The lyrical drama Werther, based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s novel, remains Jules Massenet’s best known stage work to this day. Piotr Beczala in the title role “impresses with his bomb-proof technique, free high notes and intelligent interpretation. The tenoral highlight of the evening – “Pourquoi me reveiller” – shone with a palette of tonal colours and offered an ideal combination of power and emotion” (bachtrack.com). Werther’s love Charlotte is sung by Gaëlle Arquez. Her “soulful mezzo is finely timbred, buzzing and blazing” (Wiener Zeitung). “Bertrand de Billy leads the orchestra thrillingly through this wonderful work, dramatic, then delicately lyrical, highly differentiated, full of sound.” (Kurier)
Super Diva – Opera for Everyone
The Portuguese Soprano and “opera communicator” Catarina Molder is opening the world of opera for new audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds in an absolute out of the box TV format which integrates magazine, documentary and fiction. After the success of ist preceding Portuguese seasons, Super Diva premieres with 13 English episodes. Each of them focuses on one super opera, unveils ist plot and context and reworks ist most emblematic super aria. World famous guests like Sir Antonio Pappano, Rolando Villazón, Gaëlle Arquez, Sonya Yoncheva or René Pape share their personal experiences in opera confessions. Finally, the Consulting Room! Opera Mix presents new exciting versions of great operatic hits. Super Diva also includes the innovative feature of twitter opera: newly commissioned operas in short film format which reflect upon present-day life and are thematically related to each episode’s super opera. Episodes: Die Zauberflöte, Macbeth, L’incoronazione di Poppea, Cavalleria rusticana, Fidelio, Norma, Otello, Carmen, Faust, Tosca, La forza del destino, Turandot, Tristan und Isolde.
Le Comte Ory
With the Opéra Comique’s staging of Le Comte Ory in Paris, starring stellar soloists Philippe Talbot, Julie Fuchs and Gaëlle Arquez as well as the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, conducted by Louis Langrée, the Rossini anniversary year starts off with “a masterpiece!” (Télérama). It is staged by a first-rate creative team: Stage director Denis Podalydès and costume designer Christian Lacroix provide stunning visuals, whilst conductor Louis Langrée leads the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, the Choeur Les éléments and a stellar cast of soloists in this delightful fool’s game. Gaëlle Arquez shines with her “superlative technique” (Le Monde). “Pure pleasure!” (Les Échos)
Xerxes (Serse)
Serse is one of Handel’s latest and most frequently performed operas, famous for its marvellous opening aria “Ombra mai fu”. At the centre of the confusing tragicomedy, very loosely based upon the life of Xerxes I of Persia, is a powerful and lovesick royal eccentric, King Serse. Rising opera star Gaëlle Arquez in the title role of Serse “scintillates with her nimble, luminous mezzo-soprano”, singing “irresistibly beautiful, impassioned, furious – but never mean” (Frankfurter Rundschau). Conducted by Constantinos Carydis, the performance is also musically excellent. “Over and over again, the orchestra, in an intelligent, often witty way, comments with improvised gestures on the stage proceedings, the fine dynamic differentiation, and the many eloquent timbres” (Stuttgarter Nachrichten). Frankfurt’s excellent Opern- and Museumsorchester contributes “all sorts of refinements” to this “musical smash hit” (Deutschlandfunk) and „In Frankfurt Tilman Köhler ensures a three-hour short abundant and furious banquett… a great evening of opera.“ (Deutschlandfunk).
