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The Swiss baritone, Pierre Héritier, was born into a family of musicians. He was was introduced to singing from a very young age within the Schola des Petits Chanteurs de Sion. After the change, he joined the ranks of the Maîtrise de la Cathédrale de Sion and the Chœur Novantiqua, under the direction of his father Bernard Héritier, with whom he made his first experiences as a soloist and notably sang a complete set of J.S. Bach cantatas. After literary training at the Université de Fribourg, he was admitted to the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève, in the class of Gilles Cachemaille. He worked in particular with Isabelle Henriquez in Genève, David Jones, Jane Thorner in Zürich, and more recently with Nicolas Domingues in Lyon. He was selected to participate in the Académie Baroque d’Ambronay in 2011, under the direction of Sigiswald Kuijken, and took part in the European tour of J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor BWV 232, one voice per part. He also performed under the direction of Ton Koopman in J.S. Bach's cantata for solo bass BWV 56 in Genève; and performed the roles of Guglielmo in W.A. Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, as well as Harasta/Le Curé/Le Badger in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen. A finalist in various competitions, in October 2017 he won the 1st Prize for Men at the Concours International de chant lyrique de Vivonne.
From the 2013-2014 season to the 2016-2017 season, Pierre Héritier was a member of the Opéra Studio de l’Opéra de Lyon where he worked with the French tenor Jean-Paul Fouchécourt. At the Opéra de Lyon, he sang L'Horloge and the Chat in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges, Madame Madou in Offenbach's Mesdames de la halle, Tom in Aboulker's Jérémy Fisher, Liberto and Littore in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. Among his stage roles are the title role of W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni, Guglielmo in W.A. Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Conte Almaviva in W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Papageno in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Junius in, Sharpless in Puccini's Madame Butterfly, Harasta in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen, Tobia Mill in La cambiale di matrimonio, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Hercules in Hercules and Melisso in George Frideric Handel's Alcina, etc... He performed on the stages of the Opéra de Vichy, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse in Lyon, Théâtre du Jorat in Mézières, Théâtre du Grütli in Genève, etc... Very active in Switzerland, he plays the critically acclaimed Junius in Benjamin Britten's The rape of Lucretia at the Théâtre du Grütli in Genève. He participated in the creation of 4.48 Psychosis by Blaise Ubaldini under the direction of Pierre Bleuse. His ease on stage naturally led him towards more burlesque roles and he enjoyed great success, notably as Lord Cockburn in Auber's Fra Diavolo in Zürich and in the role of the Duke of Rodomont in Hervé's Les Chevaliers de la Table ronde at the Opéra de Lausanne.
Active in the world of oratorio, Pierre Héritier notably has lent his voice to the role of Jesus in J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 at the Palais des Congrès in Bienne during the festivities of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in Switzerland (Passion which he rediscovered for the 40th anniversary of the Chœur Novantiqua de Sion). He is regularly invited as a soloist by ensembles, particularly in French-speaking Switzerland, and sings, among others, the Requiems of W.A. Mozart, Gabriel Fauré and Maurice Duruflé; Johannes Brahms' Deutsche Requiem; Rossini's Petite messe solennelle (during a concert for the 40th anniversary of the Fondation Gianadda in Martigny), J.S. Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248, the cantatas and passions; G.F. Handel's The Messiah, Camille Saint-Saëns' Oratorios de Noël, Monteverdi's Vespers, etc... In Switzerland, France, Belgium, Italy and Portugal. With pianist Juan David Molano, he performed in recital for Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe and Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin. Recently, he performed with the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève in M. Duruflé's Requiem at the Victoria Hall in Genève, as well as in B. Britten's Cantata Misericordium.
Through his solo engagements, Pierre Héritier has worked under the direction of conductors such as Martyn Brabbins, Philippe Forget, Nicholas Jenkins, Kazushi Ono, Sébastien d'Hérin, Sigiswald Kuijken, Ton Koopman, Philippe Krütli, Bernard Héritier, Antoine Marguier, Ivan Törzs, Guillaume Berney, Leonardo García-Alarcón; and directors like Michel Dieuaide, Jean Lacornerie, Cédric Dorier, Ellen Hammer, Andreas Rosas, James Bonas.
Recently, Pierre Héritier was notably Milord in Auber's Fra Diavolo by Auber in Zürich during the 2018-2019 season, reprised the title role of W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni in Lyon and was Papageno in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in Pontarlier. He was also a member of Ensemble Les Argonautes (2019; Director: Jonas Descotte). During the 2020-2021 season, he will notably return to the Festival du Touno in Valais with the title role of W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni, will be Germont in Verdi's La Traviata with the Orchestre Symphonique de Pontarlier, will make his debut at the Opéra de Bern with Junius in B. Britten's The rape of Lucretia and will participate in the show The music man with the Opéra de Lyon and on the stage of the Théâtre de la Croix Rousse (roles of Oliver Hix and Mrs. Paroo), a show bringing together 150 professional and amateur artists . |
