We left at the interval...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Wednesday May 6 2026 Conductor: Sébastien Daucé. Production: Jetske Mijnssen. Sets: Julia Katharina Berndt. Choreography: Dustin Klein. Costumes: Hannah Clark. Lighting: Matthew Richardson. Calisto: Lauranne Oliva. Endimione: Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian. Giove/Giove-Diana: Milan Siljanov. Giunone/Eternita: Anna Bonitatibus. Diana: Sun-Ly Pierce. Linfea: Zachary Wilder. Natura/Pane/Furia: Petr Nekoranec. Mercurio: Dominic Sedgwick. Destino/Satirino/Furia: Paul Figuier. Silvano/Furia: José Coca Loza. Ensemble Correspondances. Photos: Monika Ritterhaus, Laurent Guizard Dutch director Jetske Mijnssen’s production of Cavalli’s La Calisto , a work I last saw over thirty years ago (staged by Herbert Wernicke in Brussels), premiered last summer in Aix and has travelled to two or three French regional houses before arriving at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées - another example of the vitality and variety, against all odds, of opera in France’s regions. Mijnssen’s s...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Friday April 3 2026. Conductor: Thibault Noally. Soprano I: Amandine Sanchez. Soprano II: Apolline Raï-Westphal. Soprano III: Clémence Olivier. Alto I: William Shelton. Alto II: Mathilde Ortscheidt. Alto III: Morgane Boudeville. Tenor I (Evangelist): Valerio Contaldo. Tenor II: David Tricou. Tenor III: Gaël Martin. Baritone (Christ): Alexandre Baldo. Bass I: Sebastian Noack. Bass II: Matthieu Walendzik. Bass III: Jérémie Delvert. Les Ambassadeurs-La Grande Écurie. Photo: Wikimedia Commons I hadn't heard a Matthäuspassion since Ton Koopman conducted a performance at the Châtelet over 20 years ago, so I bought tickets for this one, at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées.   It was a mistake.  If I really wanted a Saint Matthew, I should no doubt have gone the night before to Versailles, where Raphaël Pichon had Julian Prégardien as his Evangelist and Stéphane Degout, no less, as Jesus. But the night before I had Belgian guests to feed.   ...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Wednesday February 11 2025 Conductor: Julien Chauvin. Médée: Marina Rebeka. Jason: Julien Behr. Dircé: Mélissa Petit. Créon: Patrick Bolleire. Néris: Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur. Suivantes : Hélène Carpentier, Margaux Poguet. Coryphée: Pierre Gennai. Le Concert de la Loge. Les Chantres du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles. Photos: TCE Instagram acount, not credited. The last time I saw Cherubini’s Médée , it was in its 1797, opéra-comique format with spoken dialogues in alexandrines, fully-staged at the Salle Favart a year ago . According to Alexandre Dratwicki, artistic director of the Palazzetto Bru Zane, the version performed at this week’s concert at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées reconstructs ‘the Médée Cherubini dreamed of,’ i.e. what Cherubini might have presented at the Opéra (had he not fallen out with the management). This has a bigger orchestra, a ballet, and sung recitatives composed, in the manner of Cherubini (or Gluck), by Ala...

