Over the past ten days, primarily on Facebook and numerous French websites, I’ve read many moving posts in an immense outpouring of grief in response to the death of this beloved young singer. Many colleagues who worked with Devos have written movingly of their affection for the woman and of their respect for the artist who had been performing until just recently.

She made several well-received solo recordings for Alpha Classics including one of coloratura showpieces by Offenbach. The one Devos CD that I own is the smashing Alexis Kissenko recording of the original version of Rameau‘s Zoroastre in which the soprano portrays the heroine Amélite.

For his final season with the Cincinnati Symphony, Louis Langrée, who is also musical director of Paris’s Opéra-Comique, led two semi-staged performances of the Ambroise Thomas work in Music Hall with Devos and Stéphane Degout heading the cast.