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The Belgian coloratura soprano, Jodie Devos, was enrolled at the age of 5 by her parents in singing classes, which focused on popular music. When she later took dance classes, she discovered her love for classical music. She took singing classes from age 16, and then studied voice at the Institut Supérieur de Musique et de Pédagogie (IMEP) in Namur, with Élise Gäbele and Benoît Giaux. She studied further at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Lillian Watson, graduating with Master of Arts degree in 2013. She took master-classes with Helmut Deutsch, J. Streets and Marc Minkowski. She was a laureate of national competitions, including the Concours Bell'Arte, the Fonds Thirionet, Les Nouveaux Talents de l'Art Lyrique and the Prix Jacques Dôme. She joined the studio of the Opéra-Comique in Paris, where her roles included Serpina in Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's La Serva padrona, Blonde in W.A. Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Miss Wordsworth in Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring.
In 2014, Jodie Devos entered the Queen Elisabeth Competition and achieved 2nd place, and was also awarded the audience prize. The same year, she joined the ensemble of the Opéra-Comique, where she appeared as Ida and later Adele in Strauss' Die Fledermaus and in Louis Varney's Les Mousquetaires au convent. She appeared as the Queen of the Night in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Opéra Bastille and La Monnaie, as Olympia in Offenbach's Les contes de Hoffmann at the Opéra Bastille, as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, as Eurydice in Offenbach's Orphée aux enfers, Susanna in W.A. Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, the title role of Donizetti's La fille du régiment, and as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie. She performed at the Opéra national de Montpellier as Fire, Princess and Nightingale in Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortilèges in L'Hirondelle inattendue by Simon Laks and as Offenbach's Geneviève de Brabant.
Jodie Devos appeared at the Paris Opera first as Yniold in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande in 2017. In 2019 she appeared at the Bastille as both Amour and Zaire in Rameau's Les Indes galantes, and a reviewer noted that she "can move between authority and the most moving fragility". She performed the role of Olimpia in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann there in 2020. After the COVID-19 pandemic, she performed in operas by Ambroise Thomas at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, as Philine in Mignon, and as Ophélie in Hamlet. She performed there also the title role of Lakmé by Leo Delibes, and a reviewer described her voice as pure like bells and with secure high notes, perfectly suited to the Bell aria, but convincing also in the lyric moments and love duets with Philippe Talbot as Gérard. She appeared in the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in French in 2023, both in Tours and at the Grand Théâtre de Québec.
Jodie Devos performed in concerts in Stuttgart, Maastricht and Wigmore Hall in London, among others.[4] She also performed in Poland, India, Canada, the USA and Brazil. She collaborated with conductors including Roland Böer, Mikko Franck, Leonardo García-Alarcón, Dmitri Jurowski, Enrique Mazzola, Christophe Rousset and Guy Van Waas. She died from breast cancer in Paris on June 16, 2024, at the age of 35.
Jodie Devos released three solo albums, all of them won her critical acclaim and awards. The first album, "Offenbach - Colorature", contains coloratura arias by Jacques Offenbach, played with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester conducted by Laurent Campellone. It was released in 2019 to mark the bicentenary of the composer's birth. Her second album, "And Love Said", appeared in 2021, combining songs from three countries that meant much to her. Reviewer Hugo Shirley from Gramophone wrote: "The soprano's voice is clear and controlled, limpid but full of quiet strength, bright and healthy but with the slightest hint of a quivering vibrato." Her third album, "Bijoux perdus", of pieces that the Belgian soprano Marie Cabel favoured, appeared in 2022, with the Flemish Radio Choir and the Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by Pierre Bleuse.
Honours and awards: Knight in the Walloon Order of Merit (2014); International Classical Music Awards Young Talent of the Year (2015); Honorary Citizen of Namur, Belgium; Association of the Belgian Music Press Young Musician of the Year (2015); Diapason d'Or Récital vocal of the Year for Offenbach Colorature (2019); Oper! Award Best Solo Album for Offenbach Colorature (2019). |
