Véronique Gens

"A Marschallin to her fingertips, from the mischievous blonde wig to the red hair of the Hollywood femme fatale, Véronique Gens displays her tall, slender silhouette and aristocratic singing. With a silky, moving timbre, a supple vocal line, and assured projection, the French soprano emotionally delivers the inflections of a heart that time has made more vulnerable, in a vocal palette of autumnal colors that tug at the heartstrings” Le Monde

"Véronique Gens embodies the Marschallin as a noble and melancholic figure, torn between the impulses of a still vibrant love and lucidity in the face of the passing of time. Krzysztof Warlikowski gives her a central role, placing her character at the opening and closing of the show, both on stage and in projected video sequences. These reveal her naked face, her raw emotions, in contrast with the stage artifices—wig, costume, and feathers to support them. The Marschallin thus distances herself from the illusions of youth, observing with detachment the scene of the presentation of the Rose, becoming a simple spectator of a world she is preparing to leave. Véronique Gens deploys a luminous and chiseled timbre, particularly moving in the piano nuances, where her musicality is expressed with suavity.” Olyrix

"Véronique Gens, finally, is fully convincing in her shift to a repertoire in which she has been little heard until now: a few years ago, in an interview, she expressed regret that she had never been offered Octavian, but here she takes a resounding revenge with this conversation in music where the nobility of her phrasing works wonders, even when she is decked out in a ridiculous outfit in the first act. We now look forward to applauding her as Emilia Marty in The Makropoulos Case next season…” concertclassic.com

"Véronique Gens makes her debut in this beautiful role at exactly the right time: she is not only believable, but embodied, vibrant, funny, sad, and human. Her vocals are perfect, her voice even: classy. Once she gains confidence, perhaps she will dare to add more colour to her words." Le Figaro

"As has been said, Véronique Gens takes on this enormous role with grace and sovereign clarity, elegantly dressed, haughty, all in restrained suffering. With a languid timbre and majestic vibrato, the soprano fully expresses the passing of time and the predictable failure of a romantic relationship, from which she will soon deliver, in a gesture of desperate abandonment, her lover." ArtistiKrezo

"The cast is largely dominated by Véronique Gens' legendary Marschallin. A new role for the superb soprano whose interpretation is flawless. We witness the blossoming of maturity in all its splendor, this eternal feminine that never ceases to bloom, especially when the bee of youth comes to pollinate the flower of fire. Véronique Gens's Marschallin has a voice without a shadow of imprecision, everything is clear, precise, the line of a beautiful musicality overflowing with color in the phrasing. Véronique Gens's performance is also powerful, especially in the third act, in an elegant scarlet suit by Yves Saint-Laurent or Chanel (Lagerfeld Collection 1983), she says farewell to passion by carrying its colors in a sartorial banner. Her last look is not a farewell, but a promise of a new life." ClassiqueNews

"Finally, there is Véronique Gens, the Maréchale, who shares Rita Hayworth's red hair and Cate Blanchett's allure in the third act. The role was expected, and risky, as Marie-Thérèse is a vehicle for fantasies and imperishable examples. To each their own models, the French soprano establishes a natural connection with Countess Amalviva, while others, less Mozartian and more Wagnerian, bring a welcome metal and breadth to the opera's climactic passages. The sense of the text, essential to the conversation in music, is obvious to the renowned interpreter of the melodic repertoire. The solidity of the midrange reinforces the expression. The vocal palette alternates delicate pianissimi and brilliant high notes to closely match Bichette's changing moods. Nobility, introspection, modesty, sensitivity: here is a Marshal between Viennese lightness, deep melancholy and devastating chic, at whose feet even the most intractable of Saxons would lay a silver rose." ForumOpera

"The vocal cast, homogeneous, is beyond reproach, starting with Véronique Gens who, in her debut role, plays a convincing Marschallin vocally and scenically, heir to the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, noble and melancholic, then ultimately resigned, with a luminous timbre, broad projection and a vibrato that is not at all bothersome." Resmusica

"Véronique Gens is a definitive Marschallin, with radiant, nuanced singing and a gut wrenchingly affecting dramatic performance." Financial Times

"We’ve waited a long time for Gens’ to take on the Marschallin, and the wait was most definitely worth it. Hers has always been the most aristocratic of sopranos, that noble line and sheer beauty of tone ideally matched to this role. She has also clearly worked exceptionally hard on the text, the words always immaculately clear and deep of emotion. There are two moments that I’ll take with me from tonight, moments that I hope I’ll remember forever. The way that Gens floated her ‘silberne Ros’n’, the tone taking wing, the dynamics beautifully shaded in a fabulous double hairpin, was simply exquisite. In Act 3, her costume seemed to be a nod to Huma Rojo, the late Marisa Paredes’ character in Todo sobre mi madre. I felt a sense of Gens not just singing the role, but living it, so that when we got to the trio, something truly special happened. She capped the line gloriously, that instantly recognizable soprano soaring with ease. When she sang that big high B at the climax, it spoke directly to the soul. It was less the sense of hearing a note and text, and more the sense of hearing a life well lived. In that note, and in the subsequent closing phrase, she brought out a sense of love, of acceptance, of looking back, yet looking ahead. Gens made it sound utterly transcendental in a way I’ve never heard it before. And yes, the tears flowed, as they seemed to for the entire room. Gens’ Marschallin was something really special indeed.” Opera Traveller