Ferrum splendidum

After his Rossini concert, Florian Sempey shares another passion: his enthusiasm for the world of knights and medieval tales. For him "castles and other ancient buildings radiate a mysterious power; their old stones have always fascinated me." Ferrum Splendidum (Latin for 'gleaming metal') is reminiscent of the singer's ancestors, who were blacksmiths in Périgord. Although Sempey was not part of this family tradition, he turned instead to the forging and shaping of the metal of his brilliant baritone voice. Today he is a sought-after opera soloist at the height of his powers and has compiled a programme that encompasses a broad range of heroic figures and operas, including Grétry's Richard Leeuwenhart, Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas, Meyerbeer's Le Pardon de Ploërmel, but also Tchaikovsky's opera De tovenares, Wagner's Tannhäuser, fragments from Carl Orff's famous neo-medieval cantata Carmina Burana and even the premiere recording of a work by Romain Dumas, Le Chevalier d'Éon, composed in 2019. Florian is working again with the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine and its young maestro Victor Jacob, who was honoured at the Victoires de la musique 2023 as a "Revelation" in the Conductor category.