Raquel Camarinha

The soprano Raquel Camarinha began studying music at the age of 5, playing piano and flute. Attracted from the start by singing and acting, she first undergoes vocal and theatrical training in Portugal, making her operatic debut in Lisbon at the age of 19 (Zerlina, Barbarina). She then chooses France to perfect her skills and obtains in 2011 her Master in Singing at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse de Paris in the class of Chantal Mathias, then in 2013 the Diplomas of Performer in both “Singing” and “Contemporary Repertoire and Creation”.

Very early on, critics notice her for her fresh and luminous timbre, as well as for the finesse and intelligence of her acting. “It is the tour de force of Raquel Camarinha’s naked voice that impresses the most. As much a singer as an actress, passing through all the registers of the human voice, she interprets in all senses of the word.”(resmusica.com)

She was nominated at the 2017 Victoires de la Musique Classique in the category “Lyric Artist Revelation” and has won numerous national and international competitions: in 2011 she won first prize at the Luísa Todi National Singing Competition in Portugal and was named Best Female Singer at the Armel Opera Competition in Hungary. The same year, with the pianist Satoshi Kubo, she won the prestigious Duo Prize at the International Singing Competition Nadia and Lili Boulanger and in 2013 she won the First Prize and the Audience Prize at the International Baroque Singing Competition in Froville.

On stage, she plays many roles and the critics praise her particularly in the great Mozart (Pamina, Susanna, Zerlina) and Haendelian (Morgana, Almirena, Bellezza) roles. We can hear her in the greatest French theaters: four consecutive seasons at the Théâtre du Châtelet in productions as varied as Il Re pastore (Mozart), Orlando Paladino (Handel), La Pietra del paragone (Rossini) and Carmen la Cubana (after Bizet), at the Chorégies d’Orange, at the Opéra-Comique and at the Philharmonie de Paris.

She also performs abroad (Belgium, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland). Her interpretation of Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine, given in France and on tour in Europe, was hailed by critics as “a unique and exceptional show”.

A great specialist of chamber music, she regularly performs in duo with pianist Yoan Héreau to give most of the great cycles of the French melody and Lied repertoire. Together they recorded for the label Naïve the disc “rencontre”, entirely devoted to French Melody and the complete Chopin melodies in a disc “Chopin | Schubert” for the label Mirare.

In concert, she collaborates with prestigious artists such as Renaud Capuçon, Henri Demarquette, Ophélie Gaillard, Hervé Pierre or Brigitte Fossey, as well as with the ensembles Intercontemporain, Pulcinella, Matheus and Remix. She also sings under the direction of Tugan Sokhiev, David Allen Miller, Arie van Beek, Roberto Benzi, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Emilio Pomàrico and Jean-Christophe Spinosi.

Curious about the new repertoire, she participates in several contemporary creations. In particular, she maintains a close collaboration with composer Benjamin Attahir, premiering his opera Le Silence des Ombres, the double concerto for voice and violin Je/suis/Ju/dith, as well as several chamber works.

She is frequently featured on television and radio in France (France 2, LCI, Arte, France Musique, Radio Classique, RFI) and Portugal (RTP2, Antena 2).