A graduate of Paris’ prestigious Sciences Po (Institute of Political Studies) and winner of the first prize in Music and Piano at the Conservatoire, Conrad first came to notice on the stage of Sciences Po, where she played Maria in West Side Story, with no previous singing experience. She then turned to opera singing, winning the Madrid competition for young female opera singers and made her début immediately afterwards in Poulenc’s Dialogue of the Carmelites, conducted by Jesus Lopez Cobos and directed by Robert Carsen.
Much acclaimed for her musical expression, she rapidly went on to play leading roles in Spain and Belgium : Leïla (The Pearl Fishers), the Countess (The Marriage of Figaro) and Juliet in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet. She has also shown her interest in the bridge between opera and cinema by creating a video clip of « Piangero » from Handel’s Giulio Cesare.
It was in the role of Violetta in La Traviata in 2012 that the young soprano revealed herself to the French public. Critics announces : « A discovery. her assurance, her solid vocal technique, her elegance and charm together with her pleasant timbre and interpretation of the text all make her a promising talent for the great operatic heroines ».
Since then she has often played Violetta which has had become one of her « key » roles. She has made her debuts as Mimi (La Bohème) and as Marguerite (Faust) while in Donna Anna (Don Giovanni): « a highly accomplished and dazzling Donna Anna ».
Her acting skills, her musicality and her solid technique make Fabienne Conrad an artist capable of playing particularly demanding roles. Thus she opened the 2014-2015 season with the performance of the four soprano roles in The tales of Hoffmann : Olympia, Giulietta, Antonia and Stella. A quadruple role that opened up the doors of the German theatres to her : « with incredible audacity on stage , she combines breathing technique and traditional legato with portraits of very modern women who are genuinely moving ».
She was then offered numerous leading roles : Gounod’s Mireille, Massenet’s Manon, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Micaëla in Carmen, Eliza in My Fair Lady, Princess Marie de Gonzague in Gounod’s Cinq-Mars – the first restaging of this work, backed by Palazetto Bru Zane.
So, she has sung at the Madrid Teatro Real, at the Lithuanian National Opera House as well as at the Opera houses of Leipzig, Lübeck, Rouen, Metz, Massy, Saint-Etienne, Salle Pleyel in Paris or in french Festivals like the Flâneries musicales de Reims…
Future projects include Mimi in the Massy Opera, the 4 soprano roles of the Tales of Hoffmann in the Saint Etienne Opera, the Verdi’s Requiem as well as concerts with Beatrice Uria-Monzon, presented by Alain Duault and backed by Radio Classique.
Particularly appreciated for her performances of Verdi’s Requiem, which she has interpreted a number of times in France and Germany, she commands a vast oratorio repertoire, including Mozart, Pergolesi, Leo, Brahms, Dvořák, Poulenc, Massenet, Fauré, Franck, contemporary works…
She has been very successful in Russia during big tours (opera recitals with orchestra). Praised by the press (« her pianissimi are reminiscent of Montserrat Caballe » – NNNews), she has been regularly invited there to sing great Italian and French arias from the romantic repertoire. She has sung under the conductors A Skulskyi and A Smirnov and with Theodor Currentzis’s musical ensemble Musicaeterna.
She also performed at the international commemoration ceremonies for the Great War, in the presence of Heads of States from all over the world, and in several Galas with the Orchestra of the « Garde républicaine » (French President’s Official Orchestra).
