Marie Lys, Francesca Aspromonte, Key’mon Murrah, & Jeremy Ovenden Star in Les Talens Lyriques’ 2025-26 Season

Les Talens Lyriques releases its 2025-26 season. Lully’s “Proserpine” opens the 2025 season. Marie Lys, Véronique Gens, Olivier Gourdy, Jean-Sébastien Bou, Ambroisine Bré, Laurent Kilsby, Apolline Raï-Westphal, Nick Pritchard, Olivier Cesarini, and David Witczak make up the cast. They are joined by Chœur de Chambre de Namur led by Thibaut Lenaerts, and Les Talens Lyriques under the direction of Christophe {…}

Jun 9, 2025

Joyce El-Khoury, Davone Tines, Matthias Winckhler, & Núria Rial Star in L’Auditori’s 2025-26 Season

(Photo credit: Gisela Schenker) L’Auditori presents its 2025-26 season, “Renaixements.” For the purpose of this article only vocal works are included. Beethoven’s “Symphony” No. 9 stars Joyce El-Khoury, Silvia Tro Santafé, Elgan Llyr Thomas, and Davone Tines. They are joined by the Orfeó Català and the Barcelona and National Symphony Orchestra of Catalonia (OBC) under the direction of Ludovic Morlot. {…}

Jun 1, 2025

Théâtre des Champs-Elysées 2025 Review: Der Rosenkavalier

(Photos: Vincent Pontet) From May 21 to June 5, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées presents “Der Rosenkavalier” in a production by the famous and highly controversial director Krzysztof Warlikowski. Even though the French music lovers, and especially the Parisians, are delighted to see this masterpiece of an opera from the beginning of the twentieth century back in the capital – something {…}

Apr 22, 2025

Stéphane Degout, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Véronique Gens & Danielle de Niese Lead London Philharmonic’s 2025-26 Season

The London Philharmonic has announced its 2025-26 season. Edward Gardner conducts Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with Jennifer France. The program also includes Hans Abrahamsen’s “Let me tell you.” Performance Date: Oct. 3, 2025 Karina Canellakis conducts Stravinsky and L. Boulanger with soloists Véronique Gens, Andrew Staples, and Jean-Sébastien Bou. Performance Date: Oct. 22, 2025 Mark Elder teams up with Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha {…}

Mar 27, 2025

Théâtre des Champs-Elysées 2024-25 Review: Werther

(Photo : Vincent PONTET) From March 21 to April 6, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées presents a new production of Jules Massenet’s “Werther,” staged by Christof Loy and directed by Silvia Aurea De Stefano. It’s probably no exaggeration to consider it one of the best of the first quarter of 2025, at least. In fact, it’s been a long time {…}

Feb 4, 2024

Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg 2024-25 Review: Les Contes d’Hoffmann

From January 20 to February 9, the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, in coproduction with the Théâtre National de l’Opera Comique, the Vienna Volksopera and the Opéra de Reims, where the production will also be offered, presents Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.” Well, Offenbch’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” is an understatement. Dutch playwright Peter Te Nuyl has rewritten the libretto {…}

Nov 29, 2023

CD Review: Philippe Boesmans’ ‘On purge bébé!’

“This could be my last opera,” predicted Philippe Boesmans in February of last year, just two months before his death at 85. “I’ve done tragedies…so I decided that I have to finish with total lightness, total insouciance.” Virtually unknown in the U.S., the Belgian composer garnered European success with exquisite settings of serious drama: Schnitzler’s “Reigen“ (1993), Shakespeare’s “Winter’s Tale” {…}

Aug 2, 2022

Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2022 Review: Il Viaggio, Dante

(Photo: Monika Rittershaus) To mark the 700th anniversary of Dante Aligheri’s death in September 1321, the Aix-en-Provence festival staged the world premier of French composer Pascal Dusapin’s opera “Il Viaggio, Dante,” based upon the poet’s iconic narrative poem “The Divine Comedy.” To say that this is an ambitious undertaking is an understatement, especially as the work has been compressed into {…}

Jun 27, 2022

Michael Spyres, Elza Van Den Heever & Vannina Santoni Lead Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier Occitanie’s 2022-23 Season

The Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie has announced its 2022-23 season. Opera Ainārs Rubiķis conducts Verdi’s “Aida” in a production by Annabel Arden. The opera stars Sunyoung Seo, Ketevan Kemoklidze, Amadi Lagha, Leon Kim, and Jacques Greg-Belobo. Performance Dates: Sept. 30-Oct. 4, 2022 Noëlle Gény leads “Bach et le sacré.” Performance Date: Oct. 16, 2022 Noëlle Gény conducts “Musiques sacrées” Performance Date: Dec. 11, 2022 {…}

Nov 24, 2021

Michael Spyres, Golda Schultz, Sabine Devieilhe & Emily D’Angelo Lead Festival D’Aix-En-Provence’s 2022 Season

The Festival D’Aix-En-Provence has announced its 2022 slate featuring a varied repertoire and international stars. The festival will begin on July 4 and is set to run through July 23, 2022. Here is a look at the upcoming season: Mahler’s “Resurrection” will be conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen in a production by Romeo Castellucci. Golda Schultz and Marianne Crebassa star. Performance {…}

Oct 29, 2021

Sabine Devieilhe, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Véronique Gens, Ian Bostridge & Stéphane Degout Headline Opéra Comique’s 2022 Season

(Credit: © Julia Lamoureux) Opéra Comique in Paris has announced its 2022 season, featuring seven operas. Here is the full slate. Ambroise Thomas’ “Hamlet” opens the season with Sabine Devieilhe as Ophélie and Stéphane Degout in the title role. The cast also includes Laurent Alvaro, Sylvie Brunet-Grupposo, Pierre Derhet, Jérôme Varnier, Yu Shao, Geoffroy Buffière, and Nicolas Legoux. Louis Langrée {…}