Isabelle Kabatu
Isabelle Kabatu is a Belgian operatic soprano with a Congolese father and a Belgian mother. She has appeared internationally, with a focus on the Italian repertoire such as Verdi's La traviata and Aida, and Puccini's Manon Lescaut and Tosca. She appeared as Bess in Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" beginning at the Houston Grand Opera and touring the world. In 2012, she appeared in the world premiere of Franck's youthful work "Stradella". Life. Born in Montignies-sur-Sambre, Kabatu studied voice and at the Royal Conservatories of Belgium in Mons, Brussels and Ghent. She improved  her skills with Jessye Norman. She was a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in May 1992. Kabatu was ranked 12th out of 12 finalists, and two years later, in 1994, she won first prize in the Viotti Competition. That same year, she made her operatic debut in the title role of Verdi's "La traviata" in Lisbon. Kabatu furthered her studies at the Conservatory of Nice with in 1995. In 1996, she appeared in a production of the Houston Grand Opera as Bess in a production of Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" that toured to La Scala in Milan , the Opéra Bastille in Paris, and the Bunkamura of Tokyo. At the Glimmerglass Festival in New York, she had a great success in the title role of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly". Her roles also include Verdi's Aida, Amelia in "Un ballo in maschera" and Leonora in "La forza del destino", Puccini's Tosca and Manon Lescaut, and Dolly in Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's "Sly", alongside José Carreras in the title role, in a production that was recorded. In 1999, she married the director and painter Stefano Giuliani in Ixelles and in 2000 founded with him a lyrical workshop, "Da  Tempesta Company", to help young artists musicians, singers, scenographers, decorators and visual artists. Since its creation, this workshop has produced about ten operas, often with orchestra. Kabatu won the Prix des arts de la scène (Hainaut) in 2003. She sang Aida in Rome in 2005 and there met the tenor Placido Domingo, with whom she often collaborated. In 2008 she sang Chimène in the new production of Massenet's "Le Cid" at the Opernhaus Zürich alongside José Cura, supervised by Michel Plasson and Nicolas Joel, and in 2009 she performed the role of Madame Lidoine in Poulenc's "Dialogues des  Carmélites" at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse. In September 2012, she played the role of Leonor in the world premiere of Franck's "Stradella" at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège.