In October 1733, the audience at the Académie Royale de Musique witnessed the birth of a revolutionary work: Hippolyte et Aricie. With its inventiveness and musical richness, Rameau’s opera marks a break in the history of French music. A similarly revolutionary duo – Jeanne Candel and Raphaël Pichon – get to grips with this work for the Opéra Comique.
Amour, the messenger of the gods, tells Orpheus that he may descend to the underworld and return with Eurydice. His singing has the power to appease the Furies and animate the blessed Shadows. Yet, his voice cannot reassure Eurydice who despairs of the feigned indifference of Orpheus, put to the test by Jupiter. Raphaël Pichon conducts the opera of operas and Aurélien Bory displays the giddiness of the mental and supernatural spaces traveled by Orpheus and beyond. Marianne Crebassa plays a new breeches role with Hélène Guilmette (Hélène in Le Timbre d’argent) and Lea Desandre (the title role in Alcione).
Adolphe Adam’s Le Postillon de Lonjumeau was a great success at its premiere in 1836, and, along with the ballet Giselle, has remained one of the composer’s most popular works. Following the great French tradition, this opéra-comique has it all: 18th-century Rococo Parisian glamour and a perilous love story involving the dashing and flirtatious Chapelou and his opposite, the powerful and clever Madeleine. This lavish and spectacular production from the Opéra Comique in Paris received widespread critical acclaim and also features costumes by the iconic French fashion designer Christian Lacroix.
“Everyone steals according to one’s position in society.” A social critique, a credo to live by, and a recipe for the hilarious satire of Jacques Offenbach’s Les Brigands! The Opéra Comique’s rollicking 2011 production took full advantage of the talents of stage directors Macha Makeïeff and Jérôme Deschamps (members of the wildly successful French comedy troupe Les Deschiens) and the accomplished music director François-Xavier Roth.
“To be, or not to be..." You probably know the question, but perhaps not Cyril Teste's answer! A stage director famed for his fascinating fusion of theater and film, he stages the opera Hamlet for the first time in this production starring a brilliant group of soloists led by Stéphane Degout, Sabine Devieilhe, Laurent Alvaro, and Sylvie Brunet-Grupposo.
L’Étoile did much to establish Chabrier as a major force on the Parisian stage and his contemporary Henri Duparc praised him specifically for creating a French comic genre, both funny and musical – described as something of a French Die Meistersinger. The fanciful story is set in an imaginary kingdom and all, naturally, ends well. However, despite the slight plot line L’Étoile is something of a pivotal work, a unique example of French 19th-century light opera, orchestrated with great sophistication and flooded with gossamer wit.