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...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées (TCE), Paris Wednesday November 6 2025 Conductor: Jakob Lehmann. Production, sets, and costumes: Silvia Costa, assisted by Laura Ketels, Ama Tomberli, Simon Hatab, Michele Taborelli. Lighting: Marco Giusti. Faust: Benjamin Bernheim. Marguerite: Victoria Karkacheva. Méphistophélès: Christian Van Horn. Brander: Thomas Dolié. Les Siècles orchestra. Radio France chorus and children's choir. Photos: Vincent Pontet Silvia Costa has been around long enough, assisting Romeo Castellucci and directing films, plays and operas herself, to have won an artistic knighthood in France as a ‘Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres’, but this Damnation was my first experience of her work, and proved baffling. As with Shirin Neshat’s recent Aida , I’ll start by outlining the production, as its weaknesses impacted the musical side of the evening. This bald outline should also give those not present an insight into why , without preparation, I found the staging baffling, but of cou...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Monday June 2 2025 Conductor: Henrik Nánási. Production: Krzysztof Warlikowski. Sets and costumes: Małgorzata Szczęśniak. Choreography: Claude Bardouil. Lighting: Felice Ross. Video: Kamil Polak. Feldmarschallin von Werdenberg: Véronique Gens. Octavian: Niamh O'Sullivan. Sophie: Regula Mühlemann. Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau: Peter Rose. Faninal: Jean-Sébastien Bou. Annina: Eléonore Pancrazi. Valzacchi: Krešimir Špicer. Sänger: Francesco Demuro. Leitmetzerin: Laurène Paternò. Polizeikommissar, Notar: Florent Karrer. Haushofmeister: François Piolino. Wirt: Yoann Le Lan. Orchestre National de France. Unikanti Choir, Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine children’s choir. Photos: Vincent Pontet I suppose it had to happen one day… If I’ve done my sums right, this Rosenkavalier at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées was my sixteenth Krzysztof Warlikowski production, not counting the times I’ve gone back to see some of them more than once. Since I was first hooked by his...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Tuesday May 21, 2024 (In concert) Conductor: Francesco Corti. Berenice: Sandrine Piau. Selene: Ann Hallenberg. Alessandro: Arianna Vendittelli. Demetrio: Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian. Arsace: Rémy Brès-Feuillet. Fabio: Matthew Newlin. Aristobolo: John Chest. Il Pomo d’Oro. Photo: Stéphane Asseline, Région Ile-de-France This concert performance of  Berenice, with Il Pomo d'Oro under Francesco Corti, at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées last Tuesday was outstanding - in a way, unexpectedly so, as it seems to be assumed that because the work is now rare, it must be because it's weak. Is it dogged by its poor initial reception? It turns out (I'd never heard it before) there's absolutely nothing wrong with the score: a string of beautifully-crafted arias, as skilful, imaginative and varied as you'd expect from mature Händel, from the outset. For example, Berenice's first aria has an intriguing, 'shifting' accompaniment, and next t...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Wednesday March 15 2023 Conductor: François-Xavier Roth. Production: Olivier Py. Sets and Costumes: Pierre-André Weitz. Lighting: Bertrand Killy. Le Rossignol Le Rossignol: Sabine Devieilhe. Le Pêcheur / 1er émissaire japonais: Cyrille Dubois. La cuisinière: Chantal Santon Jeffery. Le chambellan: Laurent Naouri. Le bonze: Victor Sicard. 3e émissaire japonais: Rodolphe Briand. 2e émissaire japonais: Francesco Salvadori. Empereur de Chine: Jean-Sébastien Bou. La mort: Lucile Richardot. Les Mamelles de Tirésias Thérèse-Tirésias / La Cartomancienne: Sabine Devieilhe. Le Directeur de théâtre: Laurent Naouri. Le mari: Jean-Sébastien Bou. Le gendarme: Victor Sicard. Le Journaliste parisien / Monsieur Lacouf: Cyrille Dubois. Le Fils / Une grosse dame: Rodolphe Briand. Une dame élégante: Chantal Santon Jeffery. La Marchande de journaux: Lucile Richardot. Monsieur Presto: Francesco Salvadori. Les Siècles, Ensemble Aedes. Photo: Vincent Pontet, TCE ' Perfo...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Wednesday May 11 2022. Conductor: Philippe Jaroussky. Production: Damiano Michieletto. Choreography: Thomas Wilhelm. Sets: Paolo Fantin. Costumes: Agostino Cavalca. Lighting: Alessandro Carletti. Giulio Cesare: Gaëlle Arquez. Cleopatra: Sabine Devieilhe. Sesto: Franco Fagioli. Cornelia: Lucile Richardot. Tolomeo: Carlo Vistoli. Achilla: Francesco Salvadori. Nireno: Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian. Curio: Adrien Fournaison. Ensemble Artaserse. Photos: Vincent Pontet I no longer have a subscription at the TCE, having decided, after several years there, it hadn't been good value for money. But an opera expert I know said he thought the cast of this Giulio Cesare was 'intriguing' and a friend who's a Händel fan wanted to see it, so along I went with him. I guess what was 'intriguing' about it was the mix of vocal stars with others already  marked out as promising, and Jaroussky conducting a staged opera for the first time from the pit. T...