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Concerts and Recitals

Dmitri Shostakovich

Symphony no.4

Philharmonie de Paris
on 13 September 2024 at 8 pm
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Opera

Les Brigands

Jacques Offenbach

Palais Garnier
from 21 September 2024 to 12 July 2025
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Recital

Season's opening concert

Artists of the Academy

Amphithéâtre Olivier Messiaen
on 27 September 2024 at 8 pm
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Life at the Opera

  • My'Kal Stromile, between heritage and innovation
    Video

    My'Kal Stromile, between heritage and innovation

  • Les Brigands – An immersion in the set construction workshops
    Video

    Les Brigands – An immersion in the set construction workshops

  • A Falstaff who laughs, a Falstaff who cries
    Video

    A Falstaff who laughs, a Falstaff who cries

  • Draw-me Falstaff
    Video

    Draw-me Falstaff

  • Draw-me Les Brigands
    Video

    Draw-me Les Brigands

  • Imaginary Faust
    Video

    Imaginary Faust

  • Dominique Pitoiset looks back at Falstaff
    Article

    Dominique Pitoiset looks back at Falstaff

  • Draw-me Madama Butterfly
    Video

    Draw-me Madama Butterfly

  • Recipe of the day: Faust
    Video

    Recipe of the day: Faust

My'Kal Stromile, between heritage and innovation

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In rehearsal for Word for Word

5:38 min

My'Kal Stromile, between heritage and innovation

By Antony Desvaux

Invited for the first time to create a piece for the Paris Opera Ballet, My'Kal Stromile follows in the footsteps of his mentor William Forsythe.

The choreographer explains the genesis of Word for Word and how he drew inspiration from classical dance steps to imagine his own language. In costumes by Chanel, his choreography strikes a balance between heritage and innovation.

My'Kal Stromile talks about his influences, his background and his relationship with music. Finally, he shares how he works in the studio with the Opéra dancers.

Les Brigands – An immersion in the set construction workshops

Watch the video

7:09 min

Les Brigands – An immersion in the set construction workshops

By Clara Guedj

In conjunction with Barrie Kosky's new production of Les Brigands, José Sciuto, deputy workshop manager, guides us into the heart of the Paris Opera's painting, sculpture and upholstery workshops to tell us all about this production's abundant sets.

An immersion that allows us to discover the various stages of work and reveals the many and varied facets of these professions.

A Falstaff who laughs, a Falstaff who cries

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Interview with Ambrogio Maestri

8:11 min

A Falstaff who laughs, a Falstaff who cries

By Marion Mirande

After his triumph in Verdi's opera at the Opéra Bastille in 2013, the great baritone Ambrogio Maestri returns to the title role of Falstaff in Dominique Pitoiset's vivacious production. Here he talks about the masterpiece of musical theatre that is Verdi's last opera, a piquant and profound comedy inspired by Shakespeare.

Draw-me Falstaff

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Understand the plot in 1 minute

1:16 min

Draw-me Falstaff

By Matthieu Pajot

Draw-me Les Brigands

Watch the video

Understand the plot in 1 minute

1:24 min

Draw-me Les Brigands

By Pajot Matthieu

Imaginary Faust

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A repertoire work narrated in a visual poem born of popular culture

1:03 min

Imaginary Faust

By Marc de Pierrefeu, Marion Mirande

“I want a treasure which contains them all! I want youth!” Frustrated by the futile quest for knowledge, the erudite old Faust sells his soul to the devil in exchange for eternal youth and the beautiful Marguerite… Reworking the legend popularised by Goethe, Gounod focuses on the love story and elevates the significance of Marguerite’s fall and ultimate salvation.

Choosing to lighten the narrative’s philosophical scope allows him to strike a balance between scenes where the supernatural calls for the visually spectacular and others depicting a universe governed by inward actions and feelings.

Transposed to the present day, Tobias Kratzer’s Faust reflects on contemporary society’s obsession with eternal youth. His production’s sophisticated scenography oscillates between hyperrealism and magic, between the world of today and the mysterious atmosphere of German romanticism.  

