On July 1, 2024, the Opéra Bastille will feature 1,000 amateur choristers in David Lang’s “Crowd Out.” The event, which is being presented as part of the celebration of the 2024 Paris Olympics, will be conducted by Fayçal Karoui and features choreography by Dimitri Chamblas. Lang’s work was inspired by chants often heard at football (a.k.a. Soccer in the United {…}
(Photo credit: Emilie Brouchon / Opéra national de Paris) I’ve been told that one reads “Don Quichotte” three times in life: in one’s twenties to laugh, in one’s forties to think, and in one’s sixties to cry. This saddening saying reflects the multivocal quality of the Chevalier of La Mancha’s myth: painfully delusional and carnally human, his hallucinatory deeds are {…}
Opéra National de Paris is set to present Helene Bracke’s “Nezquicoule” at the Amphithéâtre Olivier Messian- Opéra Bastille” starting on May 29. For eight performances through June 1, 2024, the work, which features music by Purcell, Offenbach, Shostakovitch, Händel, Délibes, and Gershwin, will explore the different parts of the face as they dialogue with one other. It is inspired by {…}
The Opéra National de Paris has announced that it will present Fragments from Weill’s “Street Scenes” at the MC93 – Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis Bobigny. The production, which opens on April 19 and runs through the 27, will be directed by Ted Huffman and conducted by Yshaani Perinpanayagem. Audiences will hear artists in residence at the Academie alongside {…}
The Opéra National de Paris has announced a series of events in anticipation of the 2024 Olympic Games. Among the programs and activities aimed at this celebration will be productions of “La Vestale” and David Lang”s “Crowd Out.” With the Spontini Opera, director Lydia Steier explores and interrogates military fanaticism and extreme religious zealotry. Moreover, the titular “vestale” of the {…}
(Photo Credit: Christophe-Abramowitz) The Opéra National de Paris has announced that this February it will inaugurate a new space in honor of composer Kaija Saariaho at the Opéra Bastille. Saariaho’s second opera, “Adriana Mater,” was commissioned by the company and had its world premiere in 2006 in a production By Peter Sellars. Additionally, the Opéra National de Paris showcased the {…}
(Credit: Emilie Brouchon) Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” might be the most passionate love letter ever written to opera. After a career creating operettas and comic works, the composer set his sights on creating an opera, a work that would align with his style and sensibilities, but also one that would transcend them. And from it came a work that is {…}
The Opéra National de Paris has announced the recipients of the 2023 Mortier Awards, named in honor of Gerard Mortier, the director of the company between 2004-09. Taking home the Mortier Award was Ariane Mnouchkine, celebrated for her life’s work. The French stage director was renowned for her avant-garde theater productions. She was also nominated for an Oscar for Best {…}
The Opéra National de Paris has announced initiatives to make the company’s initiatives and activities more ecological. “Art is born from constraint; integrating environmental challenges to our activities is not an obstacle to the liberty of creation but inversely, an opportunity to enrich the way we think about projects and the way the Opéra interacts with its public and partners,” {…}
The Opéra National de Paris has announced that for the first time in 30 years, it will feature a “troupe lyrique” made up of seven singers. The artists include soprano Emy Gazeilles, soprano Ilanah Lobel-Torres, mezzo-soprano Marine Chagnon, tenor Nicholas Jones, tenor Maciej Kwasnikowski, baritone Florent Mbia, and bass Alejandro Baliñas Vieites. The group, which will take on over 30 {…}
The Opéra National de Paris, in collaboration with its Academy, has announced the first lyrical youth orchestra. The ensemble will be a joint partnership with 11 conservatories throughout Paris and the Seine-Saint-Denis regions. The conservatories include Conservatoire du 11e Charles Munch, Conservatoire du 12e Paul Dukas, CRR 93 Conservatoire à rayonnement régional in Aubervilliers – La Courneuve, Conservatoire Erik Satie {…}