Photo credit: © Dominique Jaussein The Opéra de Nice Côte d’Azur inaugurated their 2023-2024 season with a new staging of Léo Delibe’s “Lakmé” coproduced with the Opéra-Comique in Paris, which premiered the production in September-October 2022, and the Opéra national du Rhin which will present performances in Mulhouse and Strasbourg in November 2023. Pelly’s Anti-Kitsch ‘Lakmé’ This coproduction marks the {…}
Conductor Louis Langrée once explained the ‘Opéra-Comique’ in these terms: “The Opéra-Comique comes from fairground theater, which is its strength.” Looking at the company’s many successes in bringing great operas into its repertoire—“Pelléas etMélisande,” “Mignon,” “Manon Lescaut”—, it seems that Langrée is right. “Carmen,” however, would at first appear to be a bit different. It is, by far, the most {…}
The Opéra Comique has announced its 2023-24 season. First up is Charles Lecocq’s “La Fille de Angot.” Hervé Niquet will conduct a production by Richard Brunel. The opera will star Hélène Guilmette, Véronique Gens, Pierre Derhet, Julien Behr, Matthieu Lécroart, and Geoffrey Carey. Performance Dates: Sept. 27 – Oct. 5, 2023 For “Macbeth Underworld,” audiences will see Franck Ollu conduct {…}
(Credit: Mikel Ponce / Miguel Lorenzo) OperaVision has announced its streams for the month of December. Clément Hervieu-Léger’s production of Philippe Hersant and Jean Echenoz’s “Les Éclairs” from Opéra Comique kicks off the streaming slate. The opera features Jean-Christophe Lanièce, Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur, François Rougier, Elsa Benoit, André Heyboer, Jérôme Boutillier, Alban Dufourt, and Mathieu Dubroca. Ariane Matiakh conducts. Streaming dates: {…}
(Credit: Benoit Linero) Louis Langrée has been named the new director of the Opéra-Comique in Paris. The announcement was made in Paris on Oct. 21, 2021. The conductor will begin his tenure on Nov. 1, 2021, succeeding Olivier Mantei, who is heading to the Philharmonie de Paris. The appointment will allow him to focus on operatic conducting and programming. Langrée {…}
(Credit: Opéra Comique official website) The Opéra Comique in Paris has canceled its upcoming production of Jacques Offenbach’s opera “La Belle Hélène.” The opera was set to star Marie–Nicole Lemieux, Philippe Talbot, Kangmin Justin Kim, Michel Fau, Franck Leguérinel, Jean-Claude Saragosse, Pierre-Emmanuel Roubet, Thomas Morris, Yoann Dubruque, Sarah Jouffroy, and Didier Deconinck. Pierre Dumoussaud was signed on to conduct Les {…}
(Credits: Ensemble Regards / Bach Collegium Paris / Charles Mignot) Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s opera “L’Actéon” will be streamed on ARTE TV on Feb. 16, 2021. “L’Actéon,” a Pastorale in the form of a miniature tragédie en musique in six scenes, stars mezzo-soprano Marielou Jacquard in the role of Junon, soprano Adèle Carlier as Diane, and bass Constantin Goubet in the title {…}
(Credit: © Axelle Paysant-Le Roux) The Opéra Comique has announced that it will stream a production of Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville’s opera “Titon et l’Aurore.” The opera was scheduled for five presentations from Jan. 18 – Jan. 27, 2021, but had to be canceled due to the French government’s COVID-19 regulations. The opera will star Reinoud Van Mechelen, Gwendoline Blondeel, {…}
UPDATE: A previous article did not note that the production would be recorded. The Opéra Comique has officially canceled its performances of “Hippolyte et Aricie” due to regulations imposed by the French government as a result of COVID-19. Instead the company will be presenting a streamed version. On its official website, the company noted that due to the government’s decree {…}
(Credit: Opéra Comique) The Opéra Comique in Paris has rescheduled the performance dates and times of Philippe Rameau’s opera “Hippolyte et Aricie,” in order to comply with the Presidential order regarding the overnight curfew in the next four weeks. The production, which was originally slated to run between Nov. 12 and Dec. 12, 2020, will be redesigned to begin at {…}
(Credit: Oberon’s Grove) French coloratura soprano Christiane Eda-Pierre has died at the age of 88. Eda-Pierre was born in Fort-de-France, capital of Martinique. She came to France to finish her studies at Conservatoire de Paris and in 1957, she made her professional debut in the role of Leïla in Bizet’s “Les pêcheurs de perles.” She went on to perform at {…}