Raquel Camarinha & Yoan Héreau

Raquel Camarinha, soprano, Yoan Héreau, piano

The collaboration between Raquel Camarinha and Yoan Héreau begins in 2012 and, from then on, the desire to develop and deepen a duo work pushes them towards numerous projects. They trained individually at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris and obtained together in 2016 a Master’s degree in Chamber Music with honors, unanimously and with the congratulations of the jury.

Specialized in the French repertoire of the 19th and early 20th centuries, they perform together most of the great cycles of the French melody and Lied repertoire and pay particular attention to the music of composers of our time.

Their interpretation of Poulenc’s La Voix humaine, given in France and on tour in Europe, has been hailed by critics as “a unique and exceptional show, where Yoan Héreau’s piano supports the drama with finesse and common breathing with the beautiful soprano, Raquel Camarinha, a remarkable singer” (Y. Sinno).

Both develop simultaneously an individual artistic activity. 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”. Nominated at the “Victoires de la Musique Classique 2017″ in the category “Révélation Artiste Lyrique”, she is laureate of many national and international competitions. Very early on, critics notice her for her fresh and luminous timbre, as well as for the finesse and intelligence of her acting. Her repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary. On stage, Raquel Camarinha interprets, among others, the great Mozart (Pamina, Susanna, Zerlina) and Haendelian (Morgana, Almirena, Bellezza) roles. Curious about the new repertoire, she has made numerous creations, including two operas by Luís Tinoco, Evil Machines (2008) and Paint Me (2010), as well as the creation of the chamber version of The Passion of Simone by K. Saariaho. She can be heard 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 (Germany, Belgium, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland).

For his part, after a complete CNSMDP curriculum, Yoan Héreau joins the Paris Opera Academy in 2014 and for three seasons as pianist and vocal coach. Particularly appreciated by singers as a recital partner, he has developed a close collaboration with the soprano Raquel Camarinha. Very quickly attracted to conducting, he conducted Simon Valastro’s ballet The Little Match Girl at the Palais Garnier and distinguished himself in the lyric repertoire with works such as Ravel’s L’Heure espagnole, Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore, Britten’s Owen Wingrave and Joanna Lee’s The Way back home. Sensitive to the question of transmission, he is assistant to Stephan Genz’s German repertoire class at the CNMSDP and since 2016 he has been offering concerts at the Paris Opera for young audiences. Since 2020 he has been the artistic director of the festival Les Musicales de Saint-Maurice.

Raquel Camarinha and Yoan Héreau perform regularly in recitals in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet, Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau, Invalides, Opéra de Paris, Petit Palais, Philharmonie de Paris), in France (Festival de l’Épau, Festival Messiaen, Folle Journée de Nantes, Festival Radio France et Montpellier, Grange de Meslay) and abroad.

Together they release in 2019 for the label Naïve the disc “rencontre”, entirely devoted to French Melody and in 2020 the complete Chopin melodies and Schubert’s Mignon Lieder in a disc “Chopin | Schubert” for the label Mirare. Next season will see the release of a second Opus for Naïve.