Introducing French Barihunk Boris Grappe

Boris Grappe as Robert in "Wasser" (photo: Regine Koerner)

We recently discovered this photo of French barihunk Boris Grappe performing in the 2012 world premiere of Wasser by Arnulf Hermann at the Oper Frankfurt.  The story is about a man who upon waking up finds himself in a hotel room with no idea how he got there. He thinks he recognizes people in the lobby, but his memory fails him. Everything is strangely shifted and displaced, including the music.

Grappe had previously performed Barabbas in Aulis Sallinen’s Barabbas Dialogues with the company.

We decided to find up what he's up to and found him singing Franz in Christian Lauba's La Lettre des sable at the Opéra National de Bordeaux from April 24-30. The opera evokes the great classics of science fiction to imagine the mysteries between the past and the future. The characters pass through the hourglass of time without really knowing where they are and who they are. 

Boris Grappe (photo by Patrick Vogel)

Born in Besançon, France, Boris Grappe studied voice at the Conservatoire de Lyon and at the Hochschule für Musik of Vienna. From 2007 to 2011, Boris Grappe was engaged at the Nationaltheater Mannheim where he performed Don Giovanni, Conte Almaviva, Guglielmo, Papageno, Figaro (Barbiere di Siviglia), Schaunard, Ping, Silvio, Harlekin, Donner, Melot, Falke, Albert. Graf Eberbach (Der Wildschütz).

From Decemeber 15-31, he'll perform Puck in Offenbach's La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein at the Grand Théâtre de Genève opposite Ruxandra Donose.