We left at the interval...

Opéra Comique (Salle Favart), Paris, Sunday June 7, 2026 Programme: Janáček: Mládí (Youth) for wind ensemble. Poulenc: La bonne neige, De grandes cuillers de neige (from Un soir de neige ), O magnum mysterium (from Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël ). Jean-Claude Grumberg: De Pitchik à Pitchouk , a 'tale for old children'. Tino Rossi, arr. Brice Legée for five voices: Petit Papa Noël . Krása: Brundibár, incorporating… ... Ilse Weber: Ich wandre durch Theresienstadt .  Cast: Conductor: Louis Langrée. Production: Muriel Mayette-Holtz, Jean-Claude Berutti. Sets and costumes: Rudy Sabounghi. Lighting: François Thouret. Choreography: Christine Bonneton. Drawings: Louis Lavedan. Les Frivolités Parisiennes. Children of the Maîtrise Populaire de l'Opéra-Comique. Photos: Stefan Brion The dreadful history of Hans Krása’s Brundibár will be familiar to many, so I won’t expound on it for long in this post. Details are easy enough to find online. Krása was a Jewish composer in Czec...

ONP Bastille, Paris, Tuesday June 2 2026 Conductor: Leonardo García-Alarcón. Production, sets, costumes, video: Netia Jones. Lighting: Ellen Ruge. Choreography: Maud Le Pladec. Ercole: Andreas Wolf. Giunone: Julie Fuchs. Iole: Ana Vieira Leite. Dejanira: Deepa Johnny. Licco: Marcel Beekman. Hyllo: Alasdair Kent. Venere, Bellezza: Sandrine Piau. Paggio: Théo Imart. Pasithea: Teona Todua. Nettuno, L'Ombra di Eutyro: Alex Rosen. Una grazia: Danaé Monnié. Grazie: Giulia Fichu-Sampieri, Dina Husseini. Mercure: Samuel Desguin. Cappella Mediterranea. Chœur de Chambre de Namur. Photos: Bernd Uhlig/Opéra national de Paris Another long article, I’m afraid, but with a virtually unknown work by a virtually unknown composer, it’s hard to avoid… Antonia Bembo was born in Venice in 1640 or thereabouts, and studied there with Cavalli. But in the 1670s, she fled with her children to France to escape a husband who, when not neglectful, was abusive. Her singing won her the protection, including a pen...