt an artist on the rise.

After studying musicology at the Sorbonne and winning awards as a violinist at the Conservatoire La Courneuve, Axelle Fanyo studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (CNSMDP) with Glenn Chambers and obtained her Master’s Diploma. She also took part in the lyric workshop Opera Fuoco, led by David Stern, and was a member of Renée Fleming’s Song Studio at Carnegie Hall in 2019. The Deutsche Grammophon label invited her to make her first solo recordings (with repertoire including Weill, Ravel and Bolcom) within their Rising Star programme, and she has also been named as a Rising Star for the 2023/24 season in the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) programme, through which she will give a recital tour of around fifteen dates across major European venues including Vienna’s Musikverein, London’s Barbican, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the Philharmonie de Paris and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.

In 2023/24, in addition to this European recital tour, she will make her debut in two major roles: Tosca at the Théâtre Imperial in Compiègne, then on tour in France, and Verdi’s Luisa Miller at the Opéra Grand Avignon. She will also sing the role of the Mother in the world premiere of Hèctor Parra’s contemporary opera Justice at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. In concert and recital she sings Berg’s Sieben fruhe lieder, Schoenberg’s lieder op.2 and String Quartet No. 2 (L’Abbaye de Royaumont), and narrates Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat, with musicians from the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Samy Rachid.

Recent highlights include her debut at the Philharmonie de Paris singing the title role in Debussy’s La Damoiselle élue with Orchestre de Paris, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. The latter then invited her to sing at Davies Symphony Hall the role of Refka in Kaija Saariaho’s opera Adriana Mater with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, staged by Peter Sellars. She also made her debut at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in a recital with the pianist Julius Drake, whom she will meet again this season for recitals in London and the Canary Islands, sang roles in Martín y Soler’s We are Eternal at Opéra de Massy, roles at Opéra de Dijon and Opéra de Caen; and recitals at the Orangerie du Parc Bagatelle, Festival des Nuits Romantiques, Opéra Comique and Paris Music Factory.

She has also performed with Hervé Niquet and his baroque ensemble Le Concert Spirituel in the comedy ballet Le Malade Imaginaire by Molière/Charpentier in the role of Flore, and the role of La Baronne in the lyrical comedy Les Aventures du Baron de Münchausen created at the Théâtre Imperial in Compiègne then on tour in France. With Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques she sang the role of Juno in La Divisione del Mondo by Legrenzi at the Cologne Philharmonie, the role of Pulcheria in Pallavicino’s Le amazzoni nell’isole fortunate. Her repertoire has also included Fourth Maid in Elektra at Opera de Toulouse and Leila in John Adams’ I was Looking at the Ceiling and then I saw the Sky at Opera de Lyon.

In concert Axelle Fanyo has been heard in Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem and Mahler’s Ruckert lieder with the Orchestre Les Siècles and in repertoire ranging from Respighi’s Il tramonto, Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder and Poulenc’s La Dame de Monte-Carlo. She performs in recital with pianists such as Julius Drake, Tanguy de Williencourt, Kunal Lahiry, and Adriano Spampanato, in venues such as the Wigmore Hall, La Seine Musicale, La Philharmonie de Paris, and the Musée d ‘Orsay. Her recordings include Saint-Saens’ Les Mélodies Persanes for Palazzetto Bru Zane with the Orchestre de Capitole de Toulouse, conducted by Leo Hussain, and several melodies of Henri Duparc for B Records, in association with l’Académie Orsay-Royaumont.

Recent Praise

“Axelle Fanyo is very charismatic, beautiful voice, beautiful woman and so fun to talk to….She has real star quality.”

- Renée Fleming

“Axelle Fanyo does not only embody a character, she tells us the story. She clearly cultivates the art of saying, which gives her singing another dimension.”

Brigitte Maroillat

Forum Opéra