The Paris Opera’s new opera and ballet season gets off to a brilliant start: From world premieres to new productions and reinterpretations of the great classics, the opening of the 2016/2017 season promises audiences moments of intense artistic excitement.

Two major works from the Opera’s repertoire are on the bill: Puccini's sublime Tosca reinterpreted by that great figure of the theatre, Pierre Audi, as well as Donizetti’s famous tragic drama Lucia di Lammermoor which is always a resounding success with audiences. There will also be a chance to discover the enigmatic opera Eliogabalo by the baroque composer Cavalli, a work rarely performed and here entrusted to the young French director Thomas Jolly.
This year, the season’s debut also gives pride of place to romantic and contemporary ballet: The Sleeping Beauty, to music by Tchaikovsky, is performed by the dancers of the American Ballet Theatre making a special guest appearance at the Opéra Bastille for the occasion. Last but not least, the ballets by the great choreographers Sehgal / Peck / Pite / Forsythe and George Balanchine bring together all the arts and send a breeze of modernity blowing through the Palais Garnier.