Nicole Car
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Nicole_Car.jpg/220px-Nicole_Car.jpg)
Nicole Car (born 1985)[1] is an Australian operatic soprano. She has performed leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera New York, Royal Opera House London, Bavarian State Opera Munich, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Paris Opera, Dallas Opera, and Opera Australia.[2]
Early life and education
Car attended Strathmore Secondary School, where she performed in school musicals. In Year 12 she sang at the Victorian Schools' Spectacular, singing jazz songs from the 1930s and 40s.[3]
At age 17, Car saw her first opera, Tosca, in her final year of high school in Melbourne. She then completed a Bachelor of Music at the Victorian College of the Arts, rather than the legal degree her parents had hoped for.[4]
Career
Car's debut in a major role was singing Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Victorian Opera in 2009.[5] Her American debut was singing the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro at Dallas Opera in 2014, a role she had previously performed for Opera Australia.[2] Other roles for Opera Australia include the title parts of La traviata, Thaïs and Luisa Miller (winning her first Helpmann Award for the latter); Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Tatyana ([[Eugene Onegin), Micaëla (Carmen), Mimi (La bohème), Marguerite (Faust), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Leila (The Pearl Fishers), and both Donna Anna and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni). She has also performed Donna Anna for West Australian Opera and Adalgisa in Norma for Victorian Opera Melbourne. In 2019 Car visited Australia to sing the role of Ellen in a recital version of the Benjamin Britten opera Peter Grimes with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. While there, she and her husband Étienne Dupuis also performed a series of concerts together.[6] In the 2019/2020 season, she will be back performing at the Sydney Opera House singing Tatyana to Étienne Dupuis' Eugene Onegin. They also performed together in Eugene Onegin at the Montreal Opera House in 2019, Car making her Canadian debut.[7]
Car made her Covent Garden debut in 2015, singing Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen, followed by Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and a new production of La bohème as Mimì in the 2017/18 season. In 2020 she returns to the Royal Opera House as Mimì.[3] Car had previously performed the role of Micaëla for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour in 2013.[8]
In Germany, Car performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Tatyana, Fiordiligi, Marguerite and a Verdi Gala Concert), the Semperoper Dresden (Mimì, Fiordiligi) and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (Tatyana). Car is back at Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2020 singing the title role of Thaïs alongside Étienne Dupuis.[9]
In a review of her first recording, The Kiss, Car's voice is described as possessing "a lovely lyric soprano".[10]
Car made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the role of Mimì (La bohème) in September 2018, receiving critical acclaim from The New York Times for her "fine-grained tone and nuanced acting".[11] [12] She returned to the Met in 2020 as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte.
Performances at the Paris Opera have included Tatyana, Mimì, Micaëla and her role debut as Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlo in the 2019/2020 season. She also sang the role of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in a new production at the Paris Opera which was broadcast by many international cinemas.[13]
Opera roles
- Adalgisa, Norma (Bellini)[14]
- Countess, Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart)[2]
- Donna Anna, Don Giovanni (Mozart)[5]
- Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni (Mozart)[2]
- Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte (Mozart)[14]
- Leila, The Pearl Fishers (Bizet)[2]
- Luisa Miller, Luisa Miller (Verdi)[2]
- Micaëla, Carmen (Bizet)[3][8]
- Mimì, La bohème (Puccini)[15]
- Pamina, Die Zauberflöte (Mozart)[14]
- Tatyana, Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky)[3]
- Thaïs, Thaïs (Massenet)[2]
- Violetta Valéry, La traviata (Verdi)[16]
Recognition and awards
- At 21, while in her final year at the Victorian College of the Arts, Car won the 2007 Herald Sun Aria, performing arias by Verdi and Puccini. In making the announcement, chief adjudicator Anson Austin said she has "a wonderful talent and a most beautiful voice".[17]
- In 2013 Car won joint first prize in the Neue Stimmen vocal competition held in Germany.[18]
- Car won a Helpmann Award in 2016 for Best Female Performer in an Opera for her role in Luisa Miller for Opera Australia.[19]
- Car was to have been pictured on the March 2018 issue of Limelight magazine.[20] The issue was cancelled when the magazine changed owners.[21]
- She won the 2018 Helpmann Award for Best Female Performer in an Opera for La Traviata, Opera Australia.[22]
Discography
- The Kiss with Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Andrea Molino (conductor), ABC Classics, 2015
- Heroines with Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti (conductor), ABC Classics, 2018
Personal life
Car is married to Canadian baritone Étienne Dupuis. They have one child, Noah.[23]
References
- ^ "Nicole Car", profile, Neue Stimmen
- ^ a b c d e f g "Nicole Car – Soprano". Opera Australia. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
- ^ a b c d Dow, Steve (19 April 2016). "Opera superstar Nicole Car hits all the right notes in Luisa Miller". The Weekly Review. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ Schaffer, Monique (30 April 2016). "Opera singer Nicole Car rising up the ranks of the international opera schene". ABC News. Archived from the original on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
- ^ a b Paget, Clive (5 May 2016). "Nicole Car: Australia's Wandering Star". Limelight. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ Meacham, Steve (2019-08-01). "From Paris to Peppa Pig: Nicole Car juggles Opera, love and family". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2019-08-11..
- ^ "Nicole Car, soprano". www.operabase.com. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
- ^ a b Neutze, Benjamin (24 March 2013). "Carmen – Second time, just as lucky!". AussieTheatre.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ "Nicole Car, soprano". www.operabase.com. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
- ^ Pullinger, Mark. "Nicole Car: The Kiss". Gramophone. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
- ^ Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna da (2018-09-26). "Review: A Thrilling La bohème at the Met, Radiating Warmth". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
- ^ Martell, Logan (2018-09-27). "Metropolitan Opera 2018–19 Review: La bohème". OperaWire. Archived from the original on 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
- ^ Salazar, Francisco (2018-06-16). "Metropolitan Opera 2018-19 Review: La bohème". OperaWire. Archived from the original on 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- ^ a b c "Nicole Car". Opéra national de Paris. Archived from the original on 2018-06-23. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
- ^ "Nicole Car". Royal Opera House. Archived from the original on 2018-06-23. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
- ^ "Andrea Licata's Traviata receives standing ovation". SBS. Archived from the original on 2018-06-23. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
- ^ "Soprano scoops Herald Sun Aria". Herald Sun. Melbourne. 2 November 2007. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ Paget, Clive (3 October 2013). "Aussie Wins Neue Stimmen Singing Competition". Limelight. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ James, Erin. "Helmpann Awards 2016 – Full List". AussieTheatre.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ "Coming Soon: The March 2018 issue of Limelight Magazine", 18 January 2018, Limelight
- ^ Galvin, Nick (8 February 2018). "Limelight magazine calls in liquidators". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
- ^ Jefferson, Dee (2018-07-16). "Sydney Theatre Company the biggest winner at this year's Helpmann Awards". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
- ^ "La Traviata". Australian Arts Review. 2018-02-23. Archived from the original on 2018-08-23. Retrieved 2018-08-22.