photo by Laura Benedict

Dominique Labelle
Soprano
New England First Place Winner 1989
National Council Winner 1989

Born in Montreal, Dominique Labelle first came to international prominence as Donna Anna in Peter Sellars’ production of Don Giovanni, which she performed in New York, Paris, and Vienna.

Whether in opera or in concert, the luminous beauty of her voice, her charismatic stage presence, and her impeccable musicianship are unmistakable. She is sought after by such conductors as Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, Christopher Hogwood, Kurt Masur, Nicholas McGegan, John Nelson, Sir Roger Norrington, Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, Franz Welser-Möst and David Zinman, and has sung with most of the major U. S. orchestras including Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

Concert highlights for Ms. Labelle include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Poulenc’s Stabat Mater, Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges, and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Symphony No. 9, both with the late Robert Shaw. She particularly enjoyed performances of the Symphony No. 9 with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic on tour in Asia, and Bach’s St John Passion with Sir Roger Norrington and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam.

Certainly one of today’s finest interpreters of Handel, she is closely associated with his recently discovered Gloria. She presented the modern-day premiere of the Gloria at the International Handel-Festival Göttingen, with Nicholas McGegan conducting the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and subsequent performances include the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Wiener Akademie (In Vienna’s Musikverein). She is much in demand for performances of the works of Bach, Handel, and Mozart, with modern- and period-instrument orchestras alike.

On the opera stage, she has been acclaimed for her performances in the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor (Seattle and Boston), Violetta in La Traviata (Boston), and the title role in Handel’s Atalanta and Rodelinda (Göttingen). She reprised Donna Anna in an abridged film version of the work, starring Dmitri Hvorostovsky. The PBS telecast of the Sellars production of Don Giovanni, which was broadcast internationally, is also available on home video.

Outside North America, her engagements have included the International Handel-Festival Göttingen, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the BBC Proms, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the English Concert, the Gabrieli Consort, Netherlands Bach Society, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bach Collegium of Japan and the Melbourne Symphony.

A committed recitalist, Ms. Labelle has touched audiences with her profound and sensitive interpretations of music and text. Her appearances have included solo recitals at New York’s Weill Hall, Lincoln Center, the 92 nd St. Y, The Vocal Arts Society in Washington, D.C., and appearances in Boston, Montreal, Moscow, Quebec and London.

Her many recordings, with repertoire from the 17th to the 21st centuries, appear on Virgin Veritas, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, RCA Victor Red Seal, Koss, Denon, New World, and Musica Omnia labels. Her recording of Handel’s Arminio won the 2002 Handel Prize.

Ms. Labelle is represented by Schwalbe and Partners.
Visit Ms. Labelle's website at www.dominiquelabelle.com.

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