Le Comte Ory
Rossini’s penultimate opera, premiered in 1828 at the Opéra National de Paris, is a musical comedy about a love triangle set during the Crusades. At the Opéra Comique its plot is transported to the time of the works’ creation with France’s military expeditions to Algeria. It is staged by a first-rate creative team: Stage director Denis Podalydès and costume designer Christian Lacroix provide stunning visuals, whilst conductor Louis Langrée leads the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, the Choeur Les éléments and a stellar cast of soloists in this delightful fool’s game. Mezzo-soprano Gaëlle Arquez shines with her “superlative technique” (Le Monde) and Julie Fuchs’s Adèle performance elicits “more than just admiration, namely enthusiasm in the etymological sense of the word: inspired by the divine” (Le Monde). “A masterpiece!” (Télérama), “Pure pleasure!” (Les Échos). Le Comte Ory at the Opéra Comique is “a true musical and theatrical celebration where everything sparkles!” (Bachtrack)
Carmen
Georges Bizet‘s captivating music with its Spanish sounds took the world by storm: Carmen‘s Habanera and Seguidilla, like Escamillo‘s Toreador‘s Song, are known to one and all. The French composer‘s most successful opera is staged at Bregenz with a set designed by British artist Es Devlin. She has designed sets for pop stars like Adele, U2, Take That, the Pet Shop Boys and Kanye West. In collaboration with the stage director Kasper Holten, Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House in London, she has also worked at opera houses in Helsinki and Copenhagen, at the Theater an der Wien and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. For the Danish stage director, this “opera about destiny and obsession” centres on “two people who are treated as outsiders, whose paths cross and who cling to each other in a passionate but unhealthy relationship”. „The whole ensemble deserves a floor-deep bow.” Der Tagesspiegel
„In terms of sound and, above all, visual finesse, the Carmen in Bregenz is opulent … and brilliant opera show.“ Wiener Zeitung // „The lake-stage in Bregenz is a venue for theatrical spectaculars, and Kasper Holten’s production of Carmen on Es Devlin’s extraordinary set was a knockout.“ The Telegraph // „The French singer Gaëlle Arquez proves to be a lucky find. Not only her massive, shimmering mezzo-soprano is convincing, but her high-quality acting skills as well.” Salzburger NachrichtenNachrichten
Stars of Tomorrow presented by Rolando Villazón – Episode 28
With unparalleled charm and whirlwind exuberance, world-renowned tenor Rolando Villazón hosts a unique television special in which young musical “stars of tomorrow” are introduced to millions of music lovers as soloists in performances with the Junge Sinfonie Berlin under the baton of Giedre Slekyte und Elias Grandy – a highly successful, casual, briskly paced concert series that appeals to young audiences!
Xerxes/Serse
Serse is one of Handel’s latest and most frequently performed operas, famous for its marvellous opening aria “Ombra mai fu”. At the centre of the confusing tragicomedy, very loosely based upon the life of Xerxes I of Persia, is a powerful and lovesick royal eccentric, King Serse. Rising opera star Gaëlle Arquez in the title role of Serse “scintillates with her nimble, luminous mezzo-soprano”, singing “irresistibly beautiful, impassioned, furious – but never mean” (Frankfurter Rundschau). Conducted by Constantinos Carydis, the performance is also musically excellent. “Over and over again, the orchestra, in an intelligent, often witty way, comments with improvised gestures on the stage proceedings, the fine dynamic differentiation, and the many eloquent timbres” (Stuttgarter Nachrichten). Frankfurt’s excellent Opern- and Museumsorchester contributes “all sorts of refinements” to this “musical smash hit” (Deutschlandfunk) and „In Frankfurt Tilman Köhler ensures a three-hour short abundant and furious banquett… a great evening of opera.“ (Deutschlandfunk).
Bregenz Festival 2017: Carmen
Georges Bizet‘s captivating music with its Spanish sounds took the world by storm: Carmen‘s Habanera and Seguidilla, like Escamillo‘s Toreador‘s Song, are known to one and all. The French composer‘s most successful opera is staged on the world’s largest, spectacular floating stage of Lake Constance in Bregenz, with a set designed by British artist Es Devlin. She has designed sets for pop stars like Adele, U2, Take That, the Pet Shop Boys and Kanye West. In collaboration with the stage director Kasper Holten, Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House in London, she has also worked at opera houses in Helsinki and Copenhagen, at the Theater an der Wien and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. For the Danish stage director, this “opera about destiny and obsession” centres on “two people who are treated as outsiders, whose paths cross and who cling to each other in a passionate but unhealthy relationship”.
Le Concert de Paris 2019
«Le Concert de Paris» is an exceptional event held each year on Bastille Day at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, as a prelude to the traditional July 14th fireworks display. Two of Radio France’s most prestigious musical institutions, the Orchestre National de France and the Radio France Chorus, under the baton of maestro Alain Altinoglu, propose a top-quality programme, giving pride of place to the voice and brings together some of the world’s greatest soloists, including Khatia Buniatishvili, Roberto Alagna, René Pape, Gautier Capuçon, Gaëlle Arquez, Jakub Orlinski and many more!