We left at the interval...

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...

Palais Garnier, Paris, Thursday April 16 2026 Conductor: Ingo Metzmacher. Production and choreography: Bobbi Jene Smith, Christian Friedländer. Sets: Wojciech Dziedzic. Costumes: John Torres. Lighting: Jacob Mallinson Bird. Countertenor: Anthony Roth Costanzo. Soprano: Ilanah Lobel-Torres. Baritone: Davóne Tines. Alto: Adriana Bignagni Lesca. Soprano: Olivia Boen. Mezzo-soprano: Deepa Johnny. Baritone: Amin Ahangaran. Tenor: Nicky Spence. Bass: Nicolas Cavallier. Dancers: Alexander Bozinoff, Lorrin Brubaker, Jeremy Coachman, Jonathan Fredrickson, Marion Gautier de Charnacé, Awa Joannais, Héloïse Jocqueviel, Payton Johnson, Rachel McNamee, Mermoz Melchior, Adrien Ouaki, Ido Toledano. Orchestra and Chorus Of the Opéra National de Paris. Photos: © Yonathan Kellerman (600th post on this blog.) ‘Je n’ai rien compris. Mais c’était sublime’ - I didn’t understand a thing, but it was sublime. So said a friend as we waited for the métro after Satyagraha . Overhearing him, a woman a few yards awa...

ONP Bastille, Paris, Friday March 20 2026 Conductor: Kent Nagano. Production: Valentina Carrasco. Sets: Carles Berga, Peter Van Praet. Lighting: Peter Van Praet. Costumes: Silvia Aymonino. Richard Nixon: Thomas Hampson. Pat Nixon: Renée Fleming. Zhou Enlai: Xiaomeng Zhang. Mao Zedong: John Matthew Myers. Henry Kissinger: Joshua Bloom. Chiang Ch'ing: Caroline Wettergreen. Nancy Tang: Aebh Kelly. Second Secretary: Ning Liang. Third Secretary: Emanuela Pascu. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris. Photos: © Vincent Pontet – OnP I saw, enjoyed, and described in some detail this production of Nixon in China during its first run, in 2023. Now it’s back, with very nearly the same cast as before, the only exceptions being that Norwegian soprano Caroline Wettergreen has taken over as Chiang Ch'ing, and Irish mezzo Aebh Kelly as Nancy Tang. More importantly, this time Kent Nagano is conducting, rather than our short-lived former music director Dudamel. This is like night ...

Opéra Garnier, Paris, Wednesday February 18 2026 Conductor: Case Scaglione. Production: Ralph Fiennes. Sets: Michael Levine. Costumes: Annemarie Woods. Lighting: Alessandro Carletti. Choreography: Sophie Laplane. Onegin: Boris Pinkhasovich. Tatiana: Ruzan Mantashyan. Lensky: Bogdan Volkov. Olga: Marvic Monreal. Prince Gremin: Alexander Tsymbalyuk. Larina: Susan Graham. Filipievna: Elena Zaremba. Monsieur Triquet: Peter Bronder. Zaretski: Amin Ahangaran. Commander: Mikhail Silantev. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra national de Paris. Photos: © Guergana Damianova - OnP A handful of quotes to start the ball rolling: ‘Moderation is a fatal thing, Lady Hunstanton. Nothing succeeds like excess.’ (Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance.) ‘Le grand ennemi de l’art, c’est le bon goût’ (art’s greatest enemy is good taste). (Marcel Duchamp.) ‘C’est plat’ (as in ‘platitude’). My neighbour at the first interval. ‘J’adore cette partition. Qu’est-ce qu’on s’est ennuyé !’ (I love this score. Were we...

ONP Bastille, Paris, Monday November 24 2025 Conductor: Pablo Heras-Casado. Production: Calixto Bieito. Sets: Rebecca Ringst. Costumes: Ingo Krügler. Lighting: Michael Bauer. Video: Sarah Derendinger. Siegmund: Stanislas de Barbeyrac. Wotan: James Rutherford. Hunding: Günther Groissböck. Sieglinde: Elza van den Heever. Brünnhilde: Tamara Wilson. Fricka: Eve-Maud Hubeaux. Gerhilde: Louise Foor. Ortlinde: Laura Wilde. Waltraute: Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur. Schwertleite: Katharina Magiera. Helmwige: Jessica Faselt. Siegrune: Ida Aldrian. Grimgerde: Marvic Monreal. Rossweisse: Marie-Luise Dreßen. Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris. E-doggy robot dog by Evotech. Photos: ONP/Herwig Prammer   What is it Anna Russell says, in her famous analysis of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelungs ? ‘So Wotan knows the curse is working.’ It certainly seems to be working on Calixto Bieito’s Ring in Paris. Das Rheingold, earlier this year, fielded four-and-a-half to five different Wotans: Iain Pate...

ONP Bastille, Tuesday May 13 2025  Conductor: Carlo Rizzi. Production: Christof Loy. Sets: Étienne Pluss. Costumes: Barbara Drosihn. Lighting: Fabrice Kebour. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris. Photos: Guergana Damianova/ONP Gianni Schicchi Gianni Schicchi: Misha Kiria. Lauretta: Asmik Grigorian. Zita: Enkelejda Shkoza. Rinuccio: Alexey Neklyudov. Gherardo: Dean Power. Nella: Lavinia Bini. Betto: Manel Esteve Madrid. Simone: Scott Wilde. Marco: Iurii Samoilov. La Ciesca: Theresa Kronthaler. Maestro Spinelloccio: Matteo Peirone. Pinellino: Vartan Gabrielian. Guccio: Luis-Felipe Sousa. Amantio di Nicolao: Alejandro Baliñas Vieites. Il Tabarro Michele : Roman Burdenko. Giorgetta: Asmik Grigorian. Luigi: Joshua Guerrero. Il Tinca: Andrea Giovannini. Il Talpa: Scott Wilde. La Frugola: Enkelejda Shkoza. Un venditore di canzonette: Dean Power. Un amante: Ilanah Lobel-Torres. Suor Angelica Suor Angelica: Asmik Grigorian. La Zia Principessa: Karita Mattila. La Badessa: Han...