The private place of peace for Nicole Car and Etienne Dupuis is their house in Paris – or rather »our home«, as they are both quick to add. The Australian soprano and the baritone from Quebec, Canada, share a residence in »La Campagne à Paris«, a village-like quartier in the 20^th arrondissement of Paris. »A total of three streets and 67 houses,« says Car. Founded as a cooperative in the early 20^th century, “Rural Paris” soon attracted artists and today is a sought-after car-free residential area that has retained an olde worlde look and is often used as a backdrop by filmmakers.

The couple moved there with their young son two years ago. »We lucked out because the previous owners wanted to preserve the character of the quarter and only sell to artists,« says Dupuis, »and preferably to a family because they themselves had brought up four children there.« Car elaborates on the nervousness of the neighbours: »We had a lot of stuff done to the place and they were worried that we were just doing it up to sell it on.« Far from it. »This old house and the neighbourhood charm, that’s us all over,« adds Dupuis. »As opera singers, we like period stuff!«

Nicole Car was the one behind the move to Paris. The Australian wanted to locate to France to learn the language as a way of communicating better with Etienne’s parents. Etienne would have settled for Berlin, where the pair met ten years ago, when Dupuis was making his debut as Posa in DON CARLO at the Deutsche Oper. They were also auditioning for Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s EUGENE ONEGIN. Dupuis landed the title role opposite Car as Tatyana. When she asked him how he thought his debut had gone, Etienne replied that he’d »sung like a god!«. »What an incredible ego this Onegin bloke has,« she wrote in a text to a friend. The two laugh at the memory, and it’s clear they dine out on the anecdote. »Not saying it was love at first sight,« says Car, »but it didn’t take long.« They met up for walk on a May bank holiday and the planned one hour turned into seven. »From that moment on we were inseparable.«

The baritone and soprano on the steps of their 20th-arrondissement house in »La Campagne à Paris«, a kind of garden town in the big city © Sarah Bastin

 

Yet forced separations are increasingly part of the job. Both of them have become globetrotting stars. Their agency does its best to match singing engagements to their family needs, but time together is rare. »Last year one of us was usually doing the school run with our son in Paris,« says Dupuis, »and we kind of lost touch of how our own down time together was suffering.« Nicole Car adds: »In the end we were just passing each other between the door of the house and the taxi.«

Which is why they are looking forward to spending time together in Berlin. They will be on stage as father and daughter in Verdi’s SIMON BOCCANEGRA, »singing what is arguably the loveliest duet for soprano and baritone,« says Dupuis. Do they rehearse together at home? »No, our methods are too different for that,« replies Car. The soprano uses the services of a coach and piano accompanist – in a dedicated studio in the basement of the opera house; the baritone ensconces himself in a chair in the drawing room and mugs up on the score. Their familiarity as a couple comes across on stage. Dupuis: »The audience senses it. We’re fully engaged with each other as artists and pick up on the slightest sign of how the other person is feeling.«

This will be Dupuis’s debut as Simon Boccanegra, a politician who does not meet his biological daughter until his final days. »I love operas that trace a psychological arc,« he says. »I get to tread the path of a man going from the peak of his power to his lowest, weakest point just before he dies.«

Nicole Car sings the part of Amelia, a foundling who grows up as Maria and is groomed to marry Boccanegra – until the revelation that she is his daughter. The soprano is not new to the role »but it’ll be harder now that it’s my husband and I’m at his side when he dies,« she says. »Close to the bone.«