Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in Reims
The Reims Opera House was originally called the Grand Théâtre when it was first built in 1873. It was severely damaged in World War I. After several years delay it Read More …
Tag: Operas in France (outside of Paris)
A talk by Francis Albou
When I was in Reims in 2013 I had the pleasure of attending a talk by Francis Albou about the second act of the opera Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Read More …
The opera house in Strasbourg
When people ask me which opera I would take with me to a desert island if I could only take one (I’ve really been asked that), I always say it Read More …
Opéra de Lille
The original Municipal Theater in Lille was built from 1784 to 1787 and served its purpose for over a century, until it burned to the ground in a mysterious fire Read More …
Crash of an Airbus at the Opera
Instead of being shipwrecked, captured by pirates and sold into slavery, the Italian travelers in David Hermann’s staging of Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri were flying comfortably in an Airbus when it Read More …
Opéra-Théâtre in Metz
Metz, which in French is pronounced approximately like the English word mess (but with a different vowel sound, in French it’s open-mid front unrounded and in English it’s close-mid front Read More …
Bizet’s Carmen in Toulon
Whatever else you might have heard about Toulon, you should be aware that it has a gorgeous nineteenth century opera house — one of the largest opera houses in France Read More …
The Dilettante of Avignon
This theater was built in 1846-47 to replace an earlier theater that had been destroyed by fire. For many years it was called Opéra-Théâtre d’Avignon or just Opéra d’Avignon, but Read More …
Lyon’s unmistakable opera house
One thing I’ll say for the Lyon opera house: you can’t mistake it for any other building in Lyon, or for any other opera house in the world that I Read More …
Lully and Strauss in Nancy
The opera house in Nancy is on an elegant public square called Place Stanislas, which was designed and built in the 1750s on orders of the Duke of Lorraine, Stanislas Read More …