Q & A: Christophe Gayral on the Puccini Festival, ‘La Bohème’ & Updating the Opera

(Mise en scène Christophe Gayral, Décors Christophe Ouvrard, Costume Tiziano Musetti) On July 14, the Puccini Festival opened with a new production of “La Bohème” directed by Christophe Gayral. The production updated the opera to 1968 during the student protests in France. It was a concept that was presented at the festival in November of 2022 and one that was {…}

Jul 8, 2021

Teatro La Fenice 2020-21 Review: Farnace

(Credit: Michele Crosera) The director for Teatro La Fenice’s production of Vivaldi’s “Farnace,” Christophe Gayral observed in his program notes that “the music for some of the arias is strangely sometimes not completely related to the narrative, the music is light while the situation is dark.” While this is undoubtedly true, it does not act against the work as a {…}