Stage version

“War and Peace” at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich : a punch in the face

Again war, again suffering, necessary to nobody, utterly uncalled for : again fraud, again the stupefaction and  brutalization of man. Lev Tolstoy, 1904   This quotation from Tolstoy…

"…or not to be"

https://youtu.be/ReOau8_zfRY William Shakespeare's play provided opera with sufficiently powerful literary and dramaturgical material to inspire the Romantic generation with powerful masterpieces, from Bellini to Gounod…

The chemistry of pain

For this production, the famous largest curtain in the world is replaced by a transparent canvas on which faces and perspectives in warm colours…

Rex Progress

Stravinsky long dithered around the opera genre, using reduced and composite forms in which musical theatre met oratorio – with the spoken and sung…

The prince in sneakers and the princess in knickers

"Dreaming does not preclude thinking", says Mariame Clément in an interview about her production of Massenet's Cendrillon for the Paris Opera. One would like…

No blackface, just blackhand

All this can be learned by reading the house programme published for the new production, a small volume on which we would like some…

Journey around her room

One might be tempted to say that everything takes place in a single set, but that would not do justice to the transformations of…

Musical wonders of a post-colonial Aida in Paris

Streaming on ArteConcert : https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/100855–001‑A/giuseppe-verdi-aida/ Prerequisite Strangely enough, this popular opera, warmly applauded by the 15,000 spectators which the Verona festival attracts for each performance, was neglected…

Cinderella, or the triumph of feather fan dancing

In 2017, the New Generation Festival was founded in Florence by three British citizens – Maximilian Fane, Roger Granville and Frankie Parham. Usually taking…