French tenor Jean‑François Novelli, winner of the Concours Général, holder of a degree in Musicology from the Sorbonne, First Prize in recorder, graduate of the CNSMD de Paris in voice, and ADAMI Young Talent, naturally turned toward early music through his first instrument. He has pursued this repertoire with enduring passion, as evidenced by some thirty recordings and DVDs made with today’s leading specialists in early music. Among them are Silentium, a recital album devoted to the voix de taille recorded with Fabien Armengaud, Tirannique Empire, a programme of cantatas by Jean-Baptiste Stuck with the first formation of Les Lunaisiens, and Il Signor Lulli, recorded with Les Paladins and Jérôme Correas.

His recent operatic engagements include Remendado (Carmen) and L’Aumônier du Carmel (Dialogues des Carmélites) at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Torquemada (L’Heure espagnole) on an Italian tour (the opera houses of Brescia, Como, Cremona and Pavia), Le Héraut (Dante by Godard) at the Opéra de Saint-Étienne, Jean-Paul and Monsieur Victor (Ô Mon bel Inconnu by Reynaldo Hahn) at the Théâtre de l’Athénée, Raphaël (La Route Fleurie by Lopez) at the Théâtre de l’Odéon in Marseille, and Telemaco and Pisandro (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria), a production that has toured internationally for more than ten years, appearing across Europe, including the Opéra Massimo di Palermo, the Théâtre Royal de Versailles and Spain, as well as in Asia (Korea and Hong Kong) and the United States, notably in New York.

His love of the stage has also led him to study clowning with Françoise Simon and Raphaël Almosni, and acting with Olivier Broche and Emeline Bayard. He explores and develops these artistic influences through projects created within his own company, Compagnie de l’Autre Voix.

Among these projects is Croustilleux La Fontaine, a theatrical song recital based on licentious tales by Jean de La Fontaine, set to music by Antoine Sahler and staged by Juliette. Still touring today, the production has already been performed more than eighty times. An album featuring songs from the show was released in 2022.

Another creation is Ma vie de ténor (est un roman qui m’intéresse beaucoup), based on a text by Hector Berlioz about the singer’s ego, directed by Olivier Broche and presented at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Michel during the Festival Off d’Avignon in July 2023.

He also creates intimate “pocket-sized” productions combining poetry and music, including Divine bouteille, a recital centred on wine, a theme omnipresent in baroque music, accompanied by lute, and La Boîte à Joujoux, a reimagined fantasy for voice and piano inspired by Hellé’s tale and Claude Debussy’s work of the same name.

His most recent release is the recital album of French mélodies Vous souvenez-vous ?, a tribute to the pioneering rediscoverers of early music at the turn of the twentieth century and beyond, with Maude Gratton at the piano.

Jean-François Novelli has been represented by RSBA since 2013.