2026
Posts
Hervé (Louis-Auguste-Florimond Ronger) - Le petit Faust at the Athénée Théâtre Louis Jouvet, Paris
Théâtre de l’Athénée-Louis Jouvet, Paris, Wednesday December 17, 2025 Conductor: Sammy El Ghadab. Production: Sol Espeche. Sets: Oria Puppo. Costumes: Sabine Schlemmer. Choreography: Aurélie Mouilhade, Karine Girard. Lighting: Simon Demeslay. Faust: Charles Mesrine. Marguerite: Anaïs Merlin. Méphisto: Mathilde Ortscheidt. Valentin: Philippe Brocard. Patrick Lepion: Maxime Le Gall. With: Céleste Lejeune, Camille Brault, Louise Pingeot, Lucile Komitès, Guillaume Beaudoin, Mathieu Septier, Max Latarjet, Célian d'Auvigny, Charles Fraisse. Orchestra: Les Frivolités Parisiennes. Photos (with slightly different cast): Marie Pétry Fewer than eighteen months separate Hervé’s Le petit Faust (1869) from Offenbach’s Robinson Crusoé (1867), which I saw and wrote about just two weeks ago . There are some parallels, in the gestation, between them. Both composers were out to impress: Offenbach needed a success at the Opéra Comique after the flop there, in 1860, of Barkouf ; Hervé sought to impre...
Opéra Magazine's top-rated recordings for December 2025 and January 2026
None of the recordings in the latest issue of France’s Opéra Magazine is designated their 'pick of the month.' I don’t know if this is because the new editor has decided against it for good, or if it’s just because their Christmas-gift suggestions have taken the place, in this edition, of the customary ‘ coup de coeur ’. The gift suggestions can’t have taken much thought. They are Joan Sutherland’s complete Decca opera recordings, 1959-1970 (49 CDs), Jonas Kaufmann’s Decca recordings (15 CDs), Andreas Scholl’s ‘legendary’ Harmoni Munci recitals (6 CDs), and a set issued by Alpha Classics as a tribute to the late Jodie Devos (7 CDs). They give their tip-top ‘Diamond’ award to two CD sets. The first, which also comes with a DVD, is Porpora’s Polifemo , with José Coca Loza, Franco Fagioli, Julia Lezhneva, Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, Eléonore Pancrazi and the orchestra of the Opéra Royal (i.e. in Versailles) under Stefan Plewniak. ‘If any single opera can be said to epito...
Offenbach - Robinson Crusoé at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées (TCE) in Paris
Théâtre des Champs Elysées (TCE), Paris, Wednesday December 3 2025 Conductor: Marc Minkowski. Production and Costumes: Laurent Pelly.Sets: Chantal Thomas.Lighting: Michel Le Borgne. Robinson: Sahy Ratia. Edwige: Julie Fuchs. Vendredi: Adèle Charvet. Sir William Crusoé: Laurent Naouri. Toby: Marc Mauillon. Jim-Cocks: Rodolphe Briand. Suzanne: Emma Fekete. Deborah: Julie Pasturaud. Atkins: Matthieu Toulouse. Extras: Dan Azoulay, Antoine Lafon, José-Maria Mantilla, Pascal Oumakhlouf. Les Musiciens du Louvre, accentus choir. Photos: Vincent Pontet This article will begin with a bit of background chat about Laurent Pelly and Marc Minkowski’s ‘partnership’ over many years, and as it’s a rarity, about Robinson Crusoé . This can just be skipped if you aren’t interested. Many of us have been grateful over the years for all the pleasure, the sheer enjoyment brought to us by the Pelly-Minkowski ‘duo’, starting more than two decades ago with memorable productions - live, on disc and DVD - of Offen...