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Rameau - Les Fêtes d'Hébé, ou Les Talens Lyriques, at the Opéra Comique (Salle Favart) in Paris

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Opéra Comique, Paris, 17 December 2024 Conductor: William Christie. Production: Robert Carsen. Sets and Costumes: Gideon Davey. Lighting: Robert Carsen, Peter Van Praet. Choreography: Nicolas Paul. Video: Renaud Rubiano. Hébé/Naïade: Emmanuelle de Negri. Sapho/Iphise/Eglé: Lea Desandre. L'Amour/Le ruisseau/Une bergère: Ana Vieira Leite. Momus/Mercure: Marc Mauillon. Hymas/Tirtée: Renato Dolcini. Le ruisseau/Lycurgue: Cyril Auvity. Eurilas/Alcée: Lisandro Abadie. Thélème: Antonin Rondepierre. Le Fleuve: Matthieu Walendzik. Les Arts Florissants. Photos: Vincent Pontet William Christie turned 80 on December 19 this year. He chose, as his present to himself, to perform Rameau’s Les Fêtes d’Hébé in a new staging by Robert Carsen, at the Opéra Comique - Christie's thirteenth production there since the famous Atys of 1987. In doing so, he offered a magnificent Christmas present to us all. As this is one of Rameau’s best, but not best-known, works, I’ll begin with a little bit about ...
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Spontini - La Vestale, at the Bastille in Paris

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ONP Bastille, Paris, Monday July 8 2024. Conductor: Bertrand de Billy. Production: Lydia Steier. Sets: Etienne Pluss. Costumes: Katharina Schlipf. Lighting: Valerio Tiberi. Julia: Elza van den Heever. Licinius: Michael Spyres. La Grande Vestale: Eve-Maud Hubeaux. Cinna: Julien Behr. Le Souverain Pontife: Jean Teitgen. Le Chef des Aruspices, un consul: Floren Mbia. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris. All production photos: Guergana Damianova/ONP Last year, the ever-excellent Palazzetto Bru Zane issued a new recording, under Christophe Rousset and with a strong case, of La Vestale . As it's considered a historically important work, I dutifully listened, more than once, but it didn't click at the time. Still, when it popped up in the Paris Opera's season, in a brand new production (albeit by Lydia Steier - not exactly, based on her Salome , a positive pointer), I bought tickets. I'm glad I did because, despite some misgivings I'll outline below, having...
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Wagner - Das Rheingold (L'Or du Rhin), at the Paris Opera Bastille.

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ONP Bastille, Paris, Tuesday February 11 2025 Conductor: Pablo Heras-Casado. Production: Calixto Bieito. Sets: Rebecca Ringst. Costumes: Ingo Krügler. Lighting: Michael Bauer. Video: Sarah Derendinger. Wotan: Iain Paterson. Donner: Florent Mbia. Froh: Matthew Cairns. Loge: Simon O'Neill. Fasolt: Kwangchul Youn. Fafner: Mika Kares. Alberich: Brian Mulligan. Mime: Gerhard Siegel. Fricka: Eve-Maud Hubeaux. Freia: Eliza Boom. Erda: Marie-Nicole Lemieux. Woglinde: Margarita Polonskaya. Wellgunde: Isabel Signoret. Flosshilde: Katharina Magiera. Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris. Photos: Herwig Prammer/ONP These are head-spinning times for Ring cycles, at least as far as I’m concerned. The Paris Opera originally scheduled Bieito’s five years ago. Covid intervened, and it was postponed. In the meantime, at the end of 2023, Brussels launched its own cycle, directed by Romeo Castellucci. His Rheingold and Walküre were among the most enthralling productions I’ve ever seen of anythin...
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