As Jupiter, Nicolas Testé unleashed a resonant, velvety bass worthy of a god.
Opera News
The French bass Nicolas Testé studied piano, bassoon and music history in Paris before embarking on a career as a singer. He studied at the Opéra National de Paris and Centre de Formation Lyrique. In 1998 he was awarded the Second Prize at the “Voix Nouvelles” competition.
Nicolas Testé regularly performs in many renowned opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera of New York, Munich Staatsoper, Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro San Carlo Naples, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Teatro La Fenice as well as at the Glyndebourne Festival and Chorégies d’Orange.
His extensive repertoire comprises title roles in Iphigénie en Aulide (Agamemnon), Roméo et Juliette (Frère Laurent), Manon (Des Grieux), Hamlet (Claudius), Il Trovatore (Ferrando), Die Zauberflöte (Sarastro), Castor et Pollux (Jupiter), Faust (Mephisto), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (The Four Villains) and Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Basilio).
In previous seasons he performed at the Bayerische Staatsoper in La Bohème (Colline) at the Metropolitan Opera in Carmen (Zuniga), at the Opéra de Paris in Samson et Dalila (Abimelech) as well as at the Los Angeles Opera in the role of the Four Villains in Les Contes d’Hoffmann.
... Nicolas Testé shone as the handsome, implacable high priest Nourabad. His lean, forceful bass rang out with such security and idiomatic French style...
Christopher Corwin, Parterre.com
Further performances include Nicolas Testé’s return to the Bayerische Staatsoper in the production of Lucia di Lammermoor (Raimondo). Furthermore, he performed at the Opernhaus Zürich in Maria Stuarda (Giorgio Talbot) and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the same role. Further productions at the Deutsche Oper Berlin include Faust (Mephisto) and La Gioconda (Alvise Badoero). In January 2018 he performed at the Opéra National de Paris in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Basilio).
In October 2018 Nicolas Testé returned to the Opéra Bastille to sing in Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots in the role of the servant Marcel followed by an engagement at the MET performing in Les Pêcheurs de perles (Nourabad).
In spring 2019 Nicolas Testé made a celebrated role debut singing Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at Paris’ Opéra Bastille as well as a role debut as Claudius in concert version performances of Hamlet in Barcelona and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In autumn 2019 Testé returned as Sir Giorgio in Bellini´s I Puritani at the Opéra Bastille.
French bass Nicolas Testé was an excellent and tragic King Arkel. He rounded out a well-balanced cast in a hall that begs for more singing...
Lev Bratishenko, Montreal Gazette
In the 2021/22 season he was on stage as Comte des Grieux in Manon at the Opéra of Lyon, as Ramfis in Aida at the Teatro San Carlo Naples, in Norma as Oroveso at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and as Colline in La Bohème at the MET.
Besides numerous opera productions Nicolas Testé regularly performs with internationally renowned symphony orchestras. In November 2017 he embarked on an Asian Tour together with the renowned soprano Diana Damrau performing opera gala and recital programmes with concerts in Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei and Beijing. In the frame of the tour VERDIssimo he gave concerts in Europe’s major concert halls in May and June 2018.
In the upcoming seasons Nicolas Testé tours again Europe and Asia together with soprano Diana Damrau presenting their new programme „Kings and Queens of Opera”.