Singing

The listener must be gripped and whether he likes it or not, drawn into the flight path of the sounds without special training being necessary. The sensual shock must be just as forceful as when one hears a clap of thunder or looks into a bottomless abyss.

Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001)

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Mezzo-soprano Isabelle Métrope was born into a French musical family. After graduating from music school having studied violin and orchestral playing, she switched to singing and studied vocal pedagogy, choir conducting and musicology at the Folkwang University of the Arts.

While her interest in different musical genres and epochs is insatiable, her collaboration with Helmuth Rilling at the Internationale Bachakademie in Stuttgart, the influence of Kathy Romey (Minneapolis) and Hans Christoph Rademann, and conductor training with Prof. Jörg Breiding (Hanover) all laid the foundations for a solid education in the practice of early music.

Where there are roots, branches can flourish too

Where there are roots, branches can flourish too: as such, the mezzo-soprano’s heart beats just as fiercely for the passion and humanity shown in the music of Richard Strauss, Johannes Brahms and Samuel Barber, as it does for the music of her compatriots Henri Duparc and Gabriel Fauré. She is particularly interested in the music of the Mediterranean (especially Spain, Greece, Turkey), and in the richness of traditional vocal music in Europe more generally.

As a soloist, Isabelle Métrope regularly receives requests to perform works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn and Camille Saint-Saëns, among others, as a soloist in Germany and France, and has also performed at several world premières (Gordon Kampe, Jan Kopp, Philippe Mazé). In winter 2023, she can be heard in Heinrich Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien and Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder in Stuttgart and in Haendel’s Messiah in Ludwigsburg.

CV Concerts

Chamber music & choir

Her exacting work with professional chamber choirs clearly demonstrates the flexibility of her voice – and so Isabelle Métrope has been a member of the Gaechinger Cantorey, the Kammerchor Stuttgart, the figure humaine kammerchor and the young European chamber choir Cythera for many years, recording several CD with these ensembles.

Chamber music projects and immersive concerts are her current focus, so audiences can look forward to several recitals and concerts in winter and spring 2023/24. Up-to-date information can be found online under Schedule, as well as on Facebook and Instagram.

Performances

Soloist in early, classical and contemporary music
Professional choir singer: Gaechinger Cantorey, Ensemble Cythera, Kammerchor Stuttgart, figure humaine kammerchor
Recitals and chamber music
Choir director, choir voice training