© Sébastien Mathé / OnP

Dominique Pitoiset looks back at Falstaff

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Interview with the stage director

04 min

Dominique Pitoiset looks back at Falstaff

By Marion Mirande

Created in 1999, Dominique Pitoiset's production of Falstaff makes its return to the stage of the Opéra Bastille. When it was last revived, the director discussed his production that brims over with vitality and charm.


Tell us about your first encounter with Falstaff.

I first got to know Falstaff through Shakespeare. At the time of this production's creation, I'd had some major successes in the theatre with Love's Labour's Lost, The Tempest and Macbeth. I had come out of the German school, and had been assistant to Karge and Langhoff, then Giorgio Strehler, who himself had been Bertolt Brecht's assistant. So my approach to Verdi came about via a post-Brechtian, "tangible" theatre. We thought about the mediation of objects, how to increase the focal points of the interaction between the singers. This worked rather well with Verdi because with him, the movements are "musicalised" – dictated by the musical writing.


How did you come to conceive this production and its aesthetic?

I had taken it on with the conviction that we shouldn't do anything too contemporary with it, while being aware that an Elizabethan aesthetic wouldn't dialogue at all well with Verdi's music. I thought it would be interesting to exploit the discrepancies by creating a world on stage that was visually closer to Verdi than Shakespeare. It's a production from the previous century, with an aesthetic that's a very far cry from my current projects. My standpoint would be different if I had to stage the work again. However, looking at the staging, I find it has a lot of charm, and I've immersed myself in it again just as you'd enjoy rediscovering an old comic book tucked away on a shelf.
This staging is full of the ghosts of those who have inhabited it – and there are a lot of them. At the opera, the history of revivals is full of memories and the human element. If a production works and carries on for years, it's thanks to the community of artists and technical teams who keep the whole idea alive. This is something we don't see as stage directors. Once the first night is over, we generally turn the page, ease off the pressure and move onto something else.

Dominique Pitoiset et Varduhi Abrahamyan (Mrs Quickly) en répétition
Dominique Pitoiset et Varduhi Abrahamyan (Mrs Quickly) en répétition © Eléna Bauer / OnP

How much room for manoeuvre do you have with a revival?

Changes always depend on the new singers' relationship with their roles, what their interpretation allows and the way they move. With time, I have learned to observe them. Then I can make adjustments and guide them along paths where they can develop. If you look at past revivals of this production, there have been some very different Falstaffs and Alices, for example. You have to factor in the artists' singularities and requirements. Opera is a world where, with very short rehearsal times, people are putting their reputations on the line, and it's pretty scary. With the passing years and each new project, my own fears have gradually subsided, and I now take great pleasure in helping performers confront their anxieties more calmly.


Can you tell us a bit about the character of Falstaff?

When I look back at this production, I think about the film by Orson Welles, and that brilliant scene, played with incredible finesse, when the young king ascends the throne. Falstaff, who knows him well, is in the crowd and shouts out to him, trying to attract his attention. But the king pretends not to see him, and magisterially disowns him. That scene alone encapsulates Falstaff: a buffoon for whom the whole world is just a joke – and that aspect is what deeply touched the maestro Verdi, I feel.

Draw-me Madama Butterfly

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Understand the plot in 1 minute

1:07 min

Draw-me Madama Butterfly

By Octave

For his Madame Chrysanthème, Pierre Loti drew on memories of his own visit to Japan in 1885. When composing Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini was inspired by the popular melodies and sonorities of Japanese voices. However, in the literary work, as in the opera, the heroine remains the same: Kiku-san or Cio‑Cio‑san, a young geisha betrayed by her western husband, the symbol of the meeting of two different worlds. Robert Wilson’s ethereal production espouses to perfection the dramatic intensity and underlying violence of this thoroughly Japanese tragedy.  

Recipe of the day: Faust

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Ingredients of Tobias Kratzer's stage production

000:47 min

Recipe of the day: Faust

By Octave

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    04 July 2024

    Public Ballet rehearsals - Season 24/25

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    04 July 2024

    Results of the Ballet's recruitment competitions 2024

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    21 June 2024

    Cast change: La Vestale

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