Stéphane Degout

“Breathtaking in dramatic intensity” (Forum Opéra), with a voice of “quicksilver agility and virile heft” (Chicago Classical Review), French baritone Stéphane Degout was a graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon and member of the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Lyon. Following his debut as Papageno at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, he rose rapidly to wide acclaim on the world’s major operatic stages, alongside forging a celebrated and distinctive career as a recitalist and concert singer renowned for the finesse and sensitivity he conveys in his interpretations of French melodie, German lied, and with a strong profile across Baroque, Classical and Romantic repertoire.

During the 2024/25 season, Stéphane Degout returns to the title role in Wozzeck (Berg) with the Opéra National de Lyon and the role of Michael in Turnage’s new opera, Festen, at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. On the concert stage, he rejoins the Ensemble Pygmalion, the London Symphony Orchestra, Opéra National de Lyon, Orchestre de Cannes and the Munich Philharmonic for repertoire including Brahms’ Ein deutches Requiem, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Fauré’s Requiem and Martin’s In terra pax. He will also appear in the Salzburg and Deauville festivals.

Degout has performed regularly at the Opéra de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Opéra Comique, Berlin Staatsoper, La Monnaie, Theater an der Wien, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Bayerische Staatsoper, De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam, and Opernhaus Zurich, and his numerous festival appearances include Salzburg, Saint Denis, Glyndebourne, Edinburgh and Aix-en-Provence. Notable roles have included Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte), le Comte Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Oreste (Iphigénie en Tauride), Wolfram (Tannhaüser), Raimbaud (Le Comte Ory), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Thésée (Hippolyte et Aricie), Mercutio (Roméo et Juliette), Albert (Werther), Frank and Fritz (Die tote Stadt), Chorèbe (Les Troyens), Valentin (Faust), Rodrigue (Don Carlos), Ford (Falstaff), and the title roles in Thomas’ Hamlet, Conti’s Don Chisciotte and both Monteverdi’s Orfeo and Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria. One of the leading interpreters of Debussy’s Pelléas, he has recently added Golaud to his repertoire, as well as Magnard’s Guercoeur and Tchaikovsky’s Eugen Onegin. His dedication to the art has seen him perform numerous roles in operatic creations such as Benoît Mernier’s La Dispute and Philippe Boesmans’ Au Monde and Pinocchio. 

As a recitalist, Stéphane Degout studied under the guidance of Ruben Lifschitz, and has given recitals across Europe with accompanists including Alain Planès, Simon Lepper and Cédric Tiberghien. He recently sang Schumann’s Dichterliebe at the Lausitz Festival with Martha Argerich. In concert, he has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Riccardo Muti and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen. At La Monnaie he sang Fauré’s Requiem and Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder under Alain Altinoglu, works which he has also sung with the Orchestre National de France under Emmanuel Krivine. Other frequent conductor collaborations include René Jacobs, John Nelson, Nathalie Stutzmann, Raphaël Pichon, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Barbara Hannigan.

Stéphane Degout has recorded Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem (piano version), Fauré’s Requiem, La Bohème for Deutsche Grammophon, and several albums dedicated to the French song repertoire: ‘Mélodies’ for Naïve, ‘Histoires Naturelles’ and ‘Poèmes d’un Jour’ for B Records (ffff rating from Télérama), ‘Harmonies du Soir’ (Debussy), ‘Maurice Ravel’ for Harmonia Mundi. In 2023, B Records released his recording of Brahms’ ‘La Belle Maguelone’. The recording of George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violencewas nominated for a Grammy Award, in the ‘Best Opera Recording’ category. His collaboration with Harmonia Mundi has also resulted in ‘Enfers’ with Ensemble Pygmalion under Raphaël Pichon (Diamant from Opéra Magazine, ffff from Télérama, Choc de Classica, International Opera Awards in solo recital recording), and the album 'Mein Traum', focused on Schubert lieder and dramatic scenes. Also with Harmonia Mundi, Degout joined with Alain Planès for ‘La Bonne Chanson’ a recording of Fauré’s songs released in 2024.

In 2012 Degout was appointed ‘Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ and also named ‘Lyrical Artist of the Year’ at the Victoires de la Musique Classique awards ceremony, an accolade which he won again in 2019. He was chosen as the ‘2018 Musical Personality of the Year’ by the Association Professionnelle de la Critique de Théâtre, Musique et Danse, and awarded ‘Male Singer of the Year’ at the 2022 International Opera Awards. A committed teacher and mentor, Stéphane Degout succeeded legendary baritone Jose van Dam as Master-in-Residence of the vocal section of Belgium’s Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel from the 2023-2024 season.

Updated 13 August 